Baren Digest Friday, 22 June 2001 Volume 15 : Number 1467 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "April Vollmer" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 09:18:53 -0400 Subject: [Baren 14924] Plans and Levitations Invitation charset In the spirit of Gregory's Castilian peasants,(Haz bien y no mires a quien or 'Do the right thing and don't look at other people')--I would like to invite all and sundry to my opening of digital and woodblock prints at the Ceres Project Room Thursday, June 28 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. I make the best prints I can with the media at hand and label them for what they are. I hope the show is elucidating for those confused about printmaking categories but it's mainly about my art! The Ceres Project Room is located at 323 West 39th Street, Room 306. The exhibition runs from June 28 until July 21, 2001. Gallery hours are Fridays from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. and by appointment. To schedule additional times please call 212-677-5691, or e-mail av@aprilvollmer.com This exhibition uses the computer to explore the mathematical underpinnings of natural forms. Measured architectural plans offer a whimsical structure for arrays of plants and animals, suggesting personal diagrams of the cosmos. The digital prints are constructed in the computer using multiple layers, the same way that other kinds of color prints are structured. You can see images from the show on my website at www.aprilvollmer.com April ------------------------------ From: Michael Schneider Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 15:36:45 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [Baren 14925] Re: Plans and Levitations Invitation April, I am afraid I won«t make it there, but I would love to see the exhibition. "TOI TOI TOI" michael schneider Vienna Austria ------------------------------ From: b.patera@att.net Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 15:30:14 +0000 Subject: [Baren 14926] Salon de Refuse Hi Dan, The prints arrived yesterday. They are wonderful and to add to the excitement, Jan Telfer and I were able to view them together. We were both impressed. Thanks again for coordintating this exchange. Regards, Barbara P. ------------------------------ From: baren_member@barenforum.org (Kent Kirkpatrick) Date: 21 Jun 2001 15:55:07 -0000 Subject: [Baren 14927] e-bay ad Message posted by: Kent Kirkpatrick Hello, A lurker steps from the shadows to say put my vote in the yes column for Eli's idea of an advertisement on ebay for a pamphlet discerning the differences of a Glicee print and that of a fine art or hand pulled print. Although I have doubts on how many pamplets will be sold (I would suggest something in the advertisement itself that is informative as well),. I cannot construe such an idea as a negative one as a few that have gone before me suggest. Pointing out differences has never been to me a negative concept. By day I work, by night I lurk. Kent Kirkpatrick Portland, Oregon U.S.A. ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 09:29:16 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14928] Sunshine Artist charset="iso-8859-1" Sunshine Artist is a magazine that lists art festivals across the country along with relevant articles on the business. Recently there was much protest raised against promoters that employ what has been know as "the cruel rule." This rule states that either no reproductions are allowed in certain art festivals or limits reproductions accompanied by a majority of original art. Note that plenty of the finest (top ten) art festivals allow limited reproductions, >>as long as they are labeled as such<<. Meaning that the "cruel rule" does not affect quality of the show, it is merely employed as a promoter's preference to have or not to have original art exclusively. Note also that reproductions are in essence a buy/sell product, as the artist's hand has little to do with the process of making them. Buy/sell products have their place in the art/craft festival world, but not in the ones I choose to apply for. Anyhow, so much whining was generated that I felt compelled to respond in support of the promoters, my first ever letter to an editor. It is now in print, for better or worse. Let's hope my booth does not get burned down by the angry masses at the next festival. *************** To: Sunshine Artist, ReaderÕs Letters Re: ÒThe Cruel RuleÓ on reproductions From: Maria Arango, Printmaker I read with amusement the designation of the practice of prohibiting or limiting reproductions as: Òthe cruel rule.Ó I am a printmaker, the kind with cherry wood splinters embedded in my hands (I mostly do woodcut prints), over-developed shoulder muscles from rubbing the back of the paper with a baren, and a permanent residue of ink under my fingernails. First, please understand I have absolutely nothing against painters and watercolorists making reproduction of their works and selling them in the same shows I attend, postcards and all. I too feel that many attendees want to walk away from a booth with something but cannot always afford an expensive original. Lately I have been hand-printing smaller Òcard-printsÓ to boost my sales. I have much against reproductions being called Òprints.Ó Stone/plate lithographs, etchings and engravings, woodcuts and wood engravings, serigraphs and collagraphsÉthose are prints. IÕm not making this up, check the latest issue of Art Law, by the Practicing Institute of Law for complete definitions, born out of litigation. A Òlimited editionÓ of 5,000 makes as much sense as buying one of 10,000,000 bean bag babies for their collectorÕs value. Nothing against disseminating images to those who canÕt afford originals, but they are being called Òprints,Ó thereby raising the hairs in the back of many a printmakerÕs neck. The fault mostly lies with the printing industry found out they could make reproductions for dollars, sell them to artists for much much more than that, who then have to cover their costs by selling them for more than a copper engraver could ever sell a drypoint. A printmaker is left trying to educate the public on an issue that is so deliberately confused that we are the ones left looking like weÕre nuts. So whatÕs my point? When you feel that no-reproductions-allowed is Òa cruel rule,Ó think of this: - - I now have to call my works Òlimited edition original fine woodcut printsÓ which no longer fits on my business card. There was a time in the art world when saying the word ÒprintÓ already implied such qualifiers. - - Had painters and watercolorists called their reproductions ÔreproductionsÕ from the beginning, there would be no need for a Òcruel ruleÓ today. - - People walk into my booth and expect a wood engraving which took 40 hours to engrave to be sold for $12.00 because it is, after all, an 8Ó x 10Ó. - - I could call my oil-based ink prints, Òoriginal oil-on-paper worksÓ and sell them for twice the price thereby still beating out any oil painter in the circuit. People would then wonder why that original oil in that other booth should be worth more than mine. But I donÕt do that, because that would be artificially placing a higher value on a work that does not merit the name. And that, you see, would be wrong. A print is a print. A reproduction is a reproduction. It is about time that the finer shows are finally making the distinction between works of art and mass produced (no matter how carefully and expensively) reproductions. Respectfully, Maria Arango, Printmaker www.1000woodcuts.com ------------------------------ From: "bemason" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 09:41:50 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14929] Archives Steve, We would like to write a little article about you and the Spencer and your intended use of the archives for educational purposes for the newsletter. Can you send me or email me info to put this togehter? Also some personal stuff about yourself? Any of course we want one of those dogs jpeged into the article. Can you send the jpeg to Julio Rodriguez at Julio.Rodriquez@walgreens.com for inclusion and maybe a picture of the Spencer if it is handy If you want to mail stuff, my address is Barbara Mason 4440 SW 198th Aloha OR 97007 Thanks for your help with this, we want to thank you and let the world know where the archives are! Barbara - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Goddard" To: Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:29 PM Subject: [Baren 14917] Re: giclees can be original prints. > > >Cone was a > >traditional printer that left it for computer printing and is very talented > >in the field. > > Yes, he once did a very nice edition of potato prints ( ! ) and now might > be considered as a new breed of master printer. > > Steve > > ------------------------------ From: "Bill H Ritchie Jr" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 09:44:57 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14930] Prints a Good Investment? charset="iso-8859-1" Emeralda Works Tip of the Day to You! (A play on the old expression, when two people meet, "Top of the day to you!") People might project themselves on to their art works. I think of myself like a slide projector--shining my inner "slide" of the world on to my block, on to my paper, on to my press or computer or whatever. If I am in a giclee manufacturing plant, the same idea holds true. It's the way I cultivate what is human about me--and most of my tips come from children or other as-yet sophisticated (a benefit of sophistry?) people. And, sometimes, birds. (I especially like crows. Around here, they are renown liars and braggarts.) My teacher, Rolf, said, "I am no machine!" and with that he dismissed the importance that all HIS prints be alike in an edition. By projecting ones self--one's best self--onto a printmakingn process, it remains fun, and fun or intriguing, beautiful, etc. to other people. I was amazed to read about a person whose parents spent $5K on a print! Wow! To me that is a LOT of money. I agreed, "Too bad . . ." but later I thought the collectors were having their own kind of fun--showing other people they had a lot of money and could spend it that way. Sure, it could backfire. When they have it appraised five years from now, an omniscient (there's a word you hardly ever get to use!) appraiser will say, "Oh, it's worth about $50 today. Add another $250 for the frame. . . ." It was fun while it lasted, I think it must be so. People--both artist and collector, appraiser and teacher, printer and publisher--all have the human right to project something onto the screen we behold. As I move through the spectrum of media arts--from old fashioned hand printing (it's been around 30,000 years at least) to the latest in DVD--those little baren-sized shiny discs that play back in most interesting ways--it's always the same. Project your self into the work you do, by hand, or with the involvement of machines, but never forget the human being we are. Mechanization CAN take command, and CAN hurt you--and all the children, too, in generations to come. Speaking of children and potato prints (did I spell potato correcly? I always have to look it up now), here's what happened to me one day. I was teaching our granddaughter how to make potato prints. I had a small, round red potato. I cut it in half to get started; I cut a hole in the middle. It would print a doughnut shape. Then I inked it with food coloring and started to show her the next step and she had eaten the other half! Ha ha. (BTW, thanks, Jeanne). - - Bill ------------------------------ From: Steve Goddard Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 11:43:30 -0500 Subject: [Baren 14931] Re: e-bay ad This link, drafted by the International Fine Print Dealer's Association, might be useful in this discussion: http://www.artline.com/associations/ifpda/text/whatisprint.html ------------------------------ From: "Gillyin Gatto" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 13:22:49 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14932] salon des refuse' print package arrived yesterday i was in the studio a separate building from my house so i didnt hear the car but when i went home there was a quite large priority packet in the hallway -i leave my doors open it had a tear about an inch and a half long but not enough to damage any of the wonderful prints thanks to Dan and all refuse'-ers for a very striking group of prints it is very much fun to participate in exchanges and to cut, print ,send and then get back a huge stack of amazing prints ! i have been showing my set of #9 to artist friends and its fun to learn to put the print with a name -a personality on the Baren i looked at Megan Dew's prints and am very impressed with her skills at age 12 BRAVO it shows that she has a very suitable/inspiring mentor gillyin machias me usa ------------------------------ From: "bemason" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 11:13:52 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14933] archives Hello all, sorry for sending the post to Steve to the whole list, you would think after three years I would know how to do this. Barbara ------------------------------ From: Steve Goddard Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:17:33 -0500 Subject: [Baren 14934] Re: archives At 11:13 AM 6/21/01 -0700, you wrote: > Hello all, >sorry for sending the post to Steve to the whole list I manage four lists and I still do it! Back to prints. Steve ------------------------------ From: "bemason" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 13:34:31 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14935] Re: e-bay ad Steve, This was great! Barbara From: "Steve Goddard" > This link, drafted by the International Fine Print Dealer's Association, > might be useful in this discussion: > http://www.artline.com/associations/ifpda/text/whatisprint.html > > ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 18:03:59 -0500 Subject: [Baren 14936] Re: cats & more cats.... 06/21/2001 06:03:55 PM Floating World Galleries (Chicago) has currently an online exhibit ( as well as many prints for sale on ebay) of japanese cat artist Tomoo Inagaki ( 1902-1980)..he is one my favorite contemporary and I happen to have one of his small cat prints given to me as a gift by a friend. Check it out you animal lovers !!!! http://www.floatingworld.com/thumbs_exh.cfm?qs_exh_Name=InagakiCat Kool Kats! Julio ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 16:35:11 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14937] exhibits charset="iso-8859-1" Also currently for those of you in MO and CO St. Louis Artist's Guild, June 22-July 12, Prints, Drawings & Pastels, Oak Knoll Park (corner of Big Bend and Clayton Rd.) in St. Louis Missouri. Two of my prints made it into the show, one with honorable mention. National Works on Paper Exhibition, June 22-July 8, CORE New Art Space in Denver Colorado (2045 Larimer St.). Also two prints won the luck of the draw. Much traveling coming up in the Fall season, I hope to see some Bareners out there. Seems like there are more and more of these paper or prints competitions/exhibitions going on, which is a good trend. Since woodcuts and wood engravings are a bit on the rare side, I encourage everyone to participate when possible. Maria ------------------------------ From: Sunnffunn@aol.com Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 22:41:32 EDT Subject: [Baren 14938] Re: more on giclees Excuse me but this woman that I know at the coast is sort of a friend and sort of an acquaintance. I heard she was doing these copies of her watercolors through the local book store, not through her. She is selling them at the local Saturday market and I have never had any control over anything this woman does. I called her a friend because I am friendly and people I meet and know over time seem to me to be friends, as are the bareners I enjoy so much. I can not control her but I can if I get a chanch try to educate her. But the buying public goes on vacation and wants "art" to take home and wants it cheap. This is what they buy?????? I can tell them all day long that it is not art and they will not listen because the dollar amount they pay is less. some with time will open up to understand and I hope listen as I attempt with all of the rest or you to educate the public about what they are buying. But these people who make copies are there and they call them prints and we can't stop them. The public thinks art should be cheap they even thinnk we should give it to them because we were given this talent and it is a gift we should some how share for free, not the hard work we all know it truly is. Barbara I was unaware that it was required in Oregon to put a statement of authencity on my prints, interesting. I will be doing it from now on for certain. Marilynn ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V15 #1467 ****************************