[Baren] Daily Digest

Today's postings

[Baren 34865] RE: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4196 (Jan 16, 2008) ("Lee Churchill")
[Baren 34866] Exchange 36 ("Maria Arango")
[Baren 34867] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
[Baren 34868] Study in Japan ... (Dave Bull)
[Baren 34869] Re: Artist/Craftsman discussion. ("Mark Mason")

Message 9
From: "Lee Churchill"
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:18:36 -0700
Subject: [Baren 34865] RE: New Baren Digest (HTML) V42 #4196 (Jan 16, 2008)
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Thanks Bob,

You said it much more eloquently and succinctly than I could!

"If I have read your email correctly, I too believe that if the craft
isn't mastered, then an individual with the potential to become an
artist will never be able to reach that potential."
Bob

Lee

The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator
brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and
interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to
the creative act. (Marcel Duchamp)

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Message 1
From: "Maria Arango"
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:51:33 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34866] Exchange 36
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Exchange 36 is full and looking good.

I am confirming a coordinator and then we will be in touch with the
participants.

http://www.barenforum.org/exchange/exchange_36/exchange_36.html

Please keep this page as reference for theme, size, deadlines, etc.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your (printmaking) engines!

Maria, busily uploading #31...

Maria Arango
http://1000woodcuts.com
http://artfestivalguide.info

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Message 2
From: Blog Manager
Date: 17 Jan 2008 04:55:43 -0000
Subject: [Baren 34867] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification
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Message 3
From: Dave Bull
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:20:03 +0900
Subject: [Baren 34868] Study in Japan ...
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This is kind of late - I just found about it this afternoon, but it
seems the Nagasawa Art Park is running again this year.

> Nagasawa Art Park (NAP) Japanese woodblock printmaking program is open
> to international artists, print teachers and printmakers who wish to
> learn the Japanese waterbased printmaking technique. The artists not
> only enjoy a traditional Japanese lifestyle with the local people in
> Nagasawa village, but also have the opportunity to meet and work with
> other international artists during their residencies.

Applications close next week!

http://www.endeavor.or.jp/nap/

Dave

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Message 4
From: "Mark Mason"
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:15:44 -0000
Subject: [Baren 34869] Re: Artist/Craftsman discussion.
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To me, art is about ideas, emotion and feelings. Some people call themselves artists and claim that everything they do or produce is art. (There's a huge debate I'm not going to start!)

Craftsmanship is about developing and learning the skills of communication, about making an idea exist.

For me the two go hand in hand for the artists I admire.

A baby can wail and it's up to the listener to guess what the matter is. The communication is basic, but it works for simple concepts. A child can talk, point, express more emotions and tell the listener what the matter is. The craft of communication is greater and more complex concepts can be explored.

To me, an artist with no craftsmanship can seem like a burst of basic, raw emotion (ok at times) but an artist who is a master of his craft can speak a thousand words with a couple of brush-strokes.

Van Gogh, despite being portrayed by some as the patron saint of struggling amateur artists and one of the fathers of expressionism, was passionate about developing his technique (though not through formal studio training). Time and time again in his letters he is frustrated by his lack of drawing and painting skills and his determination to master them. He was always struggling to be a better painter, to better express himself and communicate through his paintings. He did call himself an artist, but didn't consider a lot of what he produced as art, he just painted a lot.

As an animator I consider myself formally a craftsman. I've learnt a skill over 23 years (not counting drawing from the age of 2) to enable me to communicate ideas, concepts and emotions through my craft. Some would call me an Animation Artist. Maybe I'm a bit of both sometimes; but at the end of the day, it's what you do rather than what you or others call you that's important.

My woodblock printing age is 1 year and 4 prints, so I'm only just starting here and wouldn't presume to call myself anything other than an enthusiastic amateur.

Dave's print is a beautiful example of supreme craftsmanship, but there's definitely a strong hint of "artist" in there too.

Thanks Mike for the informative post on paste experimentation.

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Baren Archives

[Baren] - the International Forum for Woodblock Printmaking

Volume: 42 / Number: 4197

Thursday, 17th of January, 2008

Today's postings

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