Baren Digest                Thursday, 1 May 2003        Volume 23 : Number 2209


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From: Cyndy Wilson <crwilson#icehouse.net>
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 13:55:27 -0700
Subject: [Baren 21406] Re:   Eric Gill 

Great to hear from you Andy!!

Cyndy

on 4/28/03 3:50 PM, Andy English at a.english#virgin.net wrote:


> He was definitely one of the greats. One of the recent Society of Wood
> Engravers picnics was at "Piggots", Gill's last home. Standing in the room
> he cut his blocks, you could sense the old boy lurking there. Would love to
> see that exhibition.
> 
> I'm till out here - starting to work again after a long time not working.
> Hope to send something to an exchange one of these years. Love to all,
> 
> Andy
> 
> 



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From: JMartin906#aol.com
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:49:52 EDT
Subject: [Baren 21407] carpel tunnel 


Hi, Janet,

I had carpel (carple?) tunnel syndrome when I was pregnant and it continued 
during the time my son was a little kid (while I carried him around a lot 
with one arm).  I was able to get a lot of relief from having a cortisone 
shot in the troublesome area every six months -  for a year or so.  I did 
have to change the way I did things.  Now, (21 years later) I can still get 
twinges and prickles in my fingers and that is the message to stop doing 
repetative things involving my wrist as well as doing other things that can 
cause swelling.  For me that includes eating salty food.  I feel I can pretty 
easily co-exist with the problem.  So, I'd recommend cortisone shots, resting 
your wrists--for weeks-- and physical therapy, before considering surgery.  
Good luck to you.  I bet this is a problem that can be solved, one way or 
another.

Suzi



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From: "Chris Bailey @ Support Local Art" <Chris.Bailey#SupportLocalArt.com>
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:45:45 -0600
Subject: [Baren 21408] Thanks everyone, answers to a few questions and more about the rotary tool 

Thank you everyone who responded to my 'newbie' questions  (James, Jan,
Carol, Sharri, and Andy - hopefully I didn't miss anyone - if I did I
apologise, I read most of the responses from 'my day job', and couldn't
respond from there). 

I've never been part of an online group or anything like this before.
I've taken a look at some of the newsgroups and such online, but have
always been turned off by the immaturity, way-off-topic postings, spam,
flaming and general lack of respect shown towards others.  None of that
here, just honest advice from people trying to help each other out -
"it's a good thing"  (sorry, I thought I was Martha Stewart for a second
there :-)

****

I was asked about whether I use any other tools or just the high-speed
rotary, and the answer is - I do have a set of 'micro' hand gouges &
tools that I bought.  I realize that there is a learning curve to use
them, but I just found I wasn't getting the results that I was looking
for and it just seem that the grain of the wood was getting in the way.
Some people really enjoy working 'with' the grain (and produce some
fabulous results), but I always felt that it was a battle between the
image I wanted to create and the image the wood was going to let me
have.  I have very specific ideas for what I want the results to be
(more of the Escher influence, maybe?).   I tried to find some end-grain
wood to try engraving, but couldn't immediately find any - I'm not a
'order and wait' kind of person.

In my searching for prints, artists, ideas, and tools on the internet I
came across mention of the 'turbo carver' (previously poorly named the
'dental drill').  After more searching I found the website -
www.turbocarver.com and after even more searching I found a distributor
in Calgary.  (ps. I already forward this information to Janet earlier
today, in case it might help her out).    

It works great for what I want and I really feel it will allow me to
create the prints that I envision.  There are other models that can be
purchased a jewellery supply stores, but I found them to be much more
expensive (great places to buy various bits though - they also sell all
kinds other useful items like large magnifying glasses on stands, etc,
which may be useful for others out there interested in doing high detail
work).   

There are only 2 problems that I have found with the tool - the sound
and the other sound.  Sound 1 - the tool is air powered, so you need a
compressor.  It uses quite a bit of air, so a tank won't do (unless VERY
large).   Sound 2 - spinning at 450,000 it sounds almost exactly like a
dentists drill.   I put my compressor (w/small tank) in the basement and
ran a 50' air hose up the stairs to my work room.  For sound 2, I listen
to music using full size headphones.  You also need to wear a mask
because the dust that it creates is extremely fine (and probably not the
best idea to be breathing it).

*****

As for other prints -  none right now, but I'm now setup and ready to
get going.  I do have a lino cut that I quite like, but unfortunately
it's not on my website.   I also signed up for Baren's exchange #17
today, but I don't know if I'm officially on the list (my fingers are
crossed).  

*****

Acid free paper -  based on everyone's responses, I'm going to look into
finding some new paper.  One of the things that I liked about the rice
paper is that is came precut in 9' x 13' sheets.  The other papers I
looked at came in full size sheets (22" x 40" or something like that).
I find cutting paper down to size very fidgety and annoying - I'm using
a cutting matt, ruler and knife.  Any suggestions in regards to cutting,
or should I be able to find good quality precut papers?

*****

As for the Babbling Brook print - as I said it's the park behind my
house.  There are about 500 houses that also back onto the same park (it
winds partway though my community).   I created a flyer and distributed
to about 70 of the houses on the park (I don't know how the mail people
do it - only 430 to go :-).  I hand signed the flyer to get a little
more 'respect'.  So far, I've sold 1 print due to the flyer.  Has anyone
else tried this?  Any other suggestions?  

Calgary has almost 1,000,000 people but is very limited in its art
culture.  I asked around at a few of the local art supply stores and
they suggest 'flea markets' on the weekends.  That didn't really appeal
to me - which I why I started the online gallery
(www.supportlocalart.com) in hopes that it might inspire all kinds of
arts to come out of the woodwork (pun intended in this case).    

*****

I promise that I'll keep the new one shorter.  I think I'm running out
of ()'s anyway  :-)

Thanks again everyone,

=Chris=



   
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End of Baren Digest V23 #2209
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