Baren Digest Monday, 4 August 2003 Volume 24 : Number 2327 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Lyon Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 09:41:49 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22420] Re: Lynd Ward At 07:43 AM 8/3/2003 -0400, John Center wrote: >Money fits the def. of a print edition known number of copies, all are >numbered and has a signature. John, you cracked me up with this one! LOL! Of course you are exactly correct! Limited edition portraits of dead presidents, and when it's in short supply, prices go up! :-) - -- Mike Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: Margaret Szvetecz Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 08:03:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Baren 22421] favorite artists When I first began to study art (in my early 30s), I was very attracted to the work of Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, and Jennifer Bartlett. My original interest was fueled by reproductions of their prints and paintings in books. Since then, I've seen some original works of these threee artists in museums and galleries, and count myself lucky for the experience. Margaret M. Szvetecz margarszv#earthlink.net ------------------------------ From: "carol wagner" Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 08:31:18 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22422] Favorites and influences Thank you John for asking about influences, Mine is A rather eclectic list...in printmaking, West ; Daumier, Goya , some early unknown 17th etchers of the the Dutch school- I once saw an etching of trees in the vault of an art dealer friend that made me understand what graphic communication could accomplish in the hands of a craftsman with soul, and this was the first art , outside of some of Paul Klee's paintings that I actually coveted! Durer's woodcuts that have always driven me mad trying to grapple with the hows of cutting fine line, MC Escher for intrigue of design,and Kathe Kolwitz for her powerful portrayal of humanities injustice to humanity. In printmaking, East: Hokusai's One Hundred Views of Mt Fuji, all in sumi, with no color...amazing, endlessly amazing... In painting, Paul Klee (I found his "The Thinking eye", and "The Nature of Nature" , seminal works, in 1964). The last few years it has been the anonymous Maya 'itsat' of the Yucatan and Chiapas, Also the ethnically unknown people who founded the first truly multi-ethnic city in the Americas,Teotihuac‡n,located near present day Mexico city, and the enigmatic Olmeca, another archeological puzzle, whose powerful remains in Jade, and sculpture,exhibit an austere elegance beyond our present culture's ken. By the by, Barbara, the paper arrived day before yesterday. Thank you! I am printing as fast as I can... Carol in Sacramento ------------------------------ From: Aqua4tis#aol.com Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 13:24:55 EDT Subject: [Baren 22423] Re: Lynd Ward john im curious do you have a link to any of tim coles work? id love to see it thanks georga ------------------------------ From: James G Mundie Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 14:51:22 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22424] Re: inspiration Gayle said: > The artist who drew Felix the Cat inspired me toward black and white > bold design. When I do woodcuts, the comic books of my past seem to > prod me to work the way I do. That's quite a coincidence, because I too trace my first design influences to the early animated cartoons (including "Felix the Cat", early Disney and Warner Bros., etc.) and newspaper comics ("The Yellow Kid", "Little Nemo", "Krazy Kat", etc.). I was fascinated by the subtle balance of black and white, and was drawn to certain artists because of that. At the age of seven or eight I discovered Albrecht Durer in one of my father's old art history texts from college, but I don't think I quite understood that these were prints - or what prints were. At the time, they just looked like really refined drawings to me. Probably the first woodcut that I recognized as such was a piece by Felix Vallaton, who carried that art nouveau style into his work with restrained simplicity. Above all I loved clean lines combined with well-observed detail, so I placed Will Eisner ("The Spirit") in a lofty category with Durer, Alphonse Mucha, Mantegna, M.C. Escher, Martin Schoengauer, the Master E.S., R. Crumb, and Edward Gorey. In time, my love of line helped me develop an appreciation for Japanese ukiyo-e work, but while I enjoyed an Utamaro, I _loved_ a Kuniyoshi - probably because the heightened action reminded me of the comics. This still holds true for me today. As my own hand became more assured and I had access to larger art libraries, I discovered a deep love for northern Renaissance artists such as Vermeer, Van Eyck, and Holbein - whose "Dance of Death" woodcuts I rank among the most beautifully executed designs ever, and all the more so because they are woodcuts. Color has always been a secondary consideration for me, which may be why the warm colors and lush compositions of the Italian Renaissance often failed to move me as much as the cooler eye of their Dutch counterparts. Now, of course, I embrace them all equally, but formative impressions are hard to shake. And the fact that the Italian Renaissance is not particularly well known for woodcuts does not speak well for the movement ;-D. Likewise, it took me time to invite brash German expressionists with their "clumsy" "hacked" marks into my select club, but Kathe Kollwitz knocked on my door and invited in all of her messy Die Brucke and Blau Reiter chums. Through them I learned to accept a certain amount of rawness or "gracelessness" into the my ideas of what constituted good design. Prior to understanding that, I likely wouldn't have accepted Munakata as worthy of attention, or for that matter, Frasconi. There's much more of Durer than of Beckman in my own work, and I don't expect that to change; however, I do enjoy seeing the work of someone who has nurtured their style from the other direction. James Mundie http://www.missioncreep.com/mundie/images/index.htm ------------------------------ From: "Carole Baker" Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 11:30:23 -0800 Subject: [Baren 22425] first woodblock influence A small reproduction of an Arthur Wesley Dow print telling about a show of his prints and his students in Artist Magazine some years ago really caught my eye and I ordered the catalog and just fell in love with his prints, and many of the others influenced by his teachings in the catalog...Margaret Patterson,Eliza Gardiner, William Rice, Lemos amongst others. What was so appealing to me, and still is, was the compostion and color influenced by japanese woodblock prints. I have since developed a deep appreciation of the landscapes and nature prints of Hokusai, Hiroshige, and other Japanese artists, but the Westerners are still my favorite. I guess its that "arts and crafts" look, whatever that is; maybe just the culture and landscape of the subject matter. Other than US artists, I also love Carl Thiemann and, most of all, Walter Phillips from Canada. My first painting influences were way different, what I use to like I don't now, at least not all the time, but I'm not going there...I'm going for a bike ride. Carole B. ------------------------------ From: Aqua4tis#aol.com Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 16:14:13 EDT Subject: [Baren 22426] Re: other end of the prespective least fav. artist or art mo... In a message dated 8/2/2003 7:57:37 PM Pacific Daylight Time, FurryPressII#aol.com writes: > My least fav art movement is one of two soviet Stalinist socialist > realism and or nazi state sponsored art. > > i would agree with you on these john but id throw in thomas kinkaid also georga ------------------------------ From: "marilynn smih" Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 13:29:00 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22427] Re: Baren Digest V24 #2326 Everyone is busy making comments so I will name an artist I found outstanding as a block printer, M.C. Escher. The sense of design and abstraction is wonderful. In college I became enaomored with cubism and loved Picasso. Than about a year or so ago I ran across a book on his lino cuts and his use of the reduction printmaking method. His inventive mind inspires me always. Although his lifestyle and personality leave a bit to be desired. Marilynn Smith ------------------------------ From: FurryPressII#aol.com Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:31:39 EDT Subject: [Baren 22428] Re: other end of the prespective least fav. artist or ar... at least thomas kincade is harmless drivel so i would not want to put him in the same company as art that has human blood on its hands john ------------------------------ From: "Joseph Sheridan" Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:33:40 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22429] Re: other end of the prespective least fav. artist or art movem My earliest influences probably were some Bible pictures (Rembrandt perh= aps) .. and I did love that JANE (of dick and jane readers) so much .. =20 Like so many I can under the spell of the Impressionists.. which led me t= o one of favorite painters.. John S. Sargent. One of the finest paintings I have ever viewed is the portrait of Lady Ag= new by John S. Sargent. I remember standing before it in awe. Also one of= his watercolors which was only partially competed, was another strong in= fluence. I love the painters of the Taos School and the Canadian Group of Seven fo= r their BOLD use of color. =20 To look into the medieval world created by Rogier van der Weyden, Van Eyc= k or Bruegel is also fun. (Must be those early religious influences) =20 Beside an obsession with Japanese prints I also love the graphic arts of = the Native Peoples of the Northwest Coast of USA and Canada (the Haida, S= alish and other tribal traditions.) Both Japanese prints and the Native = Graphics tradition depend on a sure strong line. =20 John, in reference to Stalinist and Nazi arts, does not the demonizing of= the Japanese people in the Allies art efforts in WW2 fall into the simil= ar category? And I think Stalin was as evil as any ruler of the modern wo= rld, yet some of the graphic images of the Soviet are certainly challengi= ng and I can appreciate them as that. =20 And I must say I am inspired and influenced by the artwork I see produced= by members of Baren. Joe S. - ----- Original Message ----- From: FurryPressII#aol.com Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 10:57 PM To: baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp Subject: [Baren 22416] other end of the prespective least fav. artist or art movement. This is a bit harder but the other end of the equation which artist or ar t movement is your lest fav.? My least fav art movement is one of two soviet Stalinist socialist rea lism and or nazi state sponsored art. art in the service of evil John "furrypress" Center ------------------------------ From: Myron Turner Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 16:55:57 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22430] Re: inspiration To apply the term "graceless" to Munakata, a master of the graceful, is equivalent to calling Matisse greaceless. As for Expressionism, it may not be to everyone's taste, but there are woodcuts by Kirchner that are second to none. As for Kirchner's paintings, I remember the first time I saw one in the flesh--it possessed an astonishing brilliance of color and light and a presentness that reproductions tend to reduce to comic book proportions. Myron At 01:51 PM 03/08/2003, you wrote: >Likewise, it took me time to invite brash German expressionists with >their "clumsy" "hacked" marks into my select club, but Kathe Kollwitz >knocked on my door and invited in all of her messy Die Brucke and Blau >Reiter chums. Through them I learned to accept a certain amount of >rawness or "gracelessness" into the my ideas of what constituted good >design. Prior to understanding that, I likely wouldn't have accepted >Munakata as worthy of attention, or for that matter, Frasconi. > >James Mundie >http://www.missioncreep.com/mundie/images/index.htm ------------------------------ Next message removed as violation of Posting Guideline #4 (http://barenforum.org/guidelines.html) ------------------------------ From: Myron Turner Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 17:18:16 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22432] Re: other end of the prespective least fav. artist or ar... I hope we are not going to get into another fruitless political exchange. I thought we were going to try to abstain from religion and politics. We have enough about which to disagree on topic, for instance: is Munakata really graceless;? are the engravings of Lynd Ward--which strike me as corny--really something to get excited about? is Walter Phillips really more than a comic book artist? You know--the things which really count and make our little worlds go round. Myron ------------------------------ From: "April Vollmer" Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 18:44:00 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22433] Frankenthaller Mike, those Frankenthaller's were printed by Yasu Shibata, who teaches printmaking in NY at Cooper Union. He will have a print in the "Ink from Blocks" show at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, so maybe you will have a chance to meet him. best, April ------------------------------ From: Sharri LaPierre Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 15:36:49 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22434] Re: Baren Digest V24 #2325 I've been busy running the LaPierre B & B for family and friends this last week, so am just now getting around to catching up on the digests. Good question, John - it is hard to say who has influenced me the most. Certainly, early teachers: Bob Bannister was important - I did my first linoleum block with him as a freshman in High School. The next, and probably most influential teacher was John Paul Jones who was a Lasansky student at U of Iowa and taught at UCLA and then set up the printmaking dept. at UC Irvine and was there for 20 years or more. It is said that we are influenced by everything we have seem previous to the time we make the next mark - so in that regard I will not begin to list all the influences or you would be reading from now to eternity, But, my folks had a lithograph given to them by my art loving aunt and I loved that piece. I have no idea who the artist was - it was a color lithograph from the '40s and now hangs at my son's home. Of for the folks from the art history books I suppose I would have to go with Kathe Kollwitz as the most influential, both for her manner of carving and the subject matter. I also identified with Leonard Baskin, Helen Frankenthaler, Giacometti, Ruth Weisberg, Francis Myers, Warrington Colescott. One very influential experience was my first trip to Renegade Canyon in the early '60s. It is located on a Naval firing range and access is limited and requires a 4WD vehicle. We spent the day photographing and sketching in the worlds most concentrated petroglyph area, but the epiphany for me came when we started our trip back down the canyon to our car and the sun was hitting the opposite canyon wall and all new images were emerging. It was one of the most moving and spiritual experiences of my life and the petroglyphs were a major part of my imagery for about 30 years. Someone was looking for an artist whom I think may be Hanne Greaver. She does mainly lithographs now and is located in Cannon Beach, OR and is a member of Print Arts Northwest. Her images are often about children at play and mother and child, though she also does landscape and still life. Happy printing, Sharri PS - Mike Lyon - what grit sandpaper did you use to shape the brushes on your belt sander? ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 21:40:08 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22435] Re: Frankenthaller At 06:44 PM 08/03/2003 -0400, you wrote: >Mike, those Frankenthaller's were printed by Yasu Shibata, who teaches >printmaking in NY at Cooper Union. > >He will have a print in the "Ink from Blocks" show at the Center for >Contemporary Printmaking, so maybe you will have a chance to meet him. > >best, > >April Yasu Shibata, eh? Wonderful prints! I'll have one or two woodcuts in "Ink from Blocks" too, and since I am to lead a week of classes there beginning the 15th of September, I just may make the Sept 12th opening... Maybe we can go up there together somehow? I may drive, though, depending on how much of my own tools I have to lug... Plus one of my first and most inspirational teachers, Fred Osborne, is now president of the Lyme Academy of Art which isn't too far away and I'd like to have a lunch or dinner or something with him that week... - -- Mike ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V24 #2327 *****************************