Baren Digest             Wednesday, 15 August 2001     Volume 16 : Number 1521


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From: Daniel Dew <ddew@tampabay.rr.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 10:56:14 -0400
Subject: [Baren 15384] The young Dr. Frankenstein 

Updates on my experiments this weekend.
If ya'll remember, I wanted the effect or look of a watercolor without using
the Hanga method.
I used Masa paper 'cause I have a lot of it.
I used my trusty Speedball Extender, just globbed out a bunch and added just
a tiny dab of ink.
It rolled out very sloppy and "smacked" extremely loud (Those who use a
brayer will understand), but went on the wood block very nicely (cherry
wood).
I then tried different amounts of pressure in transfering the ink to the
paper and found that the lighter the touch the better with a roller and
baren.  When I used a lot of pressure, the ink globbed out over the edges
and filled in too many areas meant to be clear.
The Masa paper worked like a charm and didn't buckle at all.
The effect was exactly what I was looking for, very soft and very lightly
tinted.
Now on to the next color!

dan dew 

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From: "Maria Arango" <maria@mariarango.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 09:10:45 -0700
Subject: [Baren 15385] cheap philosophies

Hello dear Bareners and forgive the long post that follows, but I just
_have_ to relate something about the experiences of my last two art
festivals, somewhat related to the "rules" thing and the "editioning" thing.
Mostly it is just a giddy rambling of nonsense, due to the high that comes
from putting in 10 14-hour days in sequence, bad sleep, and great driving.

I am starting to feel about organized printmaking like I do about organized
religion--a real good thing gone awry by the use of too many rules. Rules
are intended in good faith, I'm sure of it, and invented to reassure and
order, vindicate perhaps and even unite through the following of the written
dogma. Then there is real life. Perhaps this might explain better to some
why I have terminated some commitments.
I see printmakers, artists for that matter, of all walks of life being
restricted, no, constricted and stifled by RULES. Is not the creative
process supposed to be free and unrestricted? Is creativity not, in some
way, the complete opposite of formula-rules-based manufacturing, the very
process we spat on just a few weeks ago? Or perhaps the prescribed steps of
printmaking, of art, are different in some obscure way which escapes me
anymore, from the prescribed steps of the making of an iris reproduction?
Rules divide, exclude, limit, constrict, choke and kill.
When you are alone for a few days, especially driving through the heart of
Navajo lands in the Western US (or pick your own desert, any desert will
do), you get time to think and hopefully introspect upon the life you have
chosen and why you do the things you do. I am beginning to understand, Dave.
Editioning? This print has a number and is worth this much because there is
a rule that says so. This other exact print does not have a number and it is
not worth as much because there is a rule that says so. I am beginning to
understand.
Some people ask about those numbers, they do in fact. Would they recoil in
horror at the print they have stared at with glazed eyes for the past 10
minutes if I told them it was an unlimited edition? I print them, always
will, same image, same hand and sweat. Would they consider it a post card if
they saw the magic number exceed 200?

I met another woodcut printmaker in this past show, if he is listening to
Baren, please don't be offended. I forget the name. It was 9:20 Sunday
morning and I was so elated that another woodcut printmaker was in the same
show. He was disappointed at his Saturday sales, made a curt comment about
my prices and the fact that I was selling cards (unlimited editions,
unnumbered, unsigned, gasp!). An envious sort of disdain was in his face. I
wanted to see his work, selling in the $300-$600 range (my top price for a
framed 30" x 40" is $225). He commented his booth wasn't set up yet--the
show opened at 10:00; I had already made two sales, my little experience in
the business tells me early risers shop in the calm of the morning. I was
saddened, mostly about meeting another woodcut printmaker that wasn't all
that...nice. I thought we were all happy folk.

The rule, of course, is that we are artists and our intellectual property is
worth money. I look at the price list for the recent "prints, drawings, and
pastels" exhibit (St. Louis Artists' Guild). Some woodcuts are priced the
same as monoprints, some ink drawings are lower than etchings, some
charcoals are cheaper than my prints...how much money? Do sophisticated
collectors walk the art festivals? Will they ever? Do we really care so much
about these people that tow an ox-cart-full of rules with them? How much
money can we charge a 20-year old student who took a 24" x 32" framed print
on his bike or a waitress looking for a present for her parents?  "Hello,
this is my art, look but don't touch. You can't afford it, it's REAL ART!
Too bad." Pride and envy are two of the deadliest sins for the artist.

Fellow printmakers, there is nothing like the feeling of having a young
person walk into your booth and say: "I have to have that!" Care about them.
Get out there because people are hungry for art that is different and that
is fresh and that they haven't seen before. People are hungry for art that
they can afford but that doesn't have a Kachina doll and a lizard as the
main subjects (not that there is anything wrong with that, there is just a
lot of it out here). People are hungry for your art, your artist's soul on a
piece of paper. Give it to them, forget the rules and sell it to them at a
reasonable cost; they want your art. There is no merit, glory or honor in
being a poor and unseen artist weaving magic gold threads into perfect paper
and demanding recognition and reward. But you have to get out there and work
14-hour days and get up next weekend and do it again. And you have to open
your booth early and think of your audience when pricing...or you can cut
your ear off and let people speak about you after you are dead, if at all.

Upon returning from fantasy-land I found the returned packages from the St.
Louis Artist's Guild and the Hunterdon Museum of Art. Very nice to have been
shown in those fine exhibitions (and I mean this), and even got an award. I
followed all the rules in the respective prospectus, many many rules, among
them one that struck me: "pack art with at least three inches of
non-foam-peanut packing on all sides." I pictured a little old lady, a
volunteer of course, measuring with a ruler on one hand and a huge REJECTED
stamp on the other. Guess I passed the packing test this time...whew!
Prospectus for exhibitions are perhaps the most lucid example of the rules
we make for ourselves. "Work must be delivered between 10:00 and 12:00 in a
reusable sturdy carton with the name of the artist clearly printed on the
outside, no crates, no plastic peanuts, no no no no no no no no no no no
no...."
Great to be shown amongst other works on paper lovers, but my art is back
here and it does not belong with me. I was through with it the minute I
finished printing and now I want it out there with whomever wishes to hang
it on their wall or collect it in their drawers. Anywhere but here with me.

So anyhow, limit the edition (less than 200!!!!!!) and the type of paper and
the pigments or inks and the imagery and the audience and the collector base
and the competitions and the folks to hang with and the way to print and the
tools (most of all the tools) and the type of wood and everything else. Oh,
and don't forget to be creative.
I will stay here in my crazy world and begin to get ready for the next
20,000 people that will walk by my art, sitting next to the purse maker, the
jeweler, the happy charcoal guy that "does" wolves, the potter and the
weaver, that metal sculptor that uses tractor parts...all of us out in a
rule-less world, sharing our art with a rule-less crowd, free as birds
singing our songs at sunrise, happy as an artist can possibly be.

Much health to all,
Maria

"Others may argue about whether the world ends with a bang or a whisper. I
just want to make sure that mine doesn't end with a whine."  --Barbara
Gordon

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Maria Arango
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
http://www.1000woodcuts.com
maria@mariarango.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


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From: Chris Bremmer <cbremmer@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 09:23:34 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Baren 15386] Re: cheap philosophies 

I've only posted a couple times in the last few years, but
Maria's post certainly deserved a reply.

YAAAY! Maria!!

That post made my day.

Chris
(another "rule-less" artist)



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From: "Jeanne Norman Chase" <studiojnc@prodigy.net>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 16:48:10 -0400
Subject: [Baren 15387] Re: The young Dr. Frankenstein
Dan

What kind of ink are you using to get that water color effect?
I am also using Masa paper, I really like it. Do you use the smooth or rough
side?
Also using cherry. It cuts so clean.
Have my first block ready to go, tore the paper, layed out the ink and
tomorrow is the day.
You arent using Speedball ink are you?  I am using Daniel Smith woodblock
ink and some etching ink also.

Jeanne N.



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From: Princess Rashid <prashid@worldnet.att.net>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 16:43:53 -0400
Subject: [Baren 15388] Re: cheap philosophies 

Thank you Maria,  I definitely needed to hear that .  I especially like your Van
Gogh reference...really makes sense..

 "you have to open your booth early and think of your audience when pricing...or
you can cut your ear off and let people speak about you after you are dead, if
at all."

 Princess



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From: Kris Alder <krisalder@cc.usu.edu>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 14:51:15 -0600
Subject: [Baren 15389] RE: cheap philosophies 

Hi All,

Thank you, Maria, for again brightening my day with your frankness!  I have no 
doubt that there are more of us who feel the way that you do, yet do not share 
the opinion openly.  Some perhaps because of fear of being scrutinized by 
those who "make the rules," and some who simply haven't found the words within 
themselves to explain in such eloquent terms as we have received from you.  
You are truly in a unique situation to make observances and share your 
experiences. Thank you for doing so freely.

It is liberating to know that other artists find all of the rule-setting and 
regulating to be confining.  Talk about working in a vaccuum!  While I 
understand some need for "standards" in the fine art world, I sometimes feel 
as if we are asked to cut off our noses to spite our faces.

Dan, I'm glad to hear that you are having success in your experiments!  I have 
to say that I am a bit envious of the time you are spending right now.  Since 
finishing exchange 10, I have been neck-deep in preparations for the upcoming 
school year, and all of the accompanying challenges teaching brings.  I am 
seriously craving more time in the studio--once the next couple of weeks are 
over and we get settled in to the new academic year!

Kris

*****************************************
Kristine Alder  
Printmaker/Art Educator/Book Artist
Logan, UT   USA
email: krisalder@cc.usu.edu
       imakeprints@hotmail.com
*****************************************


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From: Daniel Dew <ddew@tampabay.rr.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 17:03:43 -0400
Subject: [Baren 15390] Re: The young Dr. Frankenstein 

Someday I will figure out what the heck the deal is with the Speedball ink.
i.e. why does everyone turn their nose up at me when I mention I use them?
It's the only ink I've ever used and I love it.  I've tried others and I
don't like them.  Is it just 'cause they are "kiddy inks"?  Or is there
really a difference?

Maybe there will be a day when Speedball actually contacts me to use my
images, they ought to with all the bullheaded bragging I do about their
product.

dan dew

> From: "Jeanne Norman Chase" <studiojnc@prodigy.net>

> Subject: [Baren 15387] Re: The young Dr. Frankenstein
> 
> Dan
> 
> What kind of ink are you using to get that water color effect?
> I am also using Masa paper, I really like it. Do you use the smooth or rough
> side?
> Also using cherry. It cuts so clean.
> Have my first block ready to go, tore the paper, layed out the ink and
> tomorrow is the day.
> You arent using Speedball ink are you?  I am using Daniel Smith woodblock
> ink and some etching ink also.
> 
> Jeanne N.
> 
> 


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From: "Raymond L. Hamilton" <rham@bellatlantic.net>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 16:58:58 -0400
Subject: [Baren 15391] Re: cheap philosophies 

(Maria,) Right on!  You are an inspiration. thanks



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End of Baren Digest V16 #1521
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