Baren Digest Wednesday, 13 February 2002 Volume 18 : Number 1718 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: slinders@attbi.com Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 07:41:41 -0600 Subject: [Baren 16950] Eastern Europe/art supplies Sharri, My cousin and her husband have traveled and worked throughout Eastern Europe. She will put a message out on her Eastern European list, but I'm feeling that you should compose this message for her to list unless you've already found an explanation. You could be more specific in explaining what you need than I can. Please let me know either by sending your 'composed text' to me or let me know if you already have your answer. Best wishes! Sharen - ------ Sharon, it may not work for them to order and have people/an organization here pay. But if you want a "query" to go out on H-Russia, compose the text(!) and I will forward it. Name the organization that's doing this, and be as specific as possible about the request for info. Dianne - ------------ barebonesart wrote: > > Is anyone on this list from Eastern Europe? Where do you purchase art > supplies? Do you know of any good internet purchasing sites? A group I'm > affiliated with collected money to help a group of artists from Kazakhstan > and now they're trying to figure out how to use it. I wondered if there is > an internet site they could access to order what they need and we could > provide a gift certificate. Or, do any of you have an idea for solving this > problem? I apologize for this not being a relief printmaking problem, but > one of the artists is a printmaker - does that count? :>) I didn't know > where to go for help, and thought it might be right here with all of you > generous, genius, giving Baren Members. > > Sharri ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 09:07:27 -0600 Subject: [Baren 16951] Re: Baren Digest V18 #1716 At 10:51 AM 2/12/2002 +0900, Graham Scholes wrote: >From: Graham >Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 17:51:05 -0800 >Subject: [Baren 16942] Quality & Exchanges- > >Its been a good can of worms Dan. > >I am coming out of the shadows and offer suggestions and experience with >regards to exchanges and quality issue. I appreciated Dan's and Graham's thoughts on exchanges, adjudication, and quality. Still, it wouldn't hurt us to suggest some guidelines for participants. Although obvious to many of us, we might offer the most basic suggestions, like: "Please submit prints which a) conform to the requirements of the exchange (size, technique, etc.), b) are as well crafted as possible, c) are as alike as possible, and d) are clean front and back (hanga print-through excepted). Prints containing obvious defects should not be included." Just publishing something like that on each exchange page might focus less experienced participants and improve the overall technical quality of our exchanges without affecting content or creativity. Mike P.S. I'm with Julio on the hanga question. I'd LOVE to participate in a hanga-only exchange. That would be GREAT !! Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon@mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 09:14:24 -0600 Subject: [Baren 16952] Exchane #12 Status... Horacio Soares Neto -- your prints have arrived safe and sound. But I didn't find any return postage? Still waiting, waiting, waiting for: 00. PORTFOLIO BOXES !! 09. Eli Griggs 14. Dimitris Grammatikopulos 19. Murilo Pereira 25. Ruth Leaf 29. Kristine Alder Mike Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon@mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: "Bill H Ritchie Jr" Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 09:43:47 -0800 Subject: [Baren 16953] Baren Digest V18 #1717 - Calligraphy Ed Kim Medina passed along the calligraphy education dilemma Kim makes a good point, and well taken. After awhile I think every art, craft and design form (those three boxes are not MY distinctions, by the way, but the 20th Century art education cubby-holing that's part of the cause of today's art ed failure) will join the chorus and cry for help. So, too, for dance, poetry, and etcetera. My contention is that if Masters of printmaking and calligraphy--to focus on two--would allow their knowledge, skill and attitude to be digitized, so to speak (let our fingers do the talkin') then the bedraggled, overworked and underpaid teachers could distribute more to their students. Even home school teachers could bring home DVDs to either teach themselves how to teach and think about art processes from the horses' mouths. Another new item to note is the e-book. I was just trying one out yesterday--a new thing for me to learn that combines the Adobe Acrobat style of on-screen learning to a more selective one. Visualize an e-book on woodcut, or calligraphy you can get for $1.75, or join a club for $17.50/year. The tiniest niche could be a book, like "Everything you need to know about a baren but were afraid to ask." As for motion and sound, that is already available on the Web and in such places as WebTV. I'm betting on, and investing in, DVD because it doesn't require a computer and modem. Fifty-four million DVD players have been sold, and those are pre-Christmas estimates. So, calligraphers and printmakers, take heart. Our arts are not isolated in the same way painting and drawing are (to which our favorite media are often mistakenly compared) because process and product are intertwined and reflexive. This is why they lend themselves to art education on line and on discs. Here's an interesting note on Distance Education: INSTRUCTORS IN DISTANCE-EDUCATION PROGRAMS taught more courses in 1998 than their counterparts who taught in classrooms only, yet were as likely or more likely to express satisfaction with their workloads, according to a report released on Monday by the U.S. Department of Education. --> SEE http://chronicle.com/free/2002/02/2002021201u.htm If you want to learn more about art education on-line, keep in touch with me. Bill H. Ritchie, Jr 500 Aloha #105 Seattle WA 98109 (206) 285-0658 mailto:ritchie@seanet.com Web sites: Professional: www.seanet.com/~ritchie Virtual Gallery and E-Store: www.myartpatron.com First Game Portal: www.artsport.com ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 14:14:38 -0600 Subject: [Baren 16954] Re: misquoted!!!! 02/12/2002 02:14:41 PM Sharri...sorry, my mistake, the original quote is Josephines', which by the way I agree with her statements regarding #12-Flora. - -------------------- "Sharri writes speaking about the flora exchange: "...But I felt that on the whole the package was nowhere near as good as the 'junin' set, which is the other baren set I had. So, when I got home, I pulled both sets out and- -" No, no, it wasn't me that said that. I wasn't in the flora exchange so I know nothing about it. I am innocent of this transgression (?)!" - --------------- sorry for the confusion....Julio ------------------------------ From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Hor=E1cio_Soares?= Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 18:36:34 -0300 Subject: [Baren 16955] Re: Exchange #12 Status... Mike I sent my prints by FedEx and they dont accept return postage for individuals, only firms. in my country it is very complicated and bureaucratic to send money abroad, so I am doing the same as I did in previous exchanges: you will receive in the next days an envelope with the money. Thank you. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Lyon" To: ; Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 12:14 PM Subject: [Baren 16952] Exchane #12 Status... > Horacio Soares Neto -- your prints have arrived safe and sound. But I > didn't find any return postage? > > Still waiting, waiting, waiting for: > > 00. PORTFOLIO BOXES !! > 09. Eli Griggs > 14. Dimitris Grammatikopulos > 19. Murilo Pereira > 25. Ruth Leaf > 29. Kristine Alder > > Mike > > Mike Lyon > mailto:mikelyon@mlyon.com > http://www.mlyon.com > ------------------------------ From: Printmaker Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 10:39:04 +1100 Subject: [Baren 16956] exchange discussion Julio wrote (on baren) "There are some wonderful exchanges going on at Print Australia and they have a different approach to running them that what was established here at Baren a while back. For example in PA they have certain exchanges only for Australian artists and just recently I believe they are introducing a "selection" process prior to acceptance to the exchanges. This in order to weed out inferior prints and other problems like what we are discussing here. I think is great that many folks participate in both forums (Baren & PA) and take advantage of the many exchange opportunities available." Thanks for this Julio. Print AUstralia exists to promote Australian printmaking, its the only list that does. So yes, of course we are running Australian only exchanges. But we do much more than that. Those who have run one, know, that running an exchange is a huge job, with lots of problems. Over the past two years I have reviewed the process and experimented with ways to reduce the problematic side of things. Problems like late prints, prints that don't meet the requirements, people dropping out for whatever reason, people sending insufficient postage, hassles with the post and so on. Participants have been consulted for their opinions about what they would like. But at the end of the day, the decision about how the exchanges are conducted is mine. For example, my decision to reduce the number to a maximum of 20. 20 is the average size of past PA exchanges because we still don't have as many aussies on PA as there are yanks on baren, and the aussie-only exchanges bring the stats down. But the main reason is the amount of work involved, its 30% less work to track 20 people as it is 30. And, as the problems are usually people problems, this means less problems. One major issue for me is that we don't duplicate effort. Baren runs woodblock print exchanges open to everyone. Pa runs all printmaking media exchanges open to everyone, but giving emphasis to Australia. My point is not to make critical comparisons between the two lists, but to emphasise that they are _complementary_ to each other, not in competition. Baren is selective in its enrolling process too, the first week of sign on is for those who weren't in the last exchange, and if someone drops out, replacements are recruited and selected by the co-ordinator. It all depends on how you interpret 'selective'. For this last exchange, dreams, the decision was taken that IF the exchange oversubscribed, we would give priority to those who hadnt been in an exchange before, just as baren does. The dreams exchange is the last PA exchange in this format. In the future, I will be using a completely different process to set up and run the exchanges. No, I'm not going to tell you what that will be, I'll announce that on PA when the time is right. Julio also said "Sharri writes speaking about the flora exchange: "...But I felt that on the whole the package was nowhere near as good as the 'junin' set, which is the other baren set I had. So, when I got home, I pulled both sets out and had a look. The junin prints were far superior as a group than flora. I was very disappointed. When I signed on to flora I was envisioning all those subtly beautiful hanga flower prints." That wasnt Sharri, Julio, it was I. Some of you raised the issue of juried shows and exhibitions generally. For some, motivation to participate also includes a hope of having work exhibited in new venues. Who you are exhibited with, and where, is fundamental to professional development. How does that saying go, 'lay down with dogs and walk away with fleas'? A number of people have commented to me, privately, that they would not particpate in exchanges because they were concerned about their professional reputation and not wanting their work hung with art below their standards. HAving access to the PA exchange archive gives me an opportunity to look at the prints in the flesh and from a curator's point of view. Having the responsibility of displaying the work doesnt give me the choice to cull poor prints, as at PA the deal is that _everyone_ is included, democratically. So ensuring quality is an issue and a responsibility for me. That's why, overall, I can confidently state an opinion that the standard of prints on PA is higher, its been organised that way. And it will get higher yet, when the new exchanges are introduced. Josephine ------------------------------ From: GraphChem@aol.com Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 21:10:34 EST Subject: [Baren 16957] Re: Baren Digest V18 #1710 Diane - Actually, the 18 gauge Economy Copper is not only less expensive than the other copper choices, but it will do just fine for drypoints. If you were doing a large edition I'd recommend the 16 gauge (thicker), but with a drypoint, long editions aren't likely. Good luck Dean ------------------------------ From: "April Vollmer" Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 22:27:58 -0500 Subject: [Baren 16958] Buy this Book! I just got a nice e-mail from a publisher in Hawaii, who carries Rebecca Salter's book. The link is http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/cgi/dbi.cgi?FILE=&CGI=desc.pl&KEYW0=0-8248-255 3-5 if anyone is interested. I don't want to take business away from Alex Prentis at McClains, though! She carries it as well. But everyone interested in Japanese woodcut should get this book. University of Hawai'i Press has some other interesting titles on Japanese woodcut, too. Princess, I regret to say, I won't make it to New Orleans. I couldn't find enough friends to go with, so decided I should focus on a show I have coming up at the same time. Anyone around New York is invited to my opening April 12. I'll post details closer to the date. I'll definitely make it to the Boston meeting of the Southern Graphics Council NEXT year. Please send us a report on the meeting in New Orleans. And Louise Cass, you wrote to ask about Provincetown prints. I saw a nice show of Provincetown Prints in Boston, along with a larger woodcut show. http://www.aprilvollmer.com/mixit/FrameSet.htm has some pictures I took in the museum. The Provincetown prints are made by putting one color at a time on a discrete part of the block. It is a technique that was inspired by Japanese woodblock technique, but simplifies it by using just one block. It has white lines around each color area. April www.aprilvollmer.com ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V18 #1718 *****************************