Baren Digest              Monday, 3 February 2003      Volume 22 : Number 2116


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From: Sharri LaPierre <Barebonesart#attbi.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 09:15:24 -0800
Subject: [Baren 20606] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2115 

Dear Baren,
I appreciate the comments on the protest posters, and understand the 
comments, but would like to say that in view of the  laudable history of 
posters (not just protest posters, but any kind of posters, propaganda 
included), printmaking was the medium which allowed posters to be made 
in the first place. Those of us politically inclined, (in the interest 
of magnimity, we'll say which ever side of the argument you come down 
on) would do well to put our skills to work at this time of tribulation 
and keep the tradition alive. I can't recollect a time when we have ever 
been needed more - and I've been around a few years :-). There may well 
be no greater service we, as printmakers, could perform for humanity.  
EZ-cut should be perfect for this project - albeit a rather large piece 
of EZ-cut. That's relief printmaking right? And, therefore, suitable for 
the Forum - I hope :-}

Many previous political posters are now inhabiting the realm of Fine 
Art - maybe one of us is the next Toulouse.

Probably in trouble again,
Sharri


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From: michael schneider <mikasch#t0.or.at>
Date: Sun, 02 Feb 2003 19:11:02 +0100
Subject: [Baren 20607] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2115 

Sharri,

you are speaking my mind. As a printmaker it is absolutely necessary to 
be aware of the political function of printmaking. I agree that a forum 
of political discussion is not what baren is meant for, but to ignore 
the fact that printmaking is and has always been a very political form 
of art would not serve the quality of the discussion here.
To discuss the political aspects of printmaking in history is not such a 
dangerous task. The distance time creates does reduce the emotional 
involvement greatly.
When considering actual political statements in printmaking it is not 
that easy to keep emotions and instance in individual convictions and 
believes out of the discussion.
But to keep politics completely out of the discussion on baren seems not 
to be the best solution to the problem.

michael

Vienna



Sharri LaPierre wrote:


> Dear Baren,
> I appreciate the comments on the protest posters, and understand the 
> comments, but would like to say that in view of the  laudable history 
> of posters (not just protest posters, but any kind of posters, 
> propaganda included), printmaking was the medium which allowed posters 
> to be made in the first place. Those of us politically inclined, (in 
> the interest of magnimity, we'll say which ever side of the argument 
> you come down on) would do well to put our skills to work at this time 
> of tribulation and keep the tradition alive. I can't recollect a time 
> when we have ever been needed more - and I've been around a few years 
> :-). There may well be no greater service we, as printmakers, could 
> perform for humanity.  EZ-cut should be perfect for this project - 
> albeit a rather large piece of EZ-cut. That's relief printmaking 
> right? And, therefore, suitable for the Forum - I hope :-}
>
> Many previous political posters are now inhabiting the realm of Fine 
> Art - maybe one of us is the next Toulouse.
>
> Probably in trouble again,
> Sharri
>
>
>




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From: Stephen Goddard <goddard#ku.edu>
Date: Sun, 02 Feb 2003 12:28:50 -0600
Subject: [Baren 20608] apologies and prints 

Dear Baren Group,

I apologize for my recent posting which included a reference to my 
political views. I'm afraid this was one of those moments we have all 
probably had, pushing the send button without enough reflection. 
Furthermore, the prints I was talking about were stencil prints, not 
blockprints! Gayle and I have had a good exchange off-list and I hope all 
is well now.

Since I only subscribe to the digest version of this list I don't what 
other fallout there might have been from either of our posts, but I'm sure 
everyone would prefer to be talking about woodcuts anyway. I have done a 
little cutting lately myself, both woodcut and linoleum. I greatly prefer 
wood, but my time is so limited that I find myself doing some linoleum as 
well. Actually this project turned into a kind of modular experiment with 
both woodcut and linoleum combined - I've printed a kind of framing motif 
with woodcut (I tired walnut this time) and I'm trying inserting smaller 
passages with linoleum cut into the blank area of the woodcut. I thought 
this might a fun way to do a little book, but so far only one of four pages 
is worth looking at.

Best wishes for all, and I'm sorry I stepped over a well-drawn line.

Steve


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From: ArtfulCarol#aol.com
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 14:31:14 EST
Subject: [Baren 20609] Congrats to Sarah 



 "Congrats to Sarah for her 3 print accomplishments mentioned in the 
 National Association of Women Artists News.

 One is a FIRST Prize, and another is an intriguing award in  Dialogue 
 Magazine's  "Swimsuit Issue".  Hmmmm...
 
 Carol Lyons
 


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From: "Jean Eger Womack" <jeaneger#jeaneger.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 12:26:39 -0800
Subject: [Baren 20610] Re:   Baren Digest V22 #2115 

My professor John Ihle, whose memorial service I will be attending today,
showed us how to hand-wipe etching plates, using French chalk, etc.  I found
I could hand wipe with the blue plastic gloves as well as by real skin of my
hand, if I taped them at the wrist.  Also, this works for ceramics too,
although you can't tell how moist the clay is if you have gloves on.  At any
rate, my 60 year old skin no longer tolerates being cleaned by turpentine,
so gloves are a must.  And that's another reason I love hanga so much.

In that class was a young woman from Paris who was deep etching a plate that
was a a picture of a student sitting in class.  She kept going deeper until
the plate was like a sculpture.  Then she would set the plate out on a shelf
so everyone could see what she was doing.  I wish I could etch like that.  I
think she wanted to do viscosity etching.  I don't know if she ever did that
or not.

What a great person he was.  You could always count on him giving his best
advice, not giving advice that was going to make me make a mistake, like so
many people will do, if they are competing, or for whatever reason.  Or
maybe they just don't know the answer, but don't want to say that.  I called
him up to ask him some information about the history of our California
Society of Printmakers orgnization and found out that he had died the
previous weekend.  What a shock and disappointment.  What a blow to
printmaking in this area.

I have been printing a big hanga project.  Only 21 prints, but there are six
blocks, so it's a real trial to get it done and work full time also.  Oh,
but what a pleasure when I put the violet shadows on the rocks of El Capitan
and the whole print sprang to life, with all the depth a little piece of
paper can offer.
Jean Womack


------------------------------

From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 00:56:06 -0600
Subject: [Baren 20611] Re: Intro, messy, messy hanga! & ...poolitical expressione 

Bienvenido to Ignazi from Spain and Welcome to Jane and other new 
members...glad to have you onboard. Speak your mind and partake of the 
discussion. Feel free to ask questions and share your work with the group. 
 

Sharri, glad you liked my version of "Noah's Ark" as Maria has tittled my 
three little prints....my apologies for the many delays. Mailed a whole 
bunch of those last week before going into the hospital. Recovering from 
gallbladder surgery this past Thursday but glad to be back in circulation. 


I have read from a couple of posts now about how 'messy' that hanga 
process is and how hard it is to keep the water based stuff off your 
hands. Uhmmm ? I hate to disagree but I hardly get my hands 
dirty.....sometimes if I am doing a bleed print and pick up the 
edge...maybe I'll get a little ruboff..but that's it.   The color is 
applied with a little brush and the paste with a little stick...then rub 
on and mixed on the block directly with a larger shoe-style brush. The 
paper is laid down, rub with the baren and then lifted. There is no 
transfer of color to my hands anywhere in the process. The sheets lie one 
in top of the other right after printing and there is no danger of color 
seepage from print to print. hey are dry to the touch in a few minutes. I 
am speaking as a total rank beginner to this so if you are getting 
messy...review the process, the tools you are using or the way you are 
applying the color. 

Re poorlitical expression, I think it is good to hear of printmakers using 
their craft creatively to promote causes for which they feel passion. 
After all as other have expressed, printmaking and political commentary 
have gone hand in hand thru the ages.....but we must remember that we are 
an international printmaking organization with members scattered across 
all continents...while our love for printmaking unifies us...our political 
differences would tear us apart in an instance. There are other forums for 
promoting such causes. I think is okay to share your work and tell us 
about making posters and what process you used, and even that it is for a 
political cause, or to save the whales, or to save the rain-forests, or 
whatever. But when you get that fine line of expressing your own personal 
idealogy....that's best left out of this discussion group. 

So while I say "BRAVO" to Steve, Michael and others for expressing their 
point of view (whatever it may be!) thru printmaking....I rather 
experience your passion directly thru your art rather than read about it 
on a Baren post (give us a link where we may have the option to see the 
work...or not).....does that make any sense ? I hope you understand what I 
am trying to say......carry on.

Anyways, I think artists speak better thru their work..... 

back to the painkillers.....thanks....Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois) 

------------------------------

From: michael schneider <mikasch#t0.or.at>
Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 11:24:12 +0100
Subject: [Baren 20612] Re: Intro, messy, messy hanga! & ...poolitical expressione boundary

Dear Julio,

Good to hear that you recover from the surgery.

First a word to the messy thing.
In the process I use, it sometimes gets messy, but that is on purpose. 
Usually hanga is a very clean thing to do.

And a word to politics.
Don't get me wrong. I have no intention to turn baren into a political 
forum. I just want to express that a ban on all political statements on 
baren does exclude a very important part of printmaking. I agree that a 
pure political discussion would endanger the baren community, but I 
believe that as long as the discussion has a close connection to the 
general print topic it should be accepted.

BTW: Julio, you know my work and I do not believe that it is very 
political on the first glance, but I acknowledge, that by the way I 
work, the tradition I am following  and by the changes I make as well as 
through composition and choice of material, I do make some political 
statements, as does every artist, willingly or not.

Michael

Vienna


Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com wrote:


>
> Bienvenido to Ignazi from Spain and Welcome to Jane and other new 
> members...glad to have you onboard. Speak your mind and partake of the 
> discussion. Feel free to ask questions and share your work with the 
> group.        
>
> Sharri, glad you liked my version of "Noah's Ark" as Maria has tittled 
> my three little prints....my apologies for the many delays. Mailed a 
> whole bunch of those last week before going into the hospital. 
> Recovering from gallbladder surgery this past Thursday but glad to be 
> back in circulation.
>
> I have read from a couple of posts now about how 'messy' that hanga 
> process is and how hard it is to keep the water based stuff off your 
> hands. Uhmmm ? I hate to disagree but I hardly get my hands 
> dirty.....sometimes if I am doing a bleed print and pick up the 
> edge...maybe I'll get a little ruboff..but that's it.   The color is 
> applied with a little brush and the paste with a little stick...then 
> rub on and mixed on the block directly with a larger shoe-style brush. 
> The paper is laid down, rub with the baren and then lifted. There is 
> no transfer of color to my hands anywhere in the process. The sheets 
> lie one in top of the other right after printing and there is no 
> danger of color seepage from print to print. hey are dry to the touch 
> in a few minutes. I am speaking as a total rank beginner to this so if 
> you are getting messy...review the process, the tools you are using or 
> the way you are applying the color.        
>
> Re poorlitical expression, I think it is good to hear of printmakers 
> using their craft creatively to promote causes for which they feel 
> passion. After all as other have expressed, printmaking and political 
> commentary have gone hand in hand thru the ages.....but we must 
> remember that we are an international printmaking organization with 
> members scattered across all continents...while our love for 
> printmaking unifies us...our political differences would tear us apart 
> in an instance. There are other forums for promoting such causes. I 
> think is okay to share your work and tell us about making posters and 
> what process you used, and even that it is for a political cause, or 
> to save the whales, or to save the rain-forests, or whatever. But when 
> you get that fine line of expressing your own personal 
> idealogy....that's best left out of this discussion group.
>
> So while I say "BRAVO" to Steve, Michael and others for expressing 
> their point of view (whatever it may be!) thru printmaking....I rather 
> experience your passion directly thru your art rather than read about 
> it on a Baren post (give us a link where we may have the option to see 
> the work...or not).....does that make any sense ? I hope you 
> understand what I am trying to say......carry on.
>
> Anyways, I think artists speak better thru their work.....  
>
> back to the painkillers.....thanks....Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, 
> Illinois)         





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End of Baren Digest V22 #2116
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