Baren Digest Friday, 6 July 2001 Volume 16 : Number 1480 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Daniel Dew Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 09:43:55 -0400 Subject: [Baren 15055] Re: alder wood Mine was not a "solid" piece od Alder but 1" planks glued together. The image size is about 11" x 11", I'll post it in a week or so. dan dew > From: "Gillyin Gatto" > Reply-To: baren@ml.asahi-net.or.jp > Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2001 11:07:22 -0700 > To: baren newsletter > Subject: [Baren 15049] alder wood > > hello to all i'm curious about the alder ,Dan Dew, as to how big > was the block you carved? we have lots of alde r trees in Maine > -colloquially called "alter" (" -go getcha some alter sticks, and go > tippin") but it is never very large -being a shrubby tree of low > wetlands - we have Speckled Alder and some mountain alder yours could > be european Black Alder the only alder besides Seaside which grows to > big tree size 20-50' high and 1-2' diameters my alders are only 1-2" > tho its is a pretty wood > has anyone ever tried wild cherry wood- like CHOKECHERRY ? > i have lots of it that is reaching maturity -another shrubby tree tho > it gets much bigger than alder > one could get alot of 4-6" blocks out of it is it worth sawing > out some planks?? gillyin machias maine usa ------------------------------ From: b.patera@att.net Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 14:35:18 +0000 Subject: [Baren 15056] Re: Flora Exchange Sharen, You asked if anyone would be interested in a mini exchange....Flora theme. I'll sign up and hope there are enough of us to do this. These exchanges are addictive. And THANKS for offering to coordinate. Barbara P. ------------------------------ From: "Gillyin Gatto" Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 12:00:26 -0700 Subject: [Baren 15057] translation hello bareners- ok Wanda here s the translation of downeast speak-- " tipping " is breaking off the ends of Balsam Fir boughs - -about 12-16"- for use in making wreathes when i first moved to Maine in '73 i went to work for a woman who said she would teach people how to" tip"and" make" she said " sharpen up your ax and go getcha some alter sticks " my friends and i were dumbfounded wondering what altars had to do with wreathes but we quickly learned to cut an ALDER stick about six feet long and leave a shortened branch near the bottom so it looks like a check mark then the fir boughs -tips- can be slung over that sticking out branch and stacked all the way up to the top of the "alter stick" you tie it all. with a string and two people can easily carry two sticks out of the woods the "makers" pay so much a pound for tips...didnt get rich, but everyone likes to get a wreathe as a holiday gift and i got paid for writing an article for the Mother Earth News about wreath making - #36 - for those who still have their old ones... i have sawn out some POPLAR with a ripping chain on my chainsaw and planed and sanded it by hand to get a block that worked pretty well i was wondering if anyone had ever carved any CHOKECHERRY ? which is a different wood that big tree CHERRY the discussion of wood type and how they carve and how much they cost is interesting and reminds me how happy i am that i can still go to the "dump" and get found wood suitable for carving . a few days ago found a little oak night stand which is falling apart the pieces will make great blocks. oak grain so good for creating "atmospheric" moods- maybe for the Text Mesages exchange... today i stopped in on a yard sale in town the kind where these guys come up from somewhere south with a tractor trailer load of tools and etc - - i went looking for scissors and found them 2 for a dollar but also found AN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE a large hardbound book printed in Italy , put together in France, with 361 reproductions of paintings,mosaics,stained glass and enamels - he said $10 but i got it for $5 ! a synchronistic find for sure as i continue to research for Gregory's exchange gillyin machias maine usa ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2001 17:00:15 -0500 Subject: [Baren 15058] Re: Last chance to get your.... 07/05/2001 05:00:12 PM Last chance to get any exhibit info, wanted, for sales...etc, etc... into the July issue of Baren-suji....our newsletter. Please send me any info you want published off-list. Ittai, good luck with your printmaking activities and please keep in touch from time to time...welcome to all new members... thanks...Julio ------------------------------ From: barebonesart Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 19:54:56 -0700 Subject: [Baren 15059] Re: Baren Digest V16 #1479 Gillian, I don't know much about alders, but we have them in the Northwest, too and right now I have one on my house. Or part of it is on my house at the moment, due to a tornado, which we never have in the NW. Not being good at estimating height or distance, I asked my husband who is very good at these things, and he said they grow to 250' here. The part of a trunk which is presently a family member is about 2' in diameter and 50' long. They are considered "weed trees" here - guess I'll have some to experiment with after the tree guys get it off the roof. Sharri ------------------------------ From: "John and Michelle Morrell" Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2001 20:38:26 -0800 Subject: [Baren 15060] Wood intaglio The last few weeks there has been some discussion on using wood engraving blocks for intaglio. (I have been letting the mail pile up considerably and this is why my comments are so tardy.) Anyway, coincidently I had been playing with an old block to see what it would do as intaglio. Nothing much I liked, especially the wiping, but I did discover how to make a really interesting aquatint effect. I had filled in the larger spaces with spackle (the kind wood engravers try to repair scratches in blocks with, which comes in plastic containers at any hardware store - One Time, etc.) Unsanded, it holds the ink beautifully. Now to fix the rest of the surface! Michelle Morrell jmmorrell@gci.net ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V16 #1480 *****************************