Monday, January 27, 2014

Chinese woodblock printmaking - video 1984

Found this short gem among the video library of the University of South Carolina. The film dates to 1984 and shows a group of woodblock printers at work.



Notice the huge difference between the brushes and baren used by the chinese printers versus the tools used by traditional Japanese printmakers. Also you can see that some of the printers are printing single sheets from a stack of paper while others use a technique were the sheets of paper are held/clamped to the desk at one end and the printer simply turns the sheets one at a time like pages in a big book.

To see the video go to: Chinese woodblock printmaking video

You can click on the enlarge button to see 'full screen'.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Demonstration by woodblock printmaker Paul Binnie - Toledo Museum of Art

This is a recent video uploaded by the Toledo Museum of Art so not sure how many of you have seen it. "On Thursday, November 21, 2013, contemporary Japan-trained woodblock print artist Paul Binnie presented an illustrated talk about the historical and technical aspects of woodblock printmaking in Japan from the 7th century to the present day. He also gave a live demonstration of Japanese printing methods."

Some old Baren members may remember Paul's occassional posts on our forum. Its a long video with the first half hour talking about the history of Japanese printmaking, discussion of tools and photos of Paul's studio setup. The last part is a fun demonstration were Paul prints the color blocks for two color variations of the same image. Enjoy !

Friday, January 17, 2014

"City of the World" and "Fantastic Garden" Exhibition in UK

Barener Harry French from the UK has arranged for a exhibition of two of Maria Arango Diener's collaborative print projects.

"The Bishop Grosseteste, University of Lincoln, UK. exhibition areas are dominated by ”The city of the world” and “Fantastic garden” collaborative prints. Examples of Baren exchanges : Myths; typography; Alphabet and Influential printmakers are also in a framed exhibition that will changed regularly throughout the spring term."



Harry reports that initial reports are extremely encouraging and comments are very favourable. You can see more exhibit photos at Harry's website: Collaborative Prints Exhibit

For more information on Maria's amazing collaborative print projects visit her website at:www.1000woodcuts.com