batjigsawman

[batjigsawman]

A Printmaker's Guide to Printmaking and Prints

This month I have decided to turn more inward, and describe to you what I have learned and done in printmaking over the past few decades. With the recent renewed interest in this form of artmaking, I find that I run across quite a bit of confusion, even among other artists. I will try to clarify as much of this area as I think you can tolerate, without, hopefully, becoming too pedantic and detailed. Anyone who might want to know more need only to e-mail me, and I can put you onto lots more information, either from my own knowledge, from other sites on the Internet, or even printed paper books!

First off, I want to dive right in to the term "print." What is a print? Nowadays, this word seems to mean a commercially reproduced offset lithograph of an original work, reproduced in enough quantity to make the price attractive to most buyers. What it means to an artist is a piece of work hand-pulled off a printing press, most often an etching press. It can mean a single work printed without the use of a press, too, such as one can execute by laying down a piece of thin paper over the inked plate, and burnishing it so that the image is transferred. With the use of a press, the prints can be multiples of one image, such as an original etching in an edition, or only one image, such as a monotype. Right away we have run into some more terms here which might be unclear. Printing press, etching press, multiples of one image, monotype.

Without going into much detail, I will say that a printing press consists of a flat bed, usually up on legs, with a series of gears that make the bed move back and forth, and a large top roller, or drum, which presses down on the bed, or on whatever is on top of the bed. I won't go into the terms of intaglio and aquatint, and the other kinds of etching that can be done, but I will explain that an etching has the image etched into a metal plate by means of acid baths. The plate is washed clean. Then the intaglio ink is applied so that it goes, with the aid of heat, into those little etched lines and areas, is wiped off the surface of the plate, has a piece of dampened paper laid on top, and then is run through the press, under so much pressure that the ink is squished out of the recessed lines onto the paper. When the bed is out from under the large drum, the paper is lifted off, and VOILA! a print! Whether or not it is what the artist hoped for is another matter! The image is cut into (intagliato) the plate, so it can be repeated over and over, until the edges of the little lines begin to break down. This can be hundreds of times, each time requiring re-inking of the plate and a pass through the press. This leads to an edition of (blank) number of prints. A couple of centuries ago, an enterprising art marketer determined that people would probably be willing to pay for an early print in the edition, when the plate is still fresh and new. Thus the numbering system was developed - 1 over 500, say, for the first pull in 500. It worked!

A MONOTYPE is one image, and the ONLY one - thus mono. With the success of the marketing tool for editions, however, now people usually want to see a number over another number, thinking that it will be somehow more valuable. I am one of the printmakers who puts 1 over 1, to show that the image is the one and ONLY. There is no edition. It is unique. Other times, I put the word "monotype" on the face of the piece to indicate its uniqueness.

A MONOPRINT is different, however! A monoprint has a repeatable matrix, with changeable peripheral elements. No monoprint will be exactly the same as another, either, because the elements outside the core matrix do change. But the MONOTYPE is utterly unique.

I will continue next time with brief explanations of doing these different elements of printmaking. Since I have studied it so much, and also taught it, I often find it difficult not to explain it too much. And I will get into other types of printmaking also, such as silkscreen, woodcut, linocut, lithograph.

[batjigsawman]

Getting an Angle on Perspective

Most of us learned about perspective in grade school. The visual perspective that we learned about, with at least one vanishing point, was not really figured out until the Middle Ages. Until then, the only way of indicating distance in a painting was to use "atmospheric" perspective, that is, putting things farther away in more of a haze; overlapping was utilized also. Images closer to the viewer obscured, to some extent, those farther back. The lack of understanding that children have of this concept can be seen easily in their depiction of "x-ray" images... ones you can see through to know what is behind. The newer views done with computer-assisted drawing do not have the capability of showing vanishing point perspective, so look oddly wrong to us. Vanishing point perspective is the view we get when we look down a railroad track toward the horizon, and see the tracks appearing to merge in the far distance, although the tracks are parallel.

[batjigsawman]

Contemporary Australian Artist Maximizes Use of Internet

A while back I got another e-mail message asking me to take a look at a website. These arrive from time to time. When I found time, I took a look. Nothing splashy nor flashy, but as I poked around I became more and more astonished. Not only was this fellow doing really terrific drawings and paintings, but he had webpages that were really nice! I couldn't believe his use of both the art media he uses and this medium we call the Internet. I have thought long and hard about its potential, but seldom see it well utilized. In this case, I must say, John Lovett makes wonderful use of his chosen media - all of them!

I have wondered about making an issue of this individual and his endeavors, but have decided that virtually all (pun not ignored) of what he has done fits together so well that I felt I had to showcase it. Another refreshing aspect is John's modesty. Having had a couple of communiques with him, I have found that he is really unassuming and humble, unusual in these times!

So, here is the article for March! I imagine John Lovett will just about fall over when he comes back to this site to take a look. Congratulations, John! You have set a good example for all of us who have a hard time focussing on what mediums we want to use, on questions of whether or not we should work hard on our art, on whether or not we think the Internet is compatible with traditional art media. Your work shows talent, yes - but also hard work and a need to communicate, and communication is what the arts and also the Internet are all about! You do it very well.

Even though I have seen these works only in thumbnail sizes and a bit larger on a little computer monitor, with relatively low resolution and few colors, I cannot stop thinking about John's work. Be sure to look at his diaries and sketchbooks. Let me wonder - are these works quite small? Do they hold up when they are seen in a larger format? I would think that they do.

My guess is that John will have quite a jolly time when he gives some workshops in Italy in the next year or so. The language of his drawing and painting should be enough. It really won't matter much that he doesn't speak Italian. Saluti, John! Please continue doing your art and letting us see it!

[batjigsawman]

Let's Try Some Drawing!

Frankly, I don’t think we will ever be able to go back to where we were…

And I have read several articles lately on how or whether art is really just frivolous in the aftermath of all that is really serious and important in the world. My personal feeling on this is that art is life-affirming, a positive act, an act of hope and faith in the future, and even in the present. I really feel that the U.S. was short-changed in the culture arena by the extremely rigid, plain, and pragmatic teachings of the good old Puritans. If you can’t eat it or wear it, it must be frivolous – that kind of attitude. I also have another opinion – that the witch doctors and shamans and other more “connected” individuals in many societies are or were the more artistic ones of the communities, the ones who saw things a different way, perhaps more holistically. Just my opinions, but these go right back to the subject I have chosen for this time.

Why do Americans feel so uncomfortable with things artistic? Perhaps I should say those who are in the fourth or fifth- generation away from their immigrant forebears. Let’s be honest. Our immigrant forebears were craftsmen and artisans, or at least people who felt relatively comfortable tackling something new or unfamiliar. They relied on their own inner feelings that they could do it, they could handle it, pretty much no matter what it might be. They came here, didn’t they? They must have been willing to try new things, tackle new situations, learn new ways, learn new languages, and about new foods and customs and all of the pieces that go into the puzzle of another culture. And they made things!

I watch a crafty show and a quilting show often on TV, and the remarks on those shows are what have led to my thinking about this so much lately… “But - I can’t draw!” “But you can do that because you are an artist!” “There’s no way I can even try that! Isn’t there a template or a stencil somewhere?” And I am always so surprised. When does it go? What happens? Why does it leave?

Do you know that all children in the whole world who have a “normal” childhood to develop into “normal” adults do their art the same way? in the same shapes, at the same ages? Those schmiers all over are happening everywhere with the same age group. And the stick figures, and the houses with x-ray walls so we can see what is inside, and the big heads, the emphasis on eyes – all those bits of identifiable children’s art work, all basically at the same pace. (Trust me, I read this somewhere during the last century when I was studying the art and art development of children.) But something happens in this country (the U.S.) Boys start to think they’d better not profess an enjoyment of art or music or theater lest they be thought of as testosteroneless in this “tough-guy” culture. So they get into drawing warriors and killers and guns and hotrods and ugliness. And girls feel it is their bailiwick to be artistic, and that they are supposed to like pink. But then, when the reality strikes, that is, “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO FOR A LIVING?!?”, art goes out the window. The U.S. does not value its artists, in my opinion, and art lessons are for little kids and old people.

Well, people, I disagree. For those of you who are stuck with the stick people, I say I will give you a fast way of seeing that should help you immensely. Quick lesson: lines are really important, and they come in different flavors. Thin ones are not the only ones. Fat lines are also part of the picture. And straight lines are only a part of the equation. A straight line that stops abruptly and cuts back is an angular line, or rectilinear. A line that curves and flows is curvilinear. And there are spots and circles. A spot is like a circle, but it is filled in. A circle is a circle, but not filled in. A cell, a hubcap, the moon, bubbles.

So, there are the five basics to help you see. Next time you are stuck in traffic, or sitting on a bus or subway train, take a look around you, while keeping your foot on the brake, of course, if you are driving. Try to simplify what you see. Look at only a small area, maybe just the rear end of the vehicle in front of you. Or the umbrella of that fellow across the aisle - straight but also curvy. Are the lines of the car's trunk and rear deck just pointed and angular? Are they curved anywhere? What about the tail-lights? Are the tires really straight from the back, or do they bulge a bit at the bottom with a little curve?

What makes a baby know one face from another? Even without sound, a baby knows its mama by sight. It is these vartisticery relationships – how the eyes are shaped, where they are placed in relation to the forehead and the bridge of the nose, how long the upper lip is, how wide the mouth, how thin or full the lips, all of these go together to help us recognize instantly who it is near us. Instantly. Babies don’t see well far away, so the person has to get quite close, but anyone can tell if that person is recognized or not – by the baby’s reaction. Smile, wave the arms and gurgle; or grimace, kick, and erupt into a scream. This is so very basic.

Recognizing shapes and utilizing our ability is very basic. It is really a survival skill. Drawing is one of the first activities humans involve themselves with – sometimes a little too creatively with the limited medium they have available as infants… (blech!) But we are all artists of varying degrees. The loss of the willingness to draw, or to try to draw is a big loss, I think.

So, I suggest to you, try a right-brained vacation from the daily grind. Set up a little still-life, you know – a beer can, a flower, a vase, a spoon - take out a pencil, and a piece of paper burglarized from your computer’s printer, get comfortable, and look. Don’t make a mark yet. Look to see. Do you really need to be embarrassed? See. Analyze the shapes: straight line, angular line, curvy line, circle, spot. Easy! You can still draw. You do not need to act or feel embarrassed if someone “catches” you. And, if you can set aside all else, and really pay attention to what you are seeing, you will find that cares and time will pass away, and, when you return to the left-brained mode that you have used for so long, you will feel like you have really taken a break – and you have! The right cerebral hemisphere and the left cerebral hemisphere are separate, and certainly not equal, since we stop training and using the right hemisphere somewhere early in the game… But it is not too late to return to drawing. Drawing requires focus and intensity and practice. Try.

[batjigsawman]

Calligraphy is Art

It seems to me that there is a renewed interest in calligraphy, at least in the United States, where I live. In looking for more links to more calligraphy sites, I found, on one search engine, some 800,000 possibilities. Of course there were fewer when I narrowed the search, but Good Grief!

I figure that my interest in calligraphy has been caused by some major situations, to wit: I am left-handed, and have a very difficult time doing calligraphy. (but I recently discovered a calligraphy set for Lefties!!! Finally!)

Words have always been a genre I love. When I was little, I tried constantly to break the code of letters on paper. Adults and older kids could make sense from those, but I could not. Eventually I became a bibliomaniac, like my parents. I still love the look of words, their texture, shape, design. I love the fact that only special people could read during the Dark Ages, and they wrote with love and concern, and illustrated the manuscripts with pictures. Words were magical and very special.

Language was kept alive in the form of the hand-scribed, scholarly documents, and the history of language was preserved. Pictures and words were put together to cover all the bases, as it were. I think this makes good sense, and I do it with my own art work, although it is usually so subtle as to be secretive or cryptic. Words and visual images belong together!

One can spend a lot of time perusing these sites! Remember what calligraphy means - beautiful writing. Calligraphy has been in the world since humans began making marks toward written language! Why not make it pretty? Arabic, Chinese, Byzantine, Latin, and on and on. The invention of movable type by Gutenberg caused the eventual decline of the hand-written word, but it is not dead yet! We can enjoy the modern uses of calligraphy all around us. Advertising, of course, utilizes it constantly (just be more attentive and you will be surprised!) People want hand-lettered this and that; or the appearance of calligraphy with the Lucida typefaces available on most computers. Lucida Calligraphy, Lucida Handwriting, Lucida Blackletter, etc. Check them out. They are only for names, or special, short uses, not for text. To check out the differences in typefaces, look at the descenders and the give-away letters such as g and s and a. I am using an eminently legible serif face, Times New Roman, 10 point (note the name... It is well-named.) I don't much like sans serif, like Arial, but they are also very useful in designing a document.

Links:

http://www.calligraphycentre.com/

http://www.graffiti.org/ (I agree, graffiti is naughty and costly, but not always ugly.)

http://www.asiawind.com/calligraphy/

You can just go on and on. Enjoy your journey. I will plan to have you back next month for another visit.

Buon Viaggio! (By the way, I hope to see one of the Codex documents in the flesh when I finally get to Florence. Has any one of you seen a Codex?)

[batjigsawman]

ART BASICS - PAPER

I have decided to launch a series of primers on the supplies which artists use. It is not ALL smoke and mirrors…

You will find out some ”inside secrets” about PAPERS that artists use.

The world markets for paper are huge.

Paper is one of my passions. Artists draw on it, paint on it, print on it, even sew on it!

In school, I didn’t have enough money to spend on good sheets, but that didn’t keep me from lusting after it!

And then, when I took my first printmaking class, I had a good indoctrination. And we were required to use good paper. The old pads of newsprint became repulsive to me. I have never liked their tooth anyway. The sound of a charcoal stick being used on newsprint is grating to me, something like fingernails scraping on a blackboard.

At the university, I don’t remember that watercolor painting was offered, but I had done some watercolor painting in high school, and Mrs. Aupperle taught us how to stretch the special paper and then re-wet it for wet-into-wet effects. Tape it down to the board, paint,and wait for it to dry, then carefully cut it away from the board with a single-edge razor blade. I knew I really enjoyed the properties of paper, but it was just the beginning.

I refer again to watercolor artist John Lovett, somewhere in Australia. http://www.johnlovett.com

A lot of the supplies which John uses are available in Australia, but maybe not elsewhere. Winsor & Newton is all over, however.

Here we go to probably the oldest paper making company in the western world, Fabriano, in Italy. Since the 1200s!

Fabriano paper: A comprehensive history of this paper company and a virtual catalog of all their papers.

I use Fabriano when I am expecting the piece to be exceptionally wonderful. I have a lot of it in my flat files.

And now for a major French entry, D’Arches, often shortened to just “Arches.”

(I have to use the best links I can find, and sometimes they are under the auspices of art supply houses.)

I use a lot of Arches “cover” in printmaking. It is a lovely sheet.

The workingman’s sheet. I kind of think of Strathmore as the blue collar worker of paper. That is not to denigrate it, but I seldom use it for serious really work. It is quite inexpensive and excellent for sketching, student work, pieces that you don’t expect to last for a long time. A lot of it is made of pulp or high percentages of pulp, and a lot of it is not acid-free. It yellows and gets brittle, but I am talking about after some forty years, here… I have used it since I was in junior high school! Strathmore is now owned by Internatinal Paper, so is not the friendly little company it used to be. And art paper is a small segment of their market.

And the chart of “Elements” is funny and quite beautiful. Check it out. Navigation is confusing, but you can get around.

And another American company: (I get the feeling that this outfit is small.) For making your own paper, Twin Rocker has supplies here for the general public to make sheets and sculptures.

About fifteen years ago, I drove over one hundred miles to get some linters so I could make my own paper. It was the closest location I could find that had them. I'm glad that has changed!

This paper is so heavy it is rigid in its small sizes. It is so flexible when wet that it can be deeply embossed, without showing a sign of weakness. Specialty paper. Fun to use. I have quite a few of their tiny sheets to experiment with.

I am not endorsing Dan’l Smith here, but I have gone through them for years by mail order, especially for the wonderfully informative catalogs they have. I have a collection now that goes back many years. I must say that I have not been nearly so happy with their online presence, and have let them know about that! Little by little, they are making it more user-friendly. But the catalogs are printed on paper...

Dan Smith started out as a printmaker, and began making his own inks many years ago. That is just before I found out about him and his then tiny company. Remember, I have been at this for… never mind!

By the way, although we learn about papyrus as little kids, do not discount the role of the Chinese in making paper. It is another complete history in itself!

I do not think that we are going to have a “paperless” society, ever. And digital art is not something I can hold and feel, so I think I will stay with what I love – PAPER.

[batjigsawman]

Wood Engraving and a Wood Engraver in the 21st Century

Jim Westergard has a mailing list for some of us who are interested in his weird images. I get the news, and go to see the images. The expertise the man has in this old medium has intrigued me, and I wanted to know more - so I asked him to tell me (and you) about himself. Reluctantly, he tried to stay within the certain number of words we are supposed to limit ourselves to - but I was just teased by the little that told, so I asked and asked him to write more, more MORE! He said, basically, OK, I'll give you both barrels. After he wrote it all out and e-mailed it to me, he said he was quitting it to return to his studio. You will see what he cooks up in that studio, a Yank and his wife who loved Canada so much that they took Canadian citizenship. Meet Jim, the old wood engraver up there in Alberta. (He says that "old" is a word to be proud of.)

Wood engraving was in its prime during the early nineteenth century, when it was used to illustrate printed material. A person in the twenty-first century, surrounded by modern tools, conveniences and digital imaging would have to be nuts to be using a nineteenth century printmaking medium. Jim Westergard qualifies as a nut.

Wood engravings are images printed from blocks of end-grain hard wood that have been engraved with fine tools. Ink is rolled onto the surface of the wood and, wherever the wood is engraved, ink will not touch, and so that line will not be printed. Jim Westergard uses nineteenth century engraving tools as well as a twentieth century electric engraving tool, but no tool from the twenty-first century. This, of course, certifies the nutty status of this older Canadian artist who hunches over a bench, squinting at a block of wood. To assist his tired old eyes as he engraves those teeny little lines in the block, he clamps on the mighty magnifiers.

Jim originated as an American in Utah; did a stretch in the Navy and wound up kicking around the Bay Area in 1960, watching beatniks read poetry in North Beach. He met Carol Hincks, the painless dental assistant, in Palo Alto, and married her. The two of them quit their jobs and picked up a VW Beetle in Wolfsburg, Germany. They bummed around Europe for five months until the money ran out, then came home and settled in Phoenix.

His art studies had begun in California, continued in Arizona and finally ended up in Utah in the mid-1960s. He entered printmaking through the back door. He took a printmaking class at Utah State University because another class he wanted was full. He got high and hooked on the smell of solvents in printmaking and forgot what it was he had wanted to take. He noticed some prints in the textbook that were loaded with little teeny weeny, nit-picky lines and figured that was right up his street. They were wood engravings. But those were the days when abstract expressionism dominated the art scene -big, colorful, and brash. After "ab-ex" came the emotionless minimal movements, and the printmaking quest for techno-flavors-of-the-month.

By this time Jim had received an MFA and a teaching position at Metropolitan State College in Denver and he and Carol had two little boys. He made silkscreen prints and intaglios by day and nineteenth century wood engravings when nobody was looking. He quickly hid the wood engravings in a drawer. He was convinced he was the only idiot around working in a "retro" medium like that. (He was probably right. Ed.)

Five years in Denver were followed by a one-year teaching position at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, west of Chicago. Some roots for the little boys seemed like a good idea by then, and Canada beckoned with the offer of a permanent position at Red Deer College in Red Deer, Alberta. All Jim and Carol had needed was an invitation. Canada had been a fascination for a number of years, and the move seemed ideal. They packed up the little boys and settled there permanently, eventually becoming Canadian citizens. Now the little boys are big boys; have wives of their own and one has a daughter, which makes the little old wood engraver also a new grandpa.

Jim retired from teaching in 1999. He prints his wood engravings on an old Vandercook proofing press, which he has affectionately named “the Spanish Fly.” People often wonder what would possess anyone in his right mind to give a press such a name, in these days of political correctness and gender sensitivity. But remember the nut we're dealing with here.

During various trips to Mexico, Central America and South America, Jim entered the world of insects and decided to create a series of prints based upon insects. While looking through entomology books for subjects, he came across the Spanish Fly. Wonder of wonders! Since high school he had thought it was a myth and now, to discover it really existed! A series of prints based upon this subject inspired the the name of the press.

Currently he's working on a limited edition book of illustrated Mother Goose, which he intends to print and publish himself. The working title is “Mother Goose Eggs, Sunny Side Up.” The selected rhymes are all ones containing violence, brutality or bizarre behavior. There will be a portrait of the younger character and that character “retired,” for each of the selected rhymes. This same theme of “Where are they now?” was used by Jim on a series of retired comic book heroes.

[batjigsawman]

Fragile, Hostile, Heavy, and Totally Astounding!

Fragile, Hostile, Heavy, and Totally Astounding! Breathtaking Beauty! Awe-inspiring! What is It?

It is the medium of glass, usually thought of as a means to the end of containing something, probably liquid – water or wine for example. Very important and very practical, for some 4000 years. Glass. The old Venetians got tired of having areas burn down in their city, so exiled the glassmakers to an island just off the city shoreline, the island of Murano. And Murano glass became a hot (pun intended) item for the trade the Venetians have always engaged in. Those craftsmen began to make really beautiful vessels and combinations of their glass into trade beads, for example. What is glass, anyhow? It is a substance which is not a solid, and not a liquid, but is described as “vitreous” – which means “glass.” It is primarily silica, which is a prime ingredient of sand. In reading further, I found that the molecules are held together somewhat loosely. And it is quite liquid when it is very, very hot. And this is where Dale Chihuly comes into this picture. http://www.chihuly.com I hope that lots of you are familiar with his work, because it is way beyond the limits that glass normally has, beyond what almost everyone thought that glass could tolerate. Seeing these pieces made me feel apprehensive, afraid that they might break right in front of my eyes.

The biographical data on Dale Chihuly tell that he is a native of Washington (state) and went to design school at the U of W. But he hit the right buttons when he started to work with glass, hot glass, to be more precise. In his pursuit of knowledge about glass, Chihuly spent some time in Venice, and Murano, to learn more about what the Italians had discovered in their centuries of glassmaking. And he began to envision some really far-out ways to push glass to make it more thin, more attenuated, more artistic, more sculptural. This practical medium of glass, being pushed beyond what were thought to be its limits, and made into astonishing shapes, colors, articles far from looking like any glass anyone had seen before! Art glass, blurring the distinctions between “art” and “craft” which were established during the Renaissance.

The glass medium is hostile. Hot glass requires manipulating, blowing, trimming, picking up more, rolling, stopping, pulling, and rolling it, never letting go of the focus. The glassblower gets burned, singed, and burned some more… and mastery makes the glass an item of tremendous beauty, doing what other artists can only wish for – catching light, bouncing it, redirecting it, shattering it, deflecting it, working it over. Dale Chihuly has gone with glass where no one has gone before. He is the world’s acknowledged master of hot glass design and execution. His working crew is kept very busy. And he lives and works with glass in an earthquake zone, the Seattle area.

There is presently an exhibit of the Chihuly Baskets at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. The Crocker is the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River, having been established in the days of the Gold Rush by Mr. Crocker (later of the Transcontinental Railroad and bank fame…) All I can think of about this work is its fragility, and how I am glad I am not the exhibition’s packing and transportation coordinator! How does this far-from-dainty man get these extremely fragile pieces from idea to reality? Then moved from one site to another? (They are huge. They are heavy.) And then mounted for an exhibit? Is he ready to go blow some replacement parts at a moment’s notice? Logistics aside, go take a virtual look at some virtual glasswork by Dale Chihuly. http://www.holstengalleries.com/2011/05/chihuly-at-boston-mfa/... And if you live in the Seattle area, or Tacoma, be sure to see the Chihuly exhibitions that are mounted frequently. The traveling exhibition now in Sacramento deals with Chihuly’s fascination with the baskets made by almost all Indians in his home state. The black lip wraps are referring to the lips of the original baskets, and the wraps are the wrappings of glass put on the lips of these glass baskets. (Yes, baskets have lips, and shoulders, and feet, as does pottery.) Please do yourself a favor. Remember Dale Chihuly – for doing the impossible with hot glass. Go see for yourself, personally if possible, or virtually, here.

[batjigsawman]

So Many (Art) Books, So Little Time

The long hours of sitting here at the computer keyboard finally caused my back to go into spasms and my "crab" mode, so I had to take leave from this desk, and stop sitting or walking for awhile. But now I am feeling much better, and I must let you in on something I am really excited about. It is another book. This is not anything but my own enthusiasm here - no paid announcements. But I went up to the mailboxes on Wednesday and had to unlock the large box that is there for parcels. The cardboard box was too heavy for me to lift, so I pulled it out onto the asphalt, and began to kick it so it would slide down the hill to our house. (Dry pavement, no rain or snow the previous night.) All I knew was that it was my order from the store at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 

American Painting is a very large book. 11 X 14-1/2 inches, 320 pages, with 305 full-color plates, and it is a hardcover, too! Incredible! This huge and encompassing volume was in the "bargain basement SALE," along with another one that I got, "Van Gogh's Van Goghs." I got that one for less than $10, and haven't even taken it out of its shrink-wrap yet, I am so excited by this big one. It is an immense art history book which will fill in a lot of the gaps in my art library, and I picked up for $19.99! I almost feel guilty! Before anyone else buys these up, I suggest you click on over there and see if there are any left! (post haste!)

This American Painting book was originally listed for $100.00, which is far more than I would ever have paid. But for $20? How could I resist? As far as a review goes: There are thirty-four chapters, set up pretty much chronologically, but sometimes running a couple of movements simultaneously, as, indeed, they occurred. The very first discussion is about the definition: What is American about American art? Another discussion brings up the definition of "painting," which is not so rigid a delineation here as to mean only "colored paint on a flat surface." A bit of collage, some sculptural forms, are lumped in. Although the editor, Donald Goddard, writes about the difficulty of selecting what goes in and what does not, he states that the decisions were based on the visual qualities of the works more than on recognized and labelled movements. To me, just having begun the book, a most interesting observation is that the colonists who came over to this New World came with little "artistic baggage" as Goddard puts it, in the first place, and had no time, training, or urge to do much along artistic lines for about the firstcentury of colonization. They were too busy just trying to deal with the basics of survival! In the West, a continent away, art was primarily religious, being influenced by the missionary padres and the Spanish. What is now the southwest U.S. and California belonged first to Spain, and then to Mexico. When the culturally deprived East Coast colonists began with their art traditions, first they wanted to do the Old World thing of having a portrait painted - in the English tradition, naturally enough. Also, there were not many people here to speak of (other than the mostly ignored Native Americans), and they were stretched out all along the eastern seaboard. (The book says there were about 250,000.) Most painters were itinerants, picking up commissioned portrait jobs as they could. The class distinctions among the white settlers here were blurred or gone, and the main mood of the sitters for portraits seemed to be one of optimism and hope. The requisite European "formula smile" was not used. A more realistic depiction was the usual. And the English tradition began to give way to an American style in the late 18th century, when the wars of independence and revolution were waged, and the United States came into being as an entity, more or less. The unresolved issue of slavery also had a great effect on many artists. I must insert here that the earliest artistic work of women, exemplified by needlework for items used in the home, is not mentioned in this book, as far as I can see. This is typical, however, and shows why the best histories we have of those works is the works themselves, what is left of them. Needlework is another one of my major interests. And the arts practiced by the slaves are only now, at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, being recognized, studied, and exhibited. Primitive, it is called... but it is very narrative visually, and tells many of the stories and histories of the people who were enslaved. The quilts of black women are now receiving their wee-deserved recognition. As more immigrants came here from other countries, and the settlers, particularly students, visited and studied in European countries, the art we now know as "American" began to develop. This heavy tome goes right on up to the artists and works of the late-20th century. The book was published in 1990, so it covers all we know as American Painting up until then. Our American art is unique. Although our history as a nation is short, our art traditions show the properties which make our country so varied in attitudes and ideas. Our "melting pot" reality has made our American art as unusual and varied as our population. I am thrilled I got this book!

[batjigsawman]

The Importance of Photography

National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.

Although I had intended this article to be only on Stieglitz, I found so much more, and it just took off, out of my control. I hope you will find it to be as interesting as I have.

Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Steichen, and many others

The Importance of Photography as an Art Form

Alfred Stieglitz as a Leader of the Modern Art movement.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has provided this on-line exhibition for those of us who are not able to get to D.C. for a tour, and for those who missed the show while it was in their galleries. Lots of text, lots of photos. True, this is a lot of reading, but print it out and learn some new things. I did!

Alfred Stieglitz was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1864. His parents were German immigrants to the US. When he was just seventeen, Stieglitz was sent off to Germany to study engineering (1881), but he discovered photography, a relatively new-fangled invention, and became fascinated with it. He returned to the US in 1890, to become one of the most important figures, not just in photography, but in the earliest twinges of a movement which would be Modern Art. (His parents must have been dismayed! How impractical!)

The news release which was issued on December 18, 2000, by the National Gallery of Art, in advance of the opening of this important exhibit, gives an excellent overview.

Since the actual on-site exhibition closed at the National on April 22, 2001, we can go on a virtual tour, and you don't have to keep up with the rest of the crowd of viewers.

Remember to click on the underlined words (hyperlinks).

Now occurring on your computer screen, Stieglitz http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/ This hyperlink will take you to the exhibition brochure, with appropriate information.

This link, http://www.nga.gov/feature/stieglitz/ is the introduction to the exhibit, and has some photographic portraits of Stieglitz, one of which (at least) happens to be a self-portrait, with his very large moustache, the same kind my very old-world great-grandfather had. I remember it well.

And here is a companion piece, on Steichen – painter first, and photographer second. (Surprised?) http://www.nga.gov/feature/artnation/ .

And just to knock your socks off and make you wish you lived in D.C., take a look at the Upcoming Exhibitions!

I have little commentary this time, because I think it all speaks very well for itself; the National has explained so much more so much better than I ever could.

[batjigsawman]

A Brouhaha Grows in Brooklyn

Lately, the Brooklyn Museum of Art has been in the news. Before this explosion of publicity, how many people even knew about the Brooklyn Museum of Art? To tell the truth, although I visited there when I lived in Manhattan, I had not looked it up on the Internet until this recent reminder of its existence. Now, the exhibit of the Saatchi Collection from Great Britain has become a major attraction/repulsion, and the crowds are lining up to pay their admission fees to get in and see this exhibition called "Sensation".

From what I can see on my tiny computer monitor, I feel ho-hum about it, since it seems to be put together specifically to make people uncomfortable or disgusted. When the Dadists did this, most of their work was funny to me, or strange. But this seems to be an exhibit that wants its audience to become upset in a negative way. I agree that art can or even should be shocking, should make people think and come away with an expanded vision and experience. So many parts of a show can do this. Sometimes it is just the announcement of the show that is done in a very thought-provoking way. Or knock your-socks-off design in the works presented. Or colors that are unbelievable. Or the post-mortem retrospective of a favorite painter that you didn't know had died.

But this exhibit? Would I stand in line for hours to get in, and then be carried along in the river of humanity through the exhibit halls? Would I pay to see this? Would I want the exhibition catalog on my bookshelves? Would I find more of benefit in it than of detriment?

I don't know... Take a look like I have. Would you be happy to have gone to this show?

On the other side of the coin: does Mayor Giuliani have any right to censor this show and deny promised (and probably already-spent) funding to one of New York City's best-known public museums? Does he have the right to impose his moral standards on anyone else? And did the director of the Brooklyn Museum of Art get his wish of more publicity and more interest?

Did this show prop up sagging museum attendance?

It seems that everyone wins .. perhaps with the exception of the viewing public. The "unknown" artist who used elephant dung, for whatever reason, has had at least a flash in the fickle pan of international art fame.

[batjigsawman]

Beauty Where It May Not Be Expected

The New York Times, parts of it which I have chosen, arrives in my e-mail every day. Mostly, I have selected the arts, with a sprinkling of international news. No sports, no business. But the arts. An article by Holland Cotter helped me understand verbally what I have been feeling intuitively - that we here in the "west," have, for the most part, been ignorant of the vast realms of Islamic art and culture. For me, the article is thought-provoking from the start, given the writer's admission that s/he does not go to exhibits to be uplifted or assisted to heal or feel "better." I find that interesting.

This entire vastness of art was not so much as mentioned when I was in college, along with no Indian art, no art of the Philippines, nor Malaysia.

If nothing else positive comes of this entire debacle and horror of terrorist attacks and the U.S. bombings, one thing that rises above it all is our new spotlight on these cultures, their geography, and their arts. It is so different from other art forms with which we are familiar that it is almost like discovering an underground city filled with "new" art. But it covers entire nations, and is in museums and around mosques, throughout cities, in homes. We now have a chance to look at, to enjoy, to study these wonderful creations. The al-Qaeda and Taliban and other political fanatics have not, in their destruction and hatred, destroyed Islamic art. This link to the New York Times article will get you started. I think that now quite a few U.S. museums will be convinced to bring these pieces in and showcase them. I imagine that a lot of students will now major in Mid-Eastern studies, Islamic arts, calligraphy, the Koran, Arabic cultures and history. I repeat, this horrid, unimaginable destruction has uncovered for us new avenues to new beauty and creativity. I hope that these arts will help in the understanding and healing that must transpire among all of us in order for us to have a livable world.

I know that I, for one, will be looking for ways to learn more about all of this area of study where I am truly ignorant.

Besides, I love the flow of calligraphy.

[batjigsawman]

Changes Brought on by Industrial Revolution

At present, we are still thinking about the changeover to 00000s. Some tremendous changes occurred around 1900, too. The Museum of Modern Art has several exhibits running concurrently now which chronicle many areas of change. Change is always with us, but now is a good time for introspection and reflection. 

It makes things much more understandable when they are in historic context. The Victorian era of heaviness, fanciness, and just general over-done-ness was being pushed out, clothing was becoming more simple, yet visual art was still primarily in the traditional modes. Then, along came those shameful Impressionists, who saw things in shattered pieces of color and light, Stravinsky had the nerve to get "The Rite of Spring" onstage, and things really were topsy-turvy. This was not all at once, any more than is the current communications revolution we are in. Just at its own pace, with an occasional shocker thrown in.

I am really fascinated much more now by the 20th c. than I used to be... Maybe looking back is easier now that I am older. But the changes brought about are amazing, and now we are at the beginning, I think, of another revolution. What digitizing might do to the visual arts is something we will have to wait to find out about. In the meantime, enjoy the view!

[batjigsawman]

Graphics and Manipulation

Lately I've been running into a lot of people wondering about how do I get my picture of Uncle Joe onto my computer from my scanner? And once it is onto my computer what next? I'm going to briefly explain a few tips that I've come across in my scanning and graphics explorations.

I've found Paint Shop Pro 5.0 to be a very good program to scan into. Once you have Uncle Joe in your program you can do what ever you'd like. Let's go step by step to save Uncle Joe to the computer. I like to scan at 72 to 100 DPI. I've found this to be adequate for my personal needs and printing output. Some scanning software is very limited in settings, but I am mostly familiar with Vista Scan. I like this program because it lets me do a lot with a photo.

First we open Paint Shop Pro, make sure the scanner is on and Uncle Joe is poised nicely on the flatbed. Go to "File" "Import", "Twain" then finally "Acquire"...click on that. Then your scanning software pops up. (This maybe different with other programs...) Click on preview in your scanning program, that way you can see if Uncle Joe is positioned correctly. Adjust the frame to your liking then scan. Uncle Joe will pop up in Paint Shop Pro, but he's not saved yet. I usually save my photos as JPEG's for space considerations, but this is not the best format. JPEG's degrade the photo, so you may want to save as a WMF. Now that you've got your photo saved there are several things you can do.

You can add a mask, basically a fancy border. With filters you can change the photo to look like an old fashioned picture, a mask can change the outline, and borders with flood fills can gussy up your ole Uncle Joe. If you are saving the photo for use in Computer Scrap booking, or for a personal card or booklet you can import the picture by copy and pasting it into your favorite program. You select the photo, ctrl+c to copy the open your program and you can paste it right there, You can do this from the edit menu or by crtl+v. There you go! You've got Uncle Joe ready for a card, booklet or where ever your creation leads you...

[batjigsawman]

Creating a Simple, but Elegant Christmas Card

With the holiday's here and so much to do you can make a simple, but elegant Christmas card that doesn't take much time and can involve the entire family.

Materials:

1. Heavy Cardstock for the bottom layer.

2. Decorative paper for the second layer.

3. Vellum paper for the top layer. This is an opaque type of paper that you can purchase at most craft and rubber-stamp stores. Check out the designs and colors. There are different colors and light colored patterns on some.

4. Ribbon

To assemble the card you cut 3 equal pieces from your heavy cardstock. You will be cutting the cardstock in the landscape position. Once you have done that you can set those aside.

Then you choose a second layer with a decorative paper, this can be what every you like. There are many hand-made papers that you can purchase, tissue paper, or you can design your own and print it out. In this example I chose to use a red and white pattern fill.

The third layer you use the vellum so that the design from the second layer shows through. Here you will add your message and special graphics.

To assemble the card you punch two holes at the top of the card through all layers. Then you cut a piece of ribbon and "thread" through the two holes. This will hold the card together.

That's it! They are very easy to make, but you can achieve some very elegant effects with types of paper and ribbon you use.

Some designing tips you might want to keep in mind are:

1. Theme: Choose colors and fonts that go together.

2. Tone: Do you want a serious, fun, religious tone? Colors are also important when choosing the tone of the card.

3. Gather your materials before starting. With this simple card you can make endless variations on the simple design.

[batjigsawman]

The Color Printer Idea Book

Breaking into computer crafting can be daunting to the novice, because there is little written information, Kay Hall author of "The Color Printer Idea Book" has made it easier with her book.

"The Color Printer Idea Book" is full of projects for the novice and advanced user alike. The projects are presented in an easy to understand format, full of step-by-step instructions and pictures of each project and as an added bonus of photos of each project.

I've known Kay Hall for over a year; we met on an email list called Pals@Home. This list is devoted to discussing Print Artist and other computer graphic software. Friendships are formed and a deep love and understanding emanates from this list. Kay is generous with her knowledge and is helpful to all.

Pal's stand for Print Artist Users. This is the first known following of a graphic software program, which also includes an annual convention with the support of Sierra, maker of Print Artist. Kay's book, "The Color Printer Idea Book" made its debut at last year's convention in Ft. Myers, Florida. I have not met Kay personally, but my hope is to meet her at a future convention.

I highly recommend this book to all computer crafters whether a novice or an experienced crafter. There are 40 projects included in this informational book, ranging from T-shirts, clocks, business cards, calendars and mock stained glass and embroidery. This book will enhance your creativity and make your printer sing.

Not only are forty projects included, but Kay discusses printers and how to get the best performance from them, but also includes an extensive list of reliable vendors and resources to assist you in enhancing your projects.

Kay has done a wonderful job of breaking into a blossoming craft and enabling the computer crafter to grow and see the creativity that is inside him or her.

Kay Hall has been producing and writing about computer crafting for over eight years. Her work has also appeared in several publications including: Computer Today, Dynamic Graphics, Family PC, Flash Magazine, Home Office Computing and Mac World. She continues today to write articles and educate the public in the growing craft of computer Crafting. Kay lives in Florida with her husband and four children. For more information on Kay Halls' book, "The Color Printer Idea Book," published by No Starch Press, please see the links following this article.

For more information on the Print Artist list and convention being held in Phoenix Arizona hosted by Maggie Martin and Millie Rathbun please visit their web site devoted to this convention.

Information on Print Artist can be obtained online at Sierra's home page.

[batjigsawman]

Personalized Stationary for Your Business

Many creative people don't realize that they don't have to go out and purchase personalized stationary or are at the mercy of their word processing programs.

There are several software programs available for this purpose. The advantages of using these programs are many and once you get to your program you will find the ease of use to a great advantage. Some programs that come to mind are Create-A-Card and Printmaster. Both programs have mail merge, but that only works within the program. They have some editing abilities within the program so you don't have to have a second program to do simple photo or graphic editing. Another really nice feature is that these programs have "Themes" if you don't know what you want you can browse through their themes section and choose something that you like. Then you can take it and customize they way you like. The more you use the program the more your style, likes, dislikes, page layouts will take shape. Then you can branch off and start creating from scratch.

There are other desktop publishing programs available that are capably of more personalization, these include MS Publisher, Home Publisher and others. They do support mail merge from within the MS Office collection. It is also important to note that the above mentioned programs also have templates available for newsletters, business cards (using Avery Product Numbers), envelopes, letter head and more.

When making your letterhead take into consideration your contacts, are these professional, casual professional a mix of both? Choose a font that is clear to read and not too fancy. Many people get turned off if they can't read the information quickly without trying to decipher your font. Choose graphics or logo's that are simple, but convey your business and don't grab the attention of your stationary. You don't want the reader distracted by colorful graphics and fancy fonts this takes away from your message. A nice slim border is nice or a side bar border would work. You have to experiment and see what works for you. Also it is important to keep in mind that leaving "white space" is a good idea, the theory of less is best does work.

There are many resources for finding the right paper. I recommend that you try your local office supply stores, many have online web sites for ordering as well. You can buy a nice linen, printed paper that you can add your letterhead info to. They also have matching envelopes and many other supplies to make life easier and quicker.