Baren Digest
[Baren] - the International Forum for Woodblock Printmaking
Volume: 25 / Number: 2447
Thursday, 20 of November, 2003
Today's postings:
- [Baren 23396] Re: New Baren Digest (Text) V25 #2446 (Nov 19, 2003) (Emkaygee # aol.com)
- [Baren 23397] Re: Mugshots (GWohlken)
- [Baren 23398] not a purist either (Margaret Szvetecz)
- [Baren 23399] Introduction (Barbara Campbell)
- [Baren 23400] welcome (Barbara Mason)
- [Baren 23401] Re: Toshi Yoshida (Wanda)
- [Baren 23402] Re: Summit question - paper putdown (Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com)
- [Baren 23403] A few good pigments ("April Vollmer")
- [Baren 23404] Re: April's comments ... (David Bull)
- [Baren 23405] Introduction of Jason Reid ("Jason Reid")
Message 1
From: Emkaygee # aol.com
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 08:11:38 EST
Subject: [Baren 23396] Re: New Baren Digest (Text) V25 #2446 (Nov 19, 2003)
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Hi Chris,
So sorry to hear about your loss. It's terrible when a mentor or colleague is
no longer with us for insight, advice, or just plain encouragement. It leaves
such a void. I have had some artist's mentor me that are getting older and I
can't imagine what I'll do when the day comes and I am without them.
I'll keep Rob in my thoughts (and you as well).
Mary Green
From: GWohlken
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 09:34:28 -0500
Subject: [Baren 23397] Re: Mugshots
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Marilynn, I think as far as mugshots go, mine has turned out a failure
from what I had intended. I took a photo of me and tried (through
Photoshop) turning it into a vampire (for those who don't know me and
the kind of prints I do, I have made two different sets of vampire
prints -- one set of 12 for a book of poetry I had made, and another
set of 10 for a lobby show at the local theater for their stage
presentation of Dracula). Anyway, when the photo was larger, you
could see the fangs and of course even now as a mugshot you can see the
coloring overall as a ghastly greenish blue. But, when I saw it appear
the first time in the mugshots in the html version of the digest, well,
I think it looks like a regular person with smeary lipstick and bad
teeth rather than fangs and blood. Ha. I might have to send in
another one.
> >Yes, mugshots would be fun!
Welcome back, Amanda. It's always nice to see the faithful return :-)
Chris, I'm sorry about the loss of your neighbor whose love of Japanese
prints has inspired you, too.
~ Gayle in Ohio
From: Margaret Szvetecz
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 07:50:48 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
Subject: [Baren 23398] not a purist either
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Amanda, I'm not a purist either. Like you, when I edition for Baren I don't vary the elements of the edition. However, in other work I've done, especially in grad school, I've used printmaking elements and combined them with mixed media.
I suspect we have other Baren forum members who do various combinations of printmaking and other media--just not for the exchanges!
I do really enjoy Baren--I love the technical expertise and the comaraderie. I especially appreciate Baren because being a part of it has helped me get back into printmaking, even though I no longer have access to a studio, a workshop, or a press.
Margaret Szvetecz
margarszv@earthlink.net
From: Barbara Campbell
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 11:37:25 -0500
Subject: [Baren 23399] Introduction
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Let me introduce myself. My name is Barbara Campbell. I live in Stamford
and work in Greenwich Connecticut. I am a new subscriber to your wonderful
and interesting group. I have been collecting Japanese prints since high
school back in the 60's when a neighbor on Long Island gave me a pile of old
books with Japanese wood block prints inside. From that day forward, I was
hooked. Over the years my husband and I have been collecting Japanese
prints and now have a very nice collection. I have been a painter on and
off for the last 40 years but lately I have been participating a lot more in
local art shows. (Now that my children are grown and gone) I mostly
concentrate on oils and pastels. About a year ago I took a short one day
course with April Vollmer and I was fascinated with the whole process of
Japanese woodcut and printing. This summer I attended a wonderful workshop
with Paul Furneau at the Center For Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk,
Connecticut. I have since have been carving and printing in my spare time.
I will be submitting a print for #19. I feel very privileged and excited
to participant. I am a designer and planner by profession. I am currently
on staff at a hospital in Connecticut as Director of Design and
Construction. We are currently in the middle of a 15 year total replacement
facility on the existing site. I love what I do and look forward to coming
into the office every day.(Not everyone can say that) I also look forward to
coming home every evening to spend a few hours in my small studio/guest
bedroom, carving and printing. I know I have been one of those lurkers but
one day I will jump into the discussions when I feel I have more to say.
Thank you , Barbara
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 09:06:21 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 23400] welcome
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Welcome to Baren Barbara Campbell, from another Barbara...there are now at least three of us, you myself and Barbara Patera. I keep forgetting to sign my last name but will really have to start doing so.Maybe there are more who are lurking...we have a couple of hundred members and I always forget that. Posting here seems to be like writing to a friends and it is, since I have met so many bareners. Maybe about 30 or so now...at least that many as we must have had 30 in Kansas City last summer. I hope at the next baren real time convention we can get even more people to come. Maybe in a couple of years we will do it again...maybe in the west, Colorado has been suggested. I guess there is an art center there in the mountains. At least it might be cooler than Kansas City and not as humid, although I know we all had a great time despite being a bit wilted.
Welcome back Amanda! Nice to have old friends return.
Margaret, congrats on moving back to doing more printmaking, even with no press or studio. That is the great thing about it, you can do some form of printmaking with very little stuff! I remember meeting you very briefly in Miami a few years ago at SGC.
I am skipping #19, I am just way to busy and the calendars almost killed me....so I will just enjoy the fruits of everyone else's labors and try to guess who did which one. Are they going to be anonymous like most shunga prints??? I am saving my energy for those monkeys.
Best to all,
Barbara Mason
---------------------------------
From: Wanda
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 12:39:43 -0800
Subject: [Baren 23401] Re: Toshi Yoshida
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on 11/18/03 11:34 AM, Charles Morgan at cmorgan@uvic.ca wrote:
> Hiroshi Yoshida was the father, and Toshi Yoshida was the son. They both
> did exquisite work that will knock your socks off. The Victoria Art Gallery
> has an extensive collection of works by both. They toured extensively and
> made many prints of Canadian and US scenes, as well as European scenes.
There is an excellant biography & many many of Toshi's prints on the web.
The biography is here:
http://www.castlefinearts.com/fs_gallery.asp?page=/Japanese_fine_arts_woodb
lock_prints/Toshi_Yoshida_Biography.asp?category_id=98
If those 2 lines are not highlighted be sure to copy & paste the whole thing
in.
Also, for those of you who are new or have forgotten - Hiroshi Yoshida's
whole book is on-line in the barenforum.org. You can look up specific
sections or you can download & print the whole book. It is an excellent
book to help you get started or just to use as inspiration.
Welcome back Amanda! Experiment away - we love your work! And welcome back
Margaret & to all of the lurkers. We love having you here & we love it even
more when you post & tell us what you are doing out there!
Wanda
PS: If you are having any problems uploading your image for the html digest
version - you are welcome to e-mail it to me & I will upload it for you. It
seems that some browsers are being difficult! Mine is servile & tame - I
apply the same theories to it that I do with my horses - "behave or else!"
:-)
From: Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 19:37:56 -0600
Subject: [Baren 23402] Re: Summit question - paper putdown
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Dave,
When we were in Kansas City, you mentioned that there was something very
peculiar about how I held and put down the paper on the block....nothing
terribly wrong...but you made a comment and pointed it out to some of the
folks....I can't remember what it was you said....maybe something with my
thumbs or maybe the distance between my hands ? .....we are both
lefties....do you recall ?
Welcome to all the new members and former lurkers.... :-)
thanks...Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois)
From: "April Vollmer"
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:03:54 -0500
Subject: [Baren 23403] A few good pigments
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Barbara asked about pigments.
I have a great book called "the Windsor Guide to Watercolor" that has a
description of each pigment. It covers the history and character of each one
with delightfully opinionated comments about their usefulness. (I won't
repeat what he says about unstable alizarin red!)
Bill Paden, to whom I owe very much of my understanding of moku hanga,
suggested that an artist should include two varieties of each color. For
example, the palette might include a (cool) hansa yellow for mixing greens,
and a (warm) midori yellow for mixing reds. I use Pthalo blue (naturally
greenish) and a cobalt blue (purplish), a quinacridone red and a perinone
orange.
Good greens are hard to find, and a bottle of any of the pthalos (blue or
green) will last a lifetime because it is so strong, but its incredible
tinting strength makes it difficult to maintain even tones from print to
print. Chromium oxide is a nice soft green whose characteristics are the
opposite of pthalo: no tinting strength and rather heavy, it can look chalky
if you use too much.
I love all the quinacridones, red, orange, gold and violet. They are not too
strong in tinting (as pthalo is). Not overly transparent, the pigment is not
so heavy that it sits on the surface of the washi like some of the earth
colors. I have heard purists complain that the hues are too bright, too
chemical, but I find them just right, though I admit my palette is pretty
intense.
Other considerations might be safety, you might want to avoid cadmiums, even
though they have great opacity that is sometimes useful.
You do NOT need more than ten or so colors, keep it simple, like the
marines. A few good pigments!
Glad you asked??
More than you want to know?
best,
April
www.aprilvollmer.com
P.S. where do we send our mug shots? I love the new format, but I can't see
the return address of the sender any more!
From: David Bull
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 12:33:54 +0900
Subject: [Baren 23404] Re: April's comments ...
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April wrote:
> P.S. where do we send our mug shots?
April, starting yesterday, if you scroll down to the bottom of any of
the new digests - plain text or HTML version - you will always find
links to management stuff: where to upload your mugshot, or where to
sign-up for the new HTML version, etc. etc.
> I love the new format, but I can't see the return address of the
> sender any more!
The new plain text format is working very well - but the HTML one is
even better! Give it a try! (You can ask to receive both if you wish -
then see which one suits you, and drop the other ...)
As for the addresses, we're trying to balance 'security' (keeping our
addresses away from spammers), with 'utility' (letting people know how
to get in touch with each other). Among those links I just mentioned is
one that jumps to the on-line version of each digest (which uploads
automatically at the same time they are mailed). This version carries a
'hotlink' with each posting that will allow you to send mail to that
person ...
As for the 'mugshots' - they don't appear on plain text postings of
course, but do appear on the HTML version and in the on-line archive
versions. Note that mugshots don't have to be your face - if you really
don't want us to see what you look like, that's fine ... consider using
a small image of one of your prints instead! Change it every week if
you wish, just use the upload page whenever you wish ...
That page is giving some people problems - it seems to be a bit finicky.
If you've had trouble uploading an image, please make sure that there is
a .jpg extension typed on the filename. (There may be a Mac/Pc/Unix
difference here that is confusing the upload script.) If all else
fails, Wanda will upload it for you, as she has got the script tamed
properly!
Dave
From: "Jason Reid"
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:54:33 -0600
Subject: [Baren 23405] Introduction of Jason Reid
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Hello all!
I've spent about a week reading the posts and getting a feel for the group
and decided it was time to introduce myself.
I'll begin with the obvious stuff. Name:Jason Reid, Location:Dallas, TX. My
art background begins with a BFA in Printmaking from Southwest Texas State
University with an emphasis on Lithography and Intaglio. During that time I
also worked as an assistant for a Japanese Woodblock Printer named Patrick
Masterson (he's also one of my closest friends which is why I got the
job.)We both printed for an artist in Austin, TX named Daryll Howard who
created Japanese woodblock style prints. It was then that I became very fond
of woodblock printing. Fast forward. . .
Now, I am many years removed and working as a Payroll/HRIS manager for a mid
size company and needless to say I don't have many artistic outlets there. I
paint at home when I have the time which I am making more of, and the
printing bug has come back full force. Without a press woodblocks are my
opportunity to print again. So, hopefully I can offer some help with the
previous experiences I've had, but for a while I will lean on the talents of
this forum to get my ship sailing in the right direction. Looking forward to
my first pull of paper from the block in too many years.
Jason
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End of [Baren] Digest