Baren Digest                Sunday, 27 July 2003        Volume 24 : Number 2319


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From: David Bull <davebull#woodblock.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 10:09:40 +0900
Subject: [Baren 22357] Woodcuts in today's newspaper ... 

Story in today's newspaper about a new woodcut illustrated book:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fb20030727a1.htm

No illustrations there, but the publisher has a page:
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~alis/konjaku/index.html
(all in Japanese but anyway, you can see the illustrations ...)

Dave


------------------------------

From: Myron Turner <mturner#Ms.UManitoba.CA>
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 20:46:36 -0500
Subject: [Baren 22358] Re: Woodcuts in today's newspaper ...


Twenty-seven years ago Naoko Matsubara, the illustator of this book, showed 
here at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in a two-person show with Munakata--she 
looked on Munakata as her mentor, and it was through her that I first 
learned about Munakata, whose work I fell in love with the first moment I 
saw it.

Myron



At 08:09 PM 26/07/2003, you wrote:

>Story in today's newspaper about a new woodcut illustrated book:
>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fb20030727a1.htm
>
>No illustrations there, but the publisher has a page:
>http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~alis/konjaku/index.html
>(all in Japanese but anyway, you can see the illustrations ...)
>
>Dave




------------------------------

From: Sharri LaPierre <Barebonesart#comcast.net>
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 22:27:12 -0700
Subject: [Baren 22359] Re: Baren Digest V24 #2318 

To see some interesting work going on in the digital arena check out 
the work being done at Digital Atelier, a "studio" consisting of Dot 
Krause, Karen Schminke and and Bonny Lhotka.  They are doing some 
fantastic things and have written a book entitled "The New Printmaker: 
Techniques for combining traditional and digital media".  It is 
scheduled for release by Watson-Guptill in the Spring of 2004.  These 
women are printmakers who are making original prints using the computer 
and printer - not reproductions of paintings - very interesting stuff 
which will make you rethink  giclee prints as only good for making 
reproductions of paintings and drawings :-) Here's the link to the 
Digital Atelier site: http://www.digitalatelier.com

Sharri


------------------------------

From: Jan Telfer <jtelfer#iinet.net.au>
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 14:21:55 +0800
Subject: [Baren 22360] Re: Curtin Uni Exhibition 

Dear Myron,

Thank you for posting these four examples of the artists involved at 
Curtin.

The Oggier print is almost  the same format (no red) as the one in the 
exhibition and if there were more like this overall then I would have 
been less "critical" of the whole exhibition in general!  The other 
three Simonin's examples of her work were similar to those I 
experienced.  There were many others like them.

I came away from the exhibition thinking " why am I spending all this 
time carving intricate blocks trying to perfect the thinnest most 
intricate detail like the Japanese print forebares in technical skills 
in modern design when I can just slap together one like these"..... I 
took myself off and had a long cafe latte and waited for the rain to 
stop before going to the carpark.   The coffee gave me a "warmer" 
feeling than the exhibition!!

Maybe I will "chuck" in a few googlies from time to time and see if 
they "sell" quicker than my 3o hours of carving ones!

Selling commercial prints also came "home to me"  recently when we were 
in the far north of Western Australia for our son's wedding and my 
younger daughter wanted to buy a commercial print of Helen Norton's who 
used to live there, but now lives in Vanuatu to save her food money 
from the tax man!  Nicki bought several postcards which she has had 
mounted and framed by my framer because she liked the simple comic 
whimsical content of them.  At the framers, George had more of Helen's 
prints in A4 (page ) size framed and she wanted one (which had been 
signed by the artist) for her birthday.... "Cocky and Wildflowers".... 
so I obliged for my discount price of $150Aust.  .... the same price I 
am able to sell my unframed woodblocks for, but admittedly her market 
is bigger and more publicised and I am a "kept woman" now!!  Helen 
sells her originals that size and bigger for the thousands..... I think 
I will go back to painting with a big brush!  Her website:

http:// www.cockatoogallery.com.au

Enjoy,
Jan  (Perth, W Aust)

On Saturday, July 26, 2003, at 09:00  PM, 
owner-baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp wrote:


> Jan wrote of her disappointment with the print exhibition at Curtin
> University.  To begin with, I was curious about the artists who were 
> making
> the woodblocks, so I checked out the names on Google.  While I couldn't
> find any examples of his woodblocks, it turns out the Franz 
> Eggenschwiler
> was one of the most important Swiss artists of his generation, as well
> respected as the more internationally known Dieter-Roth.  I was, 
> however,
> able to find examples of work by Francine Simonin, who teaches in 
> Quebec,
> and by Renato Oggier.  Personally, I thought their work was 
> interesting.
>
> The Oggier print is at:
>          http://www.room535.org/misc/Oggier.jpg
> The Simonin print is at:
>          http://www.room535.org/misc/simonin-print.jpg
> In addition to Simonin's print, I've also posted two works by her, one 
> a
> sumi-like ink drawing and the other a painting:
>          http://www.room535.org/misc/simonin-ptg.jpg
>          http://www.room535.org/misc/simonin-brush.jpg
> What's interesting to me is that Simonin's print is a reflection of her
> painting.  One of the unfortunate aspects of a show dedicated to
> printmaking is that often it removes an artist's prints from the 
> context of
> the larger body of the artist's work, within which it is more fully
> understood.  Something similar occurs in many print competitions.  You 
> send
> in (usually) three slides and your money.  On the basis of that 
> fragment
> information the juror has to make a judgment.  In some international 
> print
> competitions, they ask whether you've ever been in any other 
> international
> competitions and whether you've every won prize.  I suppose that helps 
> make
> the the jury's task simpler--sort of like being seeded in tennis.  But
> again that hasn't very much to do with the artist's work, much less 
> with
> the aesthetic context from which it takes its life.
>
> Myron
>



------------------------------

From: Myron Turner <mturner#Ms.UManitoba.CA>
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 05:52:32 -0500
Subject: [Baren 22361] Re: Curtin Uni Exhibition 

Hi Jan,

I think the issue is what I called "context" in my original post.  The 
Japanese tradition you are measuring yourself against places high value on 
craftsmanship and technique.  So, it becomes important for you to "perfect 
the thinnest most intricate detail".  Earlier this year some people were 
admiring prints for how many lines of hair an artist was able to carve in a 
given space.  To another artist this might be like counting how many angels 
are on the head of a pin.  I also recall someone on the list deriding 
Munsch for being a sloppy and careless printer.  But Munsch's woodblocks 
are very much in keeping with his lithographs and paintings.  And the way 
he saw things had an impact on the way the west saw things after him--which 
is of course always the way with great artists.  He was able to achieve in 
his prints the effects necessary to his vision, and refined craftsmanship 
as not part of that vision.

I took a look at the Helen Norton site.  I am not entirely clear whether 
you are critical or admiring of her work.  I have a feeling that you have 
placed her in the camp of poor printmaking craftsmanship and slap-dash 
("big brush") painters.    Perhaps the question about her work has nothing 
to do with such issues as "big brush"; Philip Guston, one of the great 20th 
Century American painters used a big brush.  Instead I would say that the 
trouble with Norton's work is that it tends to be facile and sentimental, 
sort of like those hoards of toddlers with big eyes, which I referred to in 
an earlier post, and which used to be popular in the U.S.

Myron

At 01:21 AM 27/07/2003, you wrote:

>Dear Myron,
>
>Thank you for posting these four examples of the artists involved at Curtin.
>
>The Oggier print is almost  the same format (no red) as the one in the 
>exhibition and if there were more like this overall then I would have been 
>less "critical" of the whole exhibition in general!  The other three 
>Simonin's examples of her work were similar to those I experienced.  There 
>were many others like them.
>
>I came away from the exhibition thinking " why am I spending all this time 
>carving intricate blocks trying to perfect the thinnest most intricate 
>detail like the Japanese print forebares in technical skills in modern 
>design when I can just slap together one like these"..... me a "warmer" 
>feeling than the exhibition!!
>
>Selling commercial prints also came "home to me"  recently when we were in 
>the far north of Western Australia for our son's wedding and my younger 
>daughter wanted to buy a commercial print of Helen Norton's


>and she wanted one (which had been signed by the artist) for her 
>birthday.... "Cocky and Wildflowers".... so I obliged for my discount 
>price of $150Aust.  .... the same price I am able to sell my unframed 
>woodblocks for, but admittedly her market is bigger



>   Helen sells her originals that size and bigger for the thousands..... I 
> think I will go back to painting with a big brush!  Her website:
>
>http:// www.cockatoogallery.com.au
>
>Enjoy,
>Jan  (Perth, W Aust)


>>I was
>>able to find examples of work by Francine Simonin, who teaches in Quebec,
>>and by Renato Oggier.  Personally, I thought their work was interesting.
>>
>>The Oggier print is at:
>>          http://www.room535.org/misc/Oggier.jpg
>>The Simonin print is at:
>>          http://www.room535.org/misc/simonin-print.jpg
>>In addition to Simonin's print, I've also posted two works by her, one a
>>sumi-like ink drawing and the other a painting:
>>          http://www.room535.org/misc/simonin-ptg.jpg
>>          http://www.room535.org/misc/simonin-brush.jpg
>>What's interesting to me is that Simonin's print is a reflection of her
>>painting.  One of the unfortunate aspects of a show dedicated to
>>printmaking is that often it removes an artist's prints from the context of
>>the larger body of the artist's work, within which it is more fully
>>understood.


>>Myron



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End of Baren Digest V24 #2319
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