[Baren} the mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking Baren Digest Wednesday, 28 June 2000 Volume 11 : Number1058 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: B Mason Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 07:48:51 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10181] chop Graham, Many artists I know have chops, the American kind, sometimes their logo or enitials. As far as I know they just buy them at some stationary store that will do custom chops. The Japanese may have a different system and it may indeed be an honor. Dave will surely know the answer to this or perhaps David Stone. Thanks for your hospitality in Sydney, we are tired but had a good time. Barbara M ------------------------------ From: Wanda Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 09:05:46 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10182] Exchange #7 Has there been any more discussion on the theme of exchange #7? Does anyone have any brilliant ideas on a theme that will inspire us and create a super portfolio? I did hear the suggestion of "where I live". That one sounds good. Wasn't there some talk of letters being included in one exchange some time back? Perhaps we should _not_ have a theme in which our barnyard animals run over paper. :-) Since we need a theme by July 1, 2000 - we'd better put on our thinking caps. I'd like to see a theme come from our new subscribers - please feel free to speak up, we want to get to know you. So let's discuss this - how about "favorite weed" ? I've got lots of those. Or "child's play"? Or-------? You fill in the blanks, we need to brain storm. Wanda ------------------------------ From: "Greg Robison" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 09:44:58 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10183] Re: last call! >Last call! >Maria Seattle, 27 June 2000 Dear Maria: I am bitten by remorse at not having sent you anything. I was at Graham's workshop last week, am now in Seattle, and could send you something in a day or so. Is that OK, or do I owe you big-time for having left you in the lurch? Yours, Gregory ------------------------------ From: Salsbury Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 11:50:23 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10184] New/Bio Hello, My name is Sue Salsbury and I have just joined your group. I live in Waterloo, Iowa, right in the middle of the USA. I am a Mono-printer with a passion for wood block prints. I have a B.A. in Art which fill my needs as an artist as I do not plan to teach or become the most famous printer/artist of all times. My goals as an artist are simple, they are to be good enough to be accepted for competition, inclusion in various groups or projects, and to be able to enjoy the company and conversation of other artist. So far it's been working. I particularly enjoy working with plants and forms from nature in an abstracted method, and nudes. My work usually is 22" X 30" or 44" X 33". I have a press that was built for me following the design of the Conrad Press but with a chain and gear driven system. It operates so smoothly you hardly know it's working. I am married and have children and grandchildren, lots of dogs, cats and birds. I am employed as a telephone operator so my art time has to be scheduled between lots of things. Two questions for you now. 1. I am working on a reduction print on linoleum and have taken a little more off in an area than I would like to. Anyone know how to patch this and re cut it? 2. I am using a product called Simple Green as an environmentally safe product to clean up ink. I used it on the edges of the reduction print and when I began printing the second color I noticed a halo around the printed area. It is a residue from the simple green. Anyone know how detrimental this is to the paper? I feel I have wasted my time on the print but have decided to finish and see how the paper progresses over time. It will be a small edition of 12 or 13 prints (a lot for a mono printer,)I thought I would place them in different types of light exposure and see how they progress. If you have any ideas or suggestions here, I would be interested in them. Sue ------------------------------ From: ArtfulCarol@aol.com Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 13:19:52 EDT Subject: [Baren 10185] Re: Artist Chop Graham, My friends went to China and brought back my chop because for years I have been thought to be Asian by people who did not know me. It's the way the work looks. I use it along with my signature. CarolLyons Irvington, NY USA ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 10:35:06 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10186] Re: last call! > Dear Maria: I am bitten by remorse at not having sent you anything. YOU OWE ME BIG TIME! ;-) And if you can, it would be wonderful to have a report on the Kampala, even if brief--heck, even bikini would be fine. I trust you had a grand time at the workshop. Safe travels, Maria ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 10:50:48 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10187] Re: Exchange #7 Wanda,...what about "Where I would like to live",....I haven't found anyone yet that doesn't admire that greener grass! Philip ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 13:36:47 -0500 Subject: [Baren 10188] Miscellaneous................ Welcome to all the new Baren members; Greg, Michael, Sue and others. Some wonderful ideas during this "slow" period at Baren while most of the regulars were away on "vacation".....and some great suggestions for exchange #7.....I can feel the tension mounting! For anyone not having their own web place, I would encourage them to take Rudolph up on his offer. Maria has had a fabulous gallery of "visiting" artists for a while now and it has been a great success and a fine way to share and expose your work with others. Enjoyed visiting Kat's and Rudolph web-site, real nice work guys! Sue.....don't know about repairing lino, but regarding Simple Green, there was a discussion about the pros and cons of that product a little while back....(Winter or Spring ?), perhaps you can do a "find" on the Baren archives for it....or someone else might remember the approx. discussion dates......... Now that youth baseball is over (at least here!) I finally have some free time to spend on printmaking and stuff. For those that participated in the spring Skokie Baren exhibit, I will be sending you guys some stuff soon. Thanks for your patience. I am hoping to have my online woodblock gallery upgraded soon, with smaller thumbnails, print information and zooms. The object is to educate and display prints usually not found in most websites. Most sites concentrate on the masters (Hiroshige, Hokusai, Hasui, etc.....) and the scans are usually small or taken from books...I want to create a repository also for fine images of lesser known artists that could be useful for printmakers. New prints going up everyday. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, advise or suggestions most welcome. at: http://www.skokienet.org/bandits/jcrstuff/jrprntin.html Another sites where you can find a fantastic wealth of info on these type of woodblock prints are: www.hanga.com and www.shinhanga.net. Both of these sites do a wonderful job with artists bios, print info, signatures, seals, etc....... Thanks.....Julio ------------------------------ From: Wanda Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 11:50:01 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10189] Re: New/Bio Hi Sue! Welcome to Baren. I do have a suggestion for the lino-cut. Cut out the area where the mistake or over-cut is - try to have the edges fall in a non-printing area. Just peel out the bad section & glue in an uncut piece with elmer's glue. Weight it down while it dries & go on from there. Sometimes you will have to [carefully] sand the new section down to match the rest of the block. Sorry, I have no experience with simple green. Someone else will surely have suggestions on that. Wanda ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 12:03:16 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10190] Re: New/Bio Simple Green is a wee bit too strong for in-between reduction cleaning, although I have not gotten a halo from using it. Use mineral oil instead (baby oil) or vegetable oil. I use simple green on non-porous surfaces like the press bed, work bench, inking slab, palette knives, ink spreaders, etc. I found that it softens rollers, so I use plain baby oil for them. For the blocks between printings I simply remove most of the ink by running the block through the press with newsprint about 4 or 5 times. If there is still a residue, I lightly remove with a shop towel and the slightest amount of oil. If you don't like the sticky film that vegie oil leaves (not mineral oil), use windex right after. Happy cleaning! Maria ps Welcome and I envy your very large press! ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 15:07:46 -0400 Subject: [Baren 10191] Re: Exchange #7 Wanda and Others out there who are champing at the bit to find out the next theme; We could do an "Elvis" theme, I think I have some black velvet in the studio. Animal tracks just will not do. Transportation theme. That might be interesting. Old cars, trains, planes, boats. FEET We have not had an animal theme yet. Andrea would like that one, so would Sarah! We could do ; shoes., fairies, flowers, landscapes, An interesting theme would be "clotheslines". all the fascintating things that hang on clotheslines! I once saw a show where the pet and owner were depicted . Amazing how some owners start to look like their pets. I guess Dave will come up with a rare idea. His last was a goodie; 5"x10". Geez!!!!! Jeanne Glad all the vocalists are back. It was very quiet without you, Although I really enjoyed the show from Grahams workshop. ------------------------------ From: "TSHACK" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 12:25:36 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10194] Re: Exchange #7 How about visual puns? Or is that too obtuse? I have one carved that I need an excuse to print up. ------------------------------ From: Artsmadis@aol.com Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 15:25:36 EDT Subject: [Baren 10195] Re: Exchange #7 In a message dated 6/27/00 11:03:57 AM Central Daylight Time, robertson@canby.com writes: << I'd like to see a theme come from our new subscribers - please feel free to speak up, we want to get to know you. >> You asked for it. How about something general like: music, love, hate, death, moon, sun, fairy tale, weird, kids.......... Darrell ------------------------------ From: B Mason Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 12:57:22 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10196] elvis? Jeanne, You are over the edge again, I refuse to do Elvis prints but maybe something else on nice dark velvet? Seriously, I vote for places we live, now or in the past or even in our minds....Woohoo! that could be good! Where do we really live? Hummmmmm. Barbara M ------------------------------ From: Brad Schwartz Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 14:43:40 +0000 Subject: [Baren 10197] Re: New/Bio Hi Sue... Welcome to Baren... > 1. I am working on a reduction print on linoleum and have taken a little > more off in an area than I would like to. Anyone know how to patch this > and re cut it? I would use some plastic wood filler. This tends to give a little bit of texture to the area in question, but once it sets, you can _carefully) recarve and save the area in question. I've also found that it makes a nice upper relief texture... you can rough up your lino with some sandpaper, apply some plastic wood filler on an _uncut_ area and have a high, textured relief area... works weel. Good luck, Brad ------------------------------ From: barbara patera Date: Tue, 27 Jun 100 15:20:26 Pacific Daylight Time Subject: [Baren 10198] exchange May be too late, but how about "Bus People" as the theme for the next exchange ? You know all those waiting people at airports, ferry terminals, bus and train stations. Barbara P. ------------------------------ From: barbara patera Date: Tue, 27 Jun 100 15:38:04 Pacific Daylight Time Subject: [Baren 10199] membership Hi Sue, Welcome! Would like to see your prints.... love looking at figurative work. Am a new member myself as well as a fledgling woodblock printer and seeing everyone elses art is a greatexperience. Your press sounds wonderful..... Have a small Etan, the bed is 18x36 which is limiting when it comes to mono or linoleum prints but works well for most of the etching and drypoint I have done. As to the woodblocks, so far they have all been small and I mostly pull them by hand. Barbara Patera ------------------------------ From: judy mensch Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 20:49:58 -0400 Subject: [Baren 10200] Re: Artist Chop Graham: a chop is simply to show the printer or printshop that is producting the print. It is not unusal for an artist/printer to design and have made his/her own chop. Judy ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 18:10:07 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10201] Re: Exchange #7 > How about visual puns? Or is that too obtuse? I have one carved that I > need an excuse to print up. You know that is a real good idea,....everything gets way to serious,..why not just the word "FUNNY" for exchange #7,....we all see things a little differently,....let's see what and who thinks what and who are,...funny!!! Philip ------------------------------ From: Blouin Danielle Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 21:09:44 -0500 Subject: [Baren 10202] Re: New/Bio Dear Sue, I'm myself a new subscriver, your adress was given by Judy Mensh from NY Hi Judy!, Probably you will feel something strange about my english writing as I'm french speaking person who just try her best to communicate in english. So Sue about your linocut, it's not a french receipe...but as sometimes we do mistake we have to find the best solution and lino is the one that is hard to match. So I have two solutions. 1- Use modeling paste built up, 1- clean perfectly the space that you want to fix with something that can seriously degrease it (poisonnous lacquer thinner... methyl hydrate, ammonia) because your patch wont stick, and add coat of modeling paste, waiting until dry and add it until it is a little over the level of your lino, sand it with a water sandpaper- fine one 400- 600 and now you ca engrave it like new lino. the modeling paste is supple and don't have a grainy surface. 2- Remove the part that you want to take out and if your lino is mounted on a masonite or something like it, simply replace and match the new lino-patch to the one that you trash, you can match the space between the line that are cut with the modeling paste. These two way were totaly improve!!!I can garanty it... best Danielle ------------------------------ From: Greg and Trish Carter Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 21:46:50 -0400 Subject: [Baren 10203] Re: Exchange #7 As a new subscriber I tend to lay low but with Wanda's encouragement I will give my two cents worth. I perfer a more general title so I feel I can create a work of art that connects to my personal style (which is overly repersentational but I dont want to call it abstract) Though I did think of an image for the "were I live' it would probally push it a little. I thought a variation on that would be "anywhere but here" or "location to be decided on later". I like the idea of a word like " funny" that was suggested by Peter because the conotation of the word can lead a groupof artists on very diffeent paths but still create a unified body of work. My crazy suggestion is the word "Tactile". I guess I am too serious and would have to work hard at Funny. Geg Carter ------------------------------ From: Gary Luedtke Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 22:06:05 -0400 Subject: [Baren 10204] Off the Wall Barenters, I confess that when I glanced at the Baren homepage a while back and saw "Swapshop" there, I had an entirely different idea than what it proved to be. But I wonder if the idea I had in its place, isn't a useful one to o? I immediately thought of a "swapshop" as a place to exchange goods, relevant to woodblock printmaking, or maybe even not so relevant. While several of our members actually sell some of the tools of the trade, would it be helpful to have a bulletin board- type page where anyone of us could put up some of our surplus goods? A while back, Graham offered a good deal on paper. That could be listed here. Dave's girls made applicator bamboo brushes, that could be listed here. So and so has ink, and whatnots. How-to books might be circulated, or anything might be advertised for sale or trade that had an artistic tie-in. Got any art supplies laying around that you don't intend to use, but are too good to throw away, and someone else might get some use out of? Any interest out there for such a page? I've got some gouache paint, virtually new tubes, I don't anticipate using. Windsor-Newton. Some Ocaldo Block Printing Watercolor. Can any of you students out there use them? Or any Barenters? Pay for shipping and they are yours. A swap page could be used to list items like these just between members. Buy or trade. Or this stuff could go into Baren-Suji also, since Maria may need to fluff out the content on occasion, when you would-be contributors oversleep the deadline. : ) Just an idea. Serious about the Windsor Newton and Ocaldo give-aways. They're a few years old, but never been used. Contact me by personal e-mail if interested. I can detail what I've got. Have some other stuff too. If a page gets developed, I'll list it. Gary KC ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 21:03:54 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10206] Re: sell or trade Gary, that sort of stuff is perfect for Baren-Suji's section on "sell or trade" already in place--and still empty! Baren-Suji current and back issues will always be posted in the woodblock website, so the stuff will always be there for the taking. Feel free to send me your art related trade/swap items and I will sneak them in just before the publishing date. Maria ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V11 #1058 *****************************