1000 Woodcuts: August 2016

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Tribute to barenforum.org

"We must, indeed, all hang together,

or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Printmaker Benjamin Franklin

Between traveling to festivals, making art, destroying my bathroom (see my facebook page), smelling the pines and all other activities that compose my very busy life, I delight in participating off and on in this rare creature we rare birds collectively call "baren". I just took great delight in catching up some of the online galleries of prints provided by the membership.

Baren or barenforum.org, is a loosely organized web-group of woodblock printmakers founded with these words: Chromoxylographers of the world - Unite! uttered by David Bull, our very energetic founding "father." His website can be seen here: http://www.woodblock.com/

See the info page here: http://barenforum.org/intro.html
Mostly we are a bunch of artist-printmakers who delight in the woodblock/woodcut process and enjoy exchanging prints. We (about 400 of us give or take at any point in time since 1999) have now exchanged prints 69 times and any one of us owns an astounding collection of more than 2,000 prints from artists all over the world.

We do this simply for the love of art, woodblock and each other. Many friendships have formed, many colleagues have come and gone, many side projects, some reunions, collaborations, exhibitions, a Facebook group, always the forum...list goes on and on.

Print Exchanges http://barenforum.org/exchange/exchanges.html

Aside from the exchange of ideas and images now taking place mostly in our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/121864389055/
the highlight of our happy barenforum.org group has been the exchange program. We basically sign up, we make as many prints as we have participants and we all end up with a nice portfolio of woodblock prints from all over the world. We do this stubbornly again and again since 1999, four times a year.

Some wise quotes by our members:

"Honest effort and honest communication, that's what counts;

given that, anything goes." - [Baren] member Bill Mixon

"It's in the doing that questions are answered." - [Baren] member Phil Bivins

"Cut! Print!" - [Baren] member Dave Bull

"If you like doing something, isn't it better if it takes a long time?" -

[Baren] member Dave Bull

"Jûnin Tôiro (Ten People, Ten Colours)" -

Japanese proverb

"... I consider this discussion about ... what art is, appropriation, editioning, if digital prints are or not fine arts, the deathly sin of using a laser or any other modern tool, etc. ... a delightful waste of time." -

[Baren] member Horácio Soares Neto

Again, here are the galleries of prints, we hope you enjoy browsing:
http://barenforum.org/exchange/exchanges.html

Stay in touch!

1000woodcuts Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/1000woodcuts
Maria's Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/maria.arango.diener
Maria's Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/1000woodcuts
1000woodcuts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts/videos

Friday, August 5, 2016

No sooner I touch down...

Crazy life

As the story goes, I was driving back from Bellevue Washington and vowing to take 5 years off this crazy life when...ding! Message from Tempe Festival of the Arts in Arizona, letting me know that the very next day the invites for the 2016 Fall show would be sent.

Tempe is a staple in my show schedule, a very well attended show with many avid collectors attending from the huge Phoenix valley. So I'm very tired and I still feel the tingle...where will I request a booth? where will I stay this time? single or double booth? ay ay ay...

And so the next day, I boot up my sleepy computer and, as I lick my Bellevue wounds and bruises, already itching to get my notice...

Going to Tempe!

Yay! By the time the email hit my mailbox I had chosen a booth, looked at hotels nearby and decided on a 10x20, double booth. Why not, only 4 festivals this year and none! scheduled for next year. I need to regroup in 2017.

Still a ways off, December 2-4, 2016 normal hours finally! 10am - 5:30pm daily.

Here is the link:

http://www.tempefestivalofthearts.com/

Last time I was in Tempe
double booth on 7th just off Mill Avenue

Info from the website:

"December 2-4 2016
Downtown Tempe along Mill Avenue
The Tempe Festival of the Arts is a well loved community event that showcases over 300 artists from around the country. This year is the 48th annual Fall Festival and we have an exceptional event planned for you.
Look for a few changes to this upcoming festival. Check out 6th & Mill Makers, a local Makers section curated by local artists. Next we have added entertainment stages on 5th Street East of Mill Avenue and in Hayden Amphitheater, tripling the stages at the event. Bringing the family? You won't want to miss Kidz Row, where kids can see works by their peers and do some projects of their own.
And while you are at the festival, take a break from the crowds and check out some of our downtown restaurants, pubs, breweries and shops. You'll find great spots that will keep you coming downtown all year long."