[Baren] Daily Digest

Today's postings

[Baren 35777] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V43 #4345 (May 2, 2008) (Syd Gelbwaks)
[Baren 35778] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
[Baren 35779] Re: MFA Printmaking Programs? (Sharri LaPierre)
[Baren 35780] Re: Printmaking MFA and Tachen's Hiroshige (Andy English)

Message 1
From: Syd Gelbwaks
Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 22:00:57 -0500
Subject: [Baren 35777] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V43 #4345 (May 2, 2008)
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I have been a constant lurker and learner, but I felt that I had to
respond to the question Re: MFA printmaking. I went back to school
in my late 50's to do a masters in photography and ended in in
Printmaking, something I never would have done without that academic
push. I became so enthralled with processes involved that I more or
less gave up the darkroom to become a printmaker. I have been
heavily with etching and linoleum block printing, and dry point. Got
involved with printing on fabric and then started printing as a means
of making artist books. I never would have done it if I hadnt gone
back to school. Go for it, it is very gratifying. Syd

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Message 2
From: Blog Manager
Date: 3 May 2008 03:55:33 -0000
Subject: [Baren 35778] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification
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Message 3
From: Sharri LaPierre
Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 23:16:59 -0700
Subject: [Baren 35779] Re: MFA Printmaking Programs?
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Imen Yeh has said it best. An MFA teaches you more about art and how
to make art than the techniques of making art. You probably will not
learn cutting or printing techniques beyond the very basics, but you
will learn a lot about what it takes to make art. You will be forced
to explore a particular imagery until you think there is not possibly
one thing left that you can do with this, and then you will do ten
more! You will reach all the way down to your toes for the where-
with-all to do this, but you WILL come out a better artist, and
incidentally, probably a better person. (If being better educated
equates to being a better person - I like to believe that it
does :-) If you can do it, I encourage everyone to go for an MFA,
besides, you may want to teach someday and nowadays you can't hardly
find a teaching position without an MFA - it is a requirement in many
places. Good Luck and go for it! Send us all an invite to your
graduation ceremonies -

Cheers ~
Sharri

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Message 4
From: Andy English
Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 09:30:55 +0100 (BST)
Subject: [Baren 35780] Re: Printmaking MFA and Tachen's Hiroshige
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I was lucky enough, finally, to be able to make a career out of printmaking with no formal qualification but after drawing pretty much every day of my life, having my artistic "vision" set in place from childhood and spending relatively short times - weekends - with excellent practitioners to sort out technical issues and, finally, looking and learning from art - in galleries, books and print exchanges - at every opportunity. After that, it was a long hard slog to get to the point where I can survive financially. That was my pathway.

I have a Master's degree in another discipline which I gained as a mature student and I do not regret the time and effort put in at all. I enjoyed learning again, made some good friends and contacts, kick-started a part-time writing career that still yields some royalties,felt rejuvenated at a time when I was feeling a little jaded and, in a way, felt that it validated what I was doing. I can quite see how the same thing applied to printmaking could have the same affect.

But then, luckily, at that time in the UK and as a mature student, I did not have to pay for anything except textbooks and my train fare to London. Cost may well be a deciding factor in choosing - to MFA or not.

On a different topic, I was able to handle Tachen's rather delicious Hiroshige book in the bookshop of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. I was very impressed, especially as I associated the company mainly with cheap (but attractive and wide-ranging) art books.

My very best wishes to my brothers and sisters everywhere who wear the secret sign of pigments indelibly marked on their fingers.

Peace

Andy

Wood Engraver / Printmaker / Illustrator

I will design engrave and print your bookplate, illustration, pet portrait, image for wedding stationary, change of address card or a whole edition of prints to your specifications!

Lots of new prints added to www.andyenglish.com

Read my blog here.

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[Baren] - the International Forum for Woodblock Printmaking

Volume: 43 / Number: 4346

Saturday, 3rd of May, 2008

Today's postings

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