Baren Digest Friday, 16 March 2001 Volume 14 : Number 1357 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "C. L. Stevens" Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 08:51:09 -0600 Subject: [Baren 13901] Re: Quasi question Dear Claude, Recycling "bad" prints by making paper is one way; I have started teaching a paper mache class and have found that the wonderful "bad" prints on that expensive paper make a very nice finish coat! That is if I don't intend to paint the item. And thanks Dan and everyone for the information about changing prints after I've started an edition. I didn't know any of this and it just came up in my own work. And for Sarah, are your larger boards very thick? I use my slabs of wood (for that is what they truly are) for bench seats on two old concrete art deco blocks scavenged from a demolition, until I'm ready to surface them and then carve. Best to all, Catherine Stevens, Baton Rouge, LA Claude Villeneuve wrote: ------------------------------ From: Shireen Holman Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 09:54:12 -0500 Subject: [Baren 13902] Re: Fw: White line woodcuts At 10:28 PM 3/14/01 -0500, Connie Grace wrote: >My name is Connie Grace contol@erols.com and >I have been lurking on this site for a long time thinking about speaking >up sooner or later. Connie, Your prints are very beautiful. One of these days I'll come down to the Torpedo Factory to see them in person. Shireen Shireen Holman, Printmaker and Book Artist email: shireenh@earthlink.net http://www.shireenholman.com *********************************************** ------------------------------ From: "janet" Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:51:52 -0500 Subject: [Baren 13903] The Graham and Dave Show charset="iso-8859-1" Dear Baren Members: As a fairly new member of Baren, I do not know the full history of the quite evident tension between Graham and Dave. It takes alot of time to read most of the postings on a good day, let alone personal disputes and one upmanships. Janet Stahle-Fraser ------------------------------ From: "Gillyin Gatto" Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 13:01:03 -0800 Subject: [Baren 13904] carving positions and work areas hello to all concerning recent discussions on carving postures i would like to add an alternative which i do for the most part and that is to STAND UP to carve . while i do sit down some, especially for picky little details and scratchings , i much prefer to stand at a kitchen counter- height or even a little taller (i am 5'2") table and really let my arms and elbows swing around . the energy of the carving strokes is then unbridled and i think adds to a sense of movement /motion in prints i, too, store my blocks standing sideways, in wooden slots , -- of course, wrapping them in newsprint , or at least placing a piece of mat board or foamcore in between , keeps them from scratching each other - when those dreaded grains of sand start rolling around on the surface! thats what i have always loved the most about woodcuts, is that one does NOT need a fancy setup with tons of space to do it i am most at home at the kitchen table for carving . for traveling with blocks to carve, try placing a piece of mat board in between each block and duct taping the whole kittenkaboodle together. i do this with my color blocks, even in storage, to keep track of them better,keep them together a n item that makes a really good printing plate , and can be readily found at junk shops, are old metal casement crank out windows-just the window itself,not the frame- which generally have a solid hinge part that will set it up at about a 40' angle for printing-they are found in many sizes another great boon to artists who live in the same room with their art are those retractable clothes line holders that hang on the wall allowing one to pull out many feet of line ,to clothespin wet prints to , and then retract out of the way when not printing...welcome to all the new members you couldnt find a better place to receive endless creative stimuli for wood block artists - Gillyin in Machias Maine USA ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:22:47 -0800 Subject: [Baren 13905] RE: carving positions and work areas charset="iso-8859-1" On carving positions, A combination of all of the suggestions works for me. I built a Graham-workstation according to the specs on his web site. Mine, however, hinges on the top/front of a work bench and can go from flat to vertical and all the angles in between. The result is that I can stand up (preferred) with the block in any angle I desire; or I can sit on a high stool when I get tired or doing tedious work for a long time. Folded all the way flat I can set it up like a standard bench hook for clearing larger areas. This little wonder holds blocks from 2 x 3" to my latest one 24" x 36" I used a scrap oak board that was laying around and some heavy wire for the side supports, although I might change these to wooden pegs. The advantage of the wire is that it 'grabs' onto the wood top of my bench and I can truly get any working angle. I glued 'rug-hug' to the entire surface, not in strips as shown in Graham's plan. Mine is not as pretty as Graham's or Dave's, but it works! One recommendation for safe-guarding your back, knees, and other assorted nasty spots is to change your working position often. This adjustable bench allows that; in the course of a given day I can stand, sit, lean-butt (a variation of sitting), with the bench in an infinite number of angles. If you multiply that out, that gives me an infinite number of angles times 3 positions, which turns out to be three infinites. That's a lot... Health to all, Maria <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango Las Vegas, Nevada, USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com maria@mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ From: Sunnffunn@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 14:21:31 EST Subject: [Baren 13906] Re: carving positions and work areas There is stimuli here for all artists. As for space, I have plenty at the present, but I travel a good deal. I find both my watercolors and the printmaking stuff travels well. I think this is very doable in small spaces. I hope so because I will be toting a tiny press and supplies down the baja in a VW bus to our condo. When we get to the end the condo is a one bedroom, small. But we do have a garage for storage, thank heavens. I think the winter work will be small I did not know the baren had a who is Baren section. There is so much on this whole baren site. I explored it this morning and it is wonderful to put a face to the art and the comments. Everyone who has not gone, do. The comment about I am taking monotype instruction now, well monotypes can be beautiful and are a great free form of printmaking. Keep your mind open. I was told by a friend in my figure group to take the printmaking class and refused, saying I am so busy now with painting, HA! I locked my portfolio in the figure studio and had to go to the print studio where she and the instructor were pulling prints. I watched and fell in love. It happened to me! I went to the first printmaking class thinking, I have a degree in painting, monotype is what I want to learn The instructor handed me a linoleum block and a carving tool and said this is where we start. I laughed and said, " I don't carve". I took a design from a watercolor, reduced it and put it on the plate. He put on the classical music and walked by and said lady do you know what you have there? This is wonderful. That first plate was amazing to me and good. Yes I do carve. Never close your mind to new things, you never know. Also I once took a class on something I was certain I would adore and it was a disaster. Never make assumptions! a retractable clothes line is now on my list to buy. It will work very well in my space for drying prints, now i have them all over the house lol. Yesterday, by accident, i started recarving a plate. I was pulling prints from it to finish an edition and went wow this print could have more teeth. So I finished the one I was doing and started an extensive recarve with bolder lines and areas. I now will have a state 1 and a state 2 series, let the public decide. Amazing, I am growing so fast that i can't get one edition totally finished before i want to change a plate. lol I am so hooked on carving, I hope I fall in love with hanga. Oh and now I know for certain what to call these two prints, the state of the arts lol. Marilynn ------------------------------ From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 22:52:43 EST Subject: [Baren 13907] methyl cellulose Jean, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to have the methyl cellulose work for you, are you working with it too thick or too diluted a mixture? Mix it to the same type of thickness that you use the rice paste, and don't put too much on the block, the tendency when working hanga-style is putting too much of everything on the block. If you can describe more specifically what the problem is that you're having with the methyl cellulose, perhaps we can help you out- best wishes Sarah ------------------------------ From: "Garth Hammond" Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 21:13:46 -0700 Subject: [Baren 13908] Re: carving positions and work areas charset="iso-8859-1" Gillyin, RE:hello to all concerning recent discussions on carving postures i would like to add an alternative which i do for the most part and that I have had some luck with the plastic/rubber kitchen cupboard liner that has those little puckered perforations all over. it holds the board on lots of surfaces so if I travel I can wrap some of it around the boards and I can work on most surfaces without bringing a hook along. Garth ------------------------------ From: Pgiclas@aol.com Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 00:58:01 EST Subject: [Baren 13909] Re: Paper alternatives.... Graham: I have mostly used Rives and Arches and a few of the Japanese papers available from Daniel Smith. Patsy ------------------------------ From: kelsey Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 23:16:01 -0800 Subject: [Baren 13910] Re: Baren Digest v14 #1356 I have a strange, not exactly woodblock oriented question for you all, forgive me but I am desperate! I am searching for some sort of tool to create die cuts in a specific shape of my own design. I am trying to make cut out windows in the covers of some handbound books. As I am making a lot of these books, this needs to be a tool that I can use in a rather assembly line fashion. Does anyone have any idea of where I could find something like that? Also, did I hear correctly that the baltic birch plywood was going to be sold on the baren mall? I looked for it there, but could only find cherry. I can't wait until I have a little surplus of cash, to spend on fun stuff in the baren mall! So many toys, so little time... ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 23:52:10 -0800 Subject: [Baren 13911] Responses to many - and a new STUFF On the request of Wanda I am and will endeavour to condense the number of posting from this computer. It may end up being 15 pages. Yesterday I received 66 e-mails. Today so far 68. Hey and this does not count Marn's iMac. - ---------------------------------- Maria wrote..... >Graham-workstation according to the specs on his web site. Mine, however, >hinges on the top/front of a work bench and can go from flat to vertical an= d >all the angles in between. Works like a tin whistle eh... The big unit I use has many more angle stations. The chrome wire supports fit in a number of holes in the sloped side going from 80=BA to flat. The wire is pointy at the bottom end (not unlike my head) to grip into the base. I am always in motion standing sitting to make it easier on the bod and that senior "Arth" thingie.... I use to make mine with a full piece of rug hug .... (Note to Garth... the stuff you mention is the same. It originated for the marine industry to keep cups and plates from sliding on the floor in rough seas. {We first used it under scatter rugs thus I named it Rug Hug}) =2E...on my board but found an advantage to the strips. It usually happens that small to medium size peice of wood get under the plate. With double thickness strips of rug hug the chips are less likely to mar the back surface of the plate as they tend to get tucked between the strips. Boy do I hate markings up the back of a plate. - -------------------------------------- And, Sarah wrote..... >Jean, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to have the methyl >cellulose work for you, Does any body need the formula for making there own paste from Chinese wheat flour and/or corn starch? The local wheat flour here will not make paste. Barbara M. and I sweated over the stove (for hours) last Boot Camp and never got it to work. - --------------------------------------- Somethin' new .... well not really. Who uses a mallet and chisel to remove those big areas of waste? Last month I was working with cherry and found that to remove the waste it was absolutely necessary to use a mallet and chisel. I remember seeing "that guy from Tokyo" (come down off the ceiling Dave) using this and having never used much cherry or hard wood requiring this technique thought it was over kill. Now being a whimpy weakling senior, I can understand the need for the heavy duty equipment, and more so now, working with the Birch plywood. (Terrible stuff... but that's another thread). At last years Boot Camp, Marco bought in a electric chisel. Incidentally I had borrowed one from a friend as a spoof. Well, when Marco brought his out, I fell it would be unkind to make fun of it and him, (However this year (his third), no holds barred. This spring when cutting the 12 cherry plates I, the senior, was having trouble with the "arth" so scrambled to fine this "Detail Carving Tool" by Ryobi. Gawd I was resorting to that hi-techie thingie. Wow.... what a wonderful tool. (Sombody slap me, I'm thinking the computer might be a tool for this sport). That was a lot of blah blah blah to get the point of this story. The "Detail Carving Tool" by Ryobi is no longer being made and I was lucky enough to find two of them in a local store. $33.00 ea .... a bargin. If you are interested or a "arth senior citizen" then check around to see if you can find one or two of these babies. - ---------------------------------- Connie Grace wrote..... >If you would like to see some of my work my URL address is >http://www.torpedofactor= y.org/artists/grace_c.htm I responded earlier, saying..... >Seeing the sparkle of white line it enough to entice a person away >for the difficulty of kiss register. Today it struck me as I was trying to get a kiss registration lined up that the white line technique might go beyond the freedom of no registration. Can you tell me if it is a requirement of the technique that the white line must .... must ... be absolutely equal around all sections of the design? If so I ain't gonna go there....!!!!! - ---------------------------- Patsy wrote..... >For what it's worth, after soaking paper I always put it between two or mor= e >layers of blotting paper and use a rolling pin (as in making pie crust!) to >press out the excess water. >Graham: I have mostly used Rives and Arches and a few of the Japanese paper= s >available from Daniel Smith. And you don't get any white specks when printing (hanga) method. You must really be wielding a lot of pressure with that rolling pin.... (<: Does your husband know about this skill. - -------------------------------- Lynita wrote..... >Perhaps I have a strange way of viewing things, but I really enjoy >these slight variations --- evidence of the human touch, I guess. This is an important part of the hosho paper. My last order of 600 sheets had a lot of sheets that had a thickness variati= on. I have come to expect this as every batch has this happening. I also like the bits that show up from time to time. =46urther to my concerns re the quality of Yamaguchi-san paper. I mention the chap in Vancouver having problems. Well we think maybe his problems come from the fact that he is doing images now, upward of 33 blocks with over 300 impressions. I have one of his pieces which was done about 7 years ago and it is 24 blocks and 144. The look like photographs. - ---------------------------------- LATE BREAKING NEWS Kelsey wrote..... >I am searching for some sort of tool to create die cuts in a >specific shape of my own design. I am trying to make cut out >windows in the covers of some handbound books. As I am making a lot >of these books, this needs to be a tool that I can use in a rather >assembly line fashion. Does anyone have any idea of where I could >find something like that? I am assuming it is a simple retangular shape window.... If you live in or near a large city that has a packaging converter company you can get the thingie you need. . You want to look for a company that makes Folding Cartons. Not corrugated but fine packages .... like tooth paste cartons for instance. They have a die shop where with cutting type steel rules and jigged wooden forms, make cutting dies that are used on diecutting presses to cut out the cartons. It is one of these dies you need. You can use it by placeing a piece of plywood on the top and hammer it to do your cutting. If you have a little platen press it works great. Now how to get them to be sympathetic and make you one. Flash those big eye and play the needy artist and they may very well help you out. As a last resort you could even pay for it. Good Night. Graham PS Dave.... Please don't go and commit 'seppuku' as I am just kidding with you. ------------------------------ From: "john ryrie" Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 20:41:43 +1100 Subject: [Baren 13912] Reduction Printing charset="iso-8859-1" I was asked by a curator if I had some information about the history of reduction relief prints. She wanted to know if I knew of any artist other than Picasso using reduction printing in the 1940s & 1950. Apparently there is reference to this technique in school text books before Picasso's use of it. I haven't been able to fined anyone in Australia using it before the 1960s. Dose any one know of any elswere ? John ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest v14 #1357 *****************************