Baren Digest Tuesday, 15 August 2000 Volume 12 : Number 1114 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gayle Wohlken Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 09:34:06 -0400 Subject: [Baren 10958] Re: Baren Digest V12 #1113 Kent, so good to finally see you posting and part of the Baren group. I enjoyed meeting you at Boot Camp. Bareners, Kent is as nice as they come, and it was fun watching his progress as he worked on his print. Since I was new to hanga, and so was Kent and a couple others, I didn't feel so alone in my first bumbling attempts, and we all got in trouble with the jikijitsu (Graham) together :-) Rudolf, what a great project--from woodcut to mosaic tile. I would very much like to try some mosaics too, as I'm designing a spiritual garden that will be round, and at the north, east, west, and south I want to have seats and mosaics on the ground with imagery pertinent to the direction the meditator will be looking. For instance, sitting at the south seat, the mosaic in front of the seat would be the aurora borealis, for the meditator would be facing north. Anyway, I'm enjoying your work. Welcome back to the refreshed Marias. Gayle ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 07:50:43 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10960] Re: Baren Digest V12 #1113 Gayle wrote..... >and we all got in trouble with the jikijitsu (Graham) together :-) I'm honoured...... I think ! ! ! ! Graham God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right nowI am so far behind, I will live forever. ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 16:57:23 -0500 Subject: [Baren 10961] Sosaku Hanga at Carolyn Staley There's a very nice web-based show of Sosaku Hanga at Carolyn Staley's site: http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/exhibits/s-h/ I especially enjoyed the Rokushu Mizufune prints which begin at: http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/exhibits/s-h/page7.html "Mizufune's prints pioneered a new technique in which he first printed the paper with a large uncut block inked with sumi ink. This gave him a deeply inked black sheet, upon which he printed large areas of vibrant color and bright white. To create the thick texture of the colored areas, he usually made six or seven impressions from each color block." mikelyon@mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: Studio Dalwood Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 08:45:42 +1000 Subject: [Baren 10963] Australian wildflowers "I followed your links and they were wonderful. I especially liked the Australian wildflowers series of the three states. How the images change through reduction and each one is valid on its own ! Carol Lyons" http://www.acay.com.au/~severn/artworks.htm Thankyou Carol. The jpegs dont really show it but they were each printed on different toned Rives BFK paper with an old Acme washing mangle. I had a lot of difficulty with the printing and have now switched to thin paper and the wooden spoon. I was experimenting. The last state (not shown) has the print partially hand coloured with gouache. Did you see the more recent print? http://www.acay.com.au/~severn/temporar.htm There was a printmaker named Margaret Preston who pioneered woodblocks of Australian Wildflowers in the twenties. Since then it has become impossible to do this subject without seeming to be derivative of her work. THere are prints of hers in the National Gallery Collection. You can do a search at http://www.nga.gov.au/ausprints/ They have 134 of her prints on display. This particular one has been well reproduced http://cms.nga.gov.au/cgi-bin/texhtml.exe?form=NGA.dv2&irn=28961 Its the unusual structure of the flowers themselves that is so appealing. Josephine ------------------------------ From: baren_member@woodblock.com (dan dew) Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 19:49:58 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Baren 10964] people who shouldn't own computers Message posted by: dan dew Just like there are some people who should not have children, there are some people like myself who should not be allowed to play on the computer. I have once again lost everything. If you could be so kind as to say hi to me in the next few weeks, I'll get all ya'll back in my groupings. Thanks, stupid in Florida dan dew ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 17:26:00 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10965] Saito at Carolyn Staley Some really good stuff. I have not seen many of Rokushu Mizufune and they are certainly up there with Saito See some of his at http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/artists/A_saito.html The piece he did of cats with all the different woodgrains is masterful. This guys certainly are tops..... lots of risk taking and innovative with their design and colours. Graham >There's a very nice web-based show of Sosaku Hanga at Carolyn Staley's site: >http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/exhibits/s-h/ > >I especially enjoyed the Rokushu Mizufune prints which begin at: >http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/exhibits/s-h/page7.html > ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 17:33:53 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10966] barens charset="iso-8859-1" I skimmed over some of the home-made baren discussions. As you know, I am guilty of making my own barens in blissful ignorance of what a "real one" feels like. I have found that: - -Somewhere in the Encyclopedia there is a wonderful explanation on how to make one of these magical instruments. - -A 1/8" plywood disk backing (birch) works very well and better than matboard, which goes limp after a while. - -Jute makes a fine baren that will allow you to "feel" the block with your hand. Natural hemp makes an even better one and much finer, but it is more expensive and hard to get the quantity needed, especially when making a baren over 8-strands. - -In the Southwest, bamboo skins crackle and crumble like tater-chips once they dry, even when kept well oiled with camelia oil. Instead, I wrap my barens with lizard skins, I mean, canvas. Just regular canvas, dampen and cut as explained in the cyclopedia, dries tight as a drum. The rough texture tames down after a few uses, I lubricate with oil as a real baren. I don't have any tying tips, except practice and don't let the dog help. - -For sensitive knuckles, place a disk of felt or other padding material between the backing disk and your knuckles; longer runs are possible, as is applying more pressure without going: "ouch." - -For smaller hands, I found by pure serendipity that making a smaller baren (about 3.5" in diameter) will give you control beyond belief. When working with my smaller model, I feel like the baren is an extension of my hand, like I am printing with my bare knuckles without losing skin. Wonderful to actually feel all the nuances of the block so closely. - -For those of you who are spending on ball-bearing barens, you really really really should try a wooden button baren, which takes all the effort out of printing large areas evenly, to the point that I feel I'm cheating or something. Hope this helps. Health to all, Maria <><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango, Printmaker Las Vegas Nevada USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com Follow along! quest1000woodcuts@hotmail.com maria@mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 20:02:15 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10968] Holding the Baren Maria wrote..... >-For sensitive knuckles, place a disk of felt or other padding material >between the backing disk and your knuckles; longer runs are possible, as is >applying more pressure without going: "ouch."--------- >---------- I feel like the baren is an extension of my hand, >like I am printing with my bare knuckles without losing skin. If you are using your knuckles to apply the pressure then you are not holding the baren in the proper manner. The fingers are closed back towards the palm and in so doing the tied handle of the baren is pinched between the finger tips and the palm. The first joints of the fingers are kept flat and are not bent. The downward press is applied to the palm and not on the knuckles. No blisters. No lose of skin. No hurting joints. If I have lost anyone let me know and I will shoot a few pics to illustrate. Graham ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 20:26:13 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10969] Re: Holding the Baren charset="iso-8859-1" > If you are using your knuckles to apply the pressure then you are not > holding the baren in the proper manner. > The fingers are closed back towards the palm and in so doing the tied > handle of the baren is pinched between the finger tips and the palm. > The first joints of the fingers are kept flat and are not bent. The > downward press is applied to the palm and not on the knuckles. This is indeed _one_ way of applying pressure with the baren. Other folks from different sources in the encyclopedia suggest other ways, which brings back the old adage: "there are many ways to skin a skunk" (sorry, I own a cat!). In any case, I should have clarified a bit better: in my studio the pressure is applied with _both_ the palm and the second phalanges, thus giving more bang for the buck on every twirlie-do. This is why the smaller baren fits me better, since then it feels as though the baren is an extension of my perfectly curled up hand. I have also read that some Japanese printers use the baren by slipping the fingers flat under the tied handle and applying pressure with only the palm. In any case, with oil-based inks the pressure requirements are slightly greater than with water based inks, especially when using dry paper. We, the deviants of the group, have to be slightly more flexible on the proper procedures to accommodate for our terrible oily habits. Maria, la aceitera <><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango, Printmaker Las Vegas Nevada USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com Follow along! quest1000woodcuts@hotmail.com maria@mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V12 #1114 *****************************