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Message 1
From: "HARRY FRENCH"
Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 14:58:25 +0100
Subject: [Baren 24803] Teaching an old dog new tricks
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Greetings Baren,
Just arrived back from Southwold, Suffolk County (UK). I thought that I could get onto an internet line in a cyber cafe to sign up for the exchange...wrong....the steam railway link was closed in 1929 and things haven't changed much since then. There was a post office for snail mail but that would take weeks, so I'm pleased there was a slot left when I got home.

I am considering using waterbased inks and a baren for the first time in my uneventful printmaking life. Cutting, inking and burnishing shouldn't be a problem, but I have no experience of selecting Japanese papers. My normal approach to anything new is heuristic...mhmmm.. trial and error, but with the baren forum behind me I thought it worth seeking advice. I'm soon off to Lawrence at Hove, near Brighton for my yearly printmaking supplies and on the basis of only touching examples of Japanese papers I have selected the following as potential papers for my first baren prints. I could be hopelessly wrong! :Tonosawa h/m :Sekishu and Kosu : there are about 20 others to choose from the shelves. My judgement is based only on their apparent strength and absorbency because my western technique usually involves 4 colours and I am a heavy (left) handed printer. I can't see any change in my printing manner using a baren, unless the nature of a gentle burnish changes my philosophy in life!
Have you any thoughts? Do any of you use Indian Kahdi papers that are also available at Lawrence?
I suppose the only real answer is to trial them all in a sample pack.
May I thank you for advice in anticipation and have a pleasant Easter Holiday.
Harry
Lincoln UK
* Lynita your printwork is marvellous and Gen's web design is cool.
I feel like starting again on my humble efforts
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/h.french1/GALLERIES.htm
h.french1@ntlworld.com

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Message 2
From: Charles Morgan
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 09:23:52 -0700
Subject: [Baren 24804] Mime-Version: 1.0
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Those who are interested in a post card exchange should take note of the
following. I have participated for the last three years, and I have always
gotten very interesting cards in return. There is still time to get your
post cards in the mail.

Cheers ........ Charles

>Printmakers,
>Please share information about this project with as many people as you
>can. Iowa State University's Print Club is hosting the 4th Annual
>Postcard Print Exchange. Last year over 130 artists participated with
>entries from across the United States and as far away as South Africa and
>Australia. Please read the following prospectus and pass the information
>on. Thank you.
>April Katz
>You are invited to participate in the 4th Annual University Print Society
>Postcard Print Exchange
>The theme for this yearís exchange is "Catch Phrase" (Feel free to
>interpret this in any manner you can imagine.)
>
>Any EDITIONABLE printmaking technique maybe used. (woodcuts, litho,
>intaglio, photography, silkscreen,
>digital printmaking, etc) Please Do Not send monoprints/monotypes.
>The post cards must be 4" x 6".
>
>13 prints of the same edition should be sent individually to the address
>posted below. (Each card must be stamped and will bear the markings of
>travel and the postal service.)
>
> ENTRIES DUE: APRIL 23, 2004 (Prints received after April 23, 2004 will
> not be included in the exchange. So please try to postmark prints with
> sufficient time to arrive here.)
>
>After receiving everyone's postcard prints the University Print Society
>will randomly divide up the cards and you will be sent 12 new and
>different prints from other participants. The University Print Society
>will keep one of the 13 for its collection. Postage for returning the 12
>new prints will be paid for by
>the University Print Society. Please be sure to put your return address on
>every postcard sent.
>
>[ No entry fee.]
>send postcard prints to:
>
>April Katz
>University Print Society
>158 Design
>Iowa State University
>Ames, IA 50011-3092
>*Please send questions and comments to

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Message 3
From: Jsf73 # aol.com
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 15:41:55 -0400
Subject: [Baren 24805] Re: summit
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Marilyn I was working on something but didnt want to say anything prematurely... and now I have to put it off for a while...

needless to say, I had found provisions for almost every requirement to host a summit in Toronto including studio space... and I was working on even better space...

Of course if it was next year that leaves lots of time to organize something... and we have multiple members at this location to work together..

just a thought.

John F

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Message 4
From: richard stockham
Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 12:47:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Baren 24806] warped plank
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Thanks to all who made suggestions. I apticularly
liked the poetic suggestion that Eli made of laying it
out in the dew and letting it unfurl. What I did was
much more prosaic. I found a flat section that fit my
dimensions and used that, then I put a 1" plywood
spline in either end to keep it from cupping after I
start printing. Thanks, Dave, for confirming my
suspicions about not being able to tame the wood
diagonally across the grain. It just seemed that, with
all the water the plate was going to be getting, one
side at a time, that throwing an extra curve in there
was just inviting something else to go wrong. Still
it's not the most economical use of the wood. Thanks
again.

Richard Stockham,
Birmingham, Alabama

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Message 5
From: Margaret Szvetecz
Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 20:23:11 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Baren 24807] Teaching an old dog new tricks
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"From: HARRY FRENCH
....I am considering using waterbased inks and a baren for the first time in my uneventful printmaking life. .... can't see any change in my printing manner using a baren, unless the nature of a gentle burnish changes my philosophy in life!...."

Harry,

I'll bet someone else previously said what I'm going to say, but, hey, I'll just blather on anyway. Ok, here goes.

On Baren there are two different mechanisms of using water-based inks. One method is to use inks that are designed to be rolled up similar to the process of printing with oil-based inks. (I use Graphic Chemical water-based inks, which look and print very much like oil-based inks.) The printing method for this use of water-based inks is almost identical to that of using oil-based inks, i.e. either a press or a baren with pretty substantial pressure. (Modifying the ink is different--don't use oil, varnish, or drier.) Some of the inks respond especially well to using damp paper; Graphic Chemical inks can be used with dry paper.

The other method that members of the group use--hanga--is a recreation of the traditional Japanese methods of cutting and printing. Members do vary in how strictly they adhere to the traditional carving methods. (Look on the online gallery of prints in Exchange 15 for examples of this variety.) The printing method for hanga involves brushing (not rolling) the prepared pigment/water mix all over the block with a certain amount of starch paste and then printing with a baren.

This printing technique is, to put it mildly, "tricky". I've followed the discussions on the online forum, and also talked to Sacramento Carol, who sometimes does hanga.

If you do want to try hanga, the "Handbook of Japanese Printmaking Techniques" on the baren website goes into really, really, really, really good (although somewhat terrifying) detail. As far as I can tell, the selection of paper for this technique is crucial, as is the amount of moisture in the paper.

If you want to try using water-based inks designed for rollup and print them with a baren, then my only caveat is to select a thinner paper than one would use for etching--something around 85-175 g/meter squared--maybe a thicker Japanese paper or a thinner western paper like Rives lightweight.

Oh, go for the hanga. It looks like fun (in a masochistic way) and I always enjoy reading people's comments about it on the forum. (I'm not about to do it myself at this point because I'm still committed to prints that have an oil-based look, even though I use the less toxic Graphic Chemical water-based inks.)

Margaret Szvetecz
margarszv@earthlink.net

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