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Message 1
From: Cucamongie # aol.com
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 09:26:42 EDT
Subject: [Baren 28916] Congrats and welcome
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CONGRATS to Jan on your show, I'm sure we would have all been there if we
lived in your "neighborhood". That is great, too, that you have sold a bunch
of work already - here's to you selling a bunch more - very well-deserved
success!

and welcome to all the newcomers and emerging former lurkers -

happy printing,
Sarah

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Message 2
From: Annie Bissett
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 09:51:31 -0400
Subject: [Baren 28917] Congrats Jan and Hello New Folks
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Hi Jan and all Bareners,

Jan, Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a full and detailed
description of your exhibit opening - I felt like I was there. When you
first posted about this show you had included a link to your work and I was
so impressed. What a body of work! It must have been so wonderful to see it
all together like that and to have friends, family and strangers alike all
gathered to see it. Hearty congratulations! May you sell many more prints!

And welcome to all of you brave newcomers who have signed up for the moku
hanga exchange! Eric, thanks for the link to your site - it's so fun to see
other people's work. You have quite a broad range. I loved your puppets, as
well as the strong and uncompromising voice of your woodblock prints. I also
noticed that you make puppet food. If I were to buy some and scatter it
about, would some puppets come? I'd really like that...

Annie B
Northampton MA

http://www.anniebissett.com
http://woodblockdreams.blogspot.com

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Message 3
From: DADI # aol.com
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 10:05:23 EDT
Subject: [Baren 28918] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3216 (Oct 6, 2005)
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Message 4
From: Mike Lyon
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 10:41:49 -0500
Subject: [Baren 28919] exchange #27 all moku-hanga mythical beasts
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With two days left before the 'holding pen' can be released, there are
already 40 signed up for Baren Exchange #27 "Mythical Beasts" and our
second all moku-hanga exchange.

I gather from your comments that there are many first-time moku-hanga
printers signed up alongside a like number of already accomplished
moku-hanga printers. Should make for a spectacular and very exciting suite!

I've received several off-list comments similar to:
> Hope I can just do a black and white. Is that okay?

To which I've replied something like:
> It'd be best to design a multi-color, multi-block print, I
> think... I doubt that a single-block sumi-black printing would be
> 'rejected' by the exchange coordinator (I don't think we've EVER rejected
> prints submitted for an exchange) so long as it's moku-hanga -- many
> Japanese book pages were printed in sumi from single blocks, so there's
> precedent for such a simple solution. But the shikishiban size for #27
> implies 'surimono' which were the MOST elaborate, subtle, and deluxe
> many-blocks prints imaginable... I hope your design will follow that spirit.

Baren founder, David Bull has written a bit about surimono -- here is an
excerpt from http://www.woodblock.com/surimono/history.html
Surimono are a 'sub category' of traditional Japanese woodblock prints.
Unlike the more famous ukiyo-e, which were produced with the intention of
being distributed as widely as possible, surimono were privately published
works, used for gifts or sometimes for making announcements, and were
almost never sold to the general public.

Because no commercial motivations were involved, purely artistic factors
were allowed to dominate economics in their manufacture. The finest papers
and pigments were used, top rank craftsmen were commissioned to do the
carving and printing, and the best artists were asked to produce the
designs. Surimono were usually fairly small in size, with 19 x 21.5 cm
being the most common dimension.

So I'd like to encourage even first-time moku-hanga printers to really go
out on a limb and attempt something ambitious for this exchange. Please
don't wait until the last month to begin! Please don't play it safe or
take an easy way. Challenge yourself to make your best effort and attempt
to produce something exceptional! Practice a LOT before you begin your
exchange prints!

In my own experience, the best results are obtained from the finest
materials and the most important single material in moku-hanga is
PAPER! By far the best papers I've used are still available from Baren
Mall -- these are Kazuo Yamaguchi's hosho
http://www.barenforum.org/mall/products/hosho.html and Ichibei Iwano's
hosho http://www.barenforum.org/mall/products/iwano_hosho.html -- I hope
you will consider either of these for your #27 edition -- they are very
beautiful hand-made papers designed solely for moku-hanga, show colors
brilliantly, and are extremely strong even after MANY printings! The Iwano
paper is a bit more costly, but Iwano-san has been designated a Living
National Treasure of paper-making by Japan and his paper truly is sublime.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions, even questions that may seem
'stupid' or which you fear may have been asked and answered many times
already! I hope that those Baren members who have long practiced (and
taught) moku-hanga will ALL freely volunteer their experience and advice
on-forum for the benefit of those just starting out. And I hope that those
less experienced will scour the Baren Encyclopedia
http://www.barenforum.org/encyclopedia.html , David Bull's Handbook of
Japanese Printmaking Techniques
http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/outline.html , and search the Baren
Archives at the top of http://www.barenforum.org/ for helpful information.

In addition to the links above, Baren founder David Bull has provided a
WONDERFUL ON-LINE LIBRARY of books about Japanese printmaking (complete
with photos and illustrations) which you will find here:
http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/topics/011/011_frame.html -- I
particularly recommend Hiroshi Yoshida's 1939 "Japanese Wood-Block
Printing:
http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/011_07/011_07_frame.html

Good luck!

-- Mike


Mike Lyon
Kansas City, Missouri
http://mlyon.com

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Message 5
From: Jan Telfer
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 00:21:39 +0800
Subject: [Baren 28920] Re: Perth Exhibition
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Thank you to you all who have sent congratulatory messages on and off
the Baren site..... I really do appreciate all the contacts I have
through Baren as otherwise I would be sitting in my little back shed
just plodding on quite isolated in woodchips!

The Gadfly Gallery site where my prints are you will find at:

> http://www.gadflygallery.com/pub/obj.cgi?exhid=05_10_03&artid=TELJ

keep scrolling to the right and they will appear in a great long line.

BHP Wanda is a very big corporate mining company that operates world
wide called Broken Hill Pty Ltd / Billiton who mines and produces iron
ore which is processed into steel for the world market among other
things. Western Australia has very big iron ore deposits and this
state could survive on its own just with the exports from our mining in
the north of the state in the Kimberley and Gascoign regions and the
gas we get from our North West Shelf off the coast. So endeth the
Geology and Geography lesson for today.

I am keeping my fingers crossed but the above could all be hot air too!!

Cheers,

Jan



>Re: Gadfly Exhibition Opening W Aust.
>
> How wonderful, Jan! Congratulations, it couldn't happen to a nicer
> person! By the way, what is BHP?
>
> Wanda

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Message 6
From: "robert"
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 18:16:57 +0000
Subject: [Baren 28921] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3216 (Oct 6, 2005)
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Thank you all for the warm welcome! This is so exciting for me! I have finally found artists that have the same passion I have for printmaking. It seemed to me that for a time it was becoming a dieing artform. I am extremely glad is has not perished!
If anyone is interested in my work. You can view it at
http://www.robertviana.com
I am presently moving in a different direction than most of this past work shown.
Congrats to Jan on her successful show!
Cheers! Rob.

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