Block & Burin #44 (Autumn 2010) - Wood Engravers Network
Block & Burin #44 (Autumn 2010) - Wood Engravers Network
Block & Burin #44 (Autumn 2010) - Wood Engravers Network
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BLOCK & BURIN<br />
AUTUMN <strong>2010</strong> <strong>#44</strong>
Inner Worlds<br />
The delicate crunch of the graver, the silky surface of the wood under the fingers, the control of<br />
the cut line, the gradual revealing of the image by banishing darkness and letting in the light,<br />
the tactile delight in printing from the smooth surface of the block, the range of silvery tones<br />
and the surprising authority of the printed image – all these things form part of the sensual and<br />
intellectual attractions of wood engraving. There is something about the medium, and the way<br />
in which the viewer peers at an engraved print, that is secretive, that invites the investigation of<br />
arcane ideas, that hovers on the edge of dreams. Many artists have worked out ideas and fantasies<br />
in wood engravings when other more confrontational mediums have seemed inappropriate. The<br />
small scale and exacting nature of the medium can liberate the imagination. Whole worlds can<br />
be suggested in tiny spaces.<br />
Jenny Pery, from A Being More Intense, the art of six wood engravers<br />
The title page shows the boxwood round engraved by Chris Daunt<br />
that was used to print the cover of this edition of <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong>.
& FEATURES<br />
BLOCK BURIN<br />
No. 44 <strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2010</strong><br />
<strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> is the newsletter of the<br />
<strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong>’ <strong>Network</strong> (WEN)<br />
This issue: <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> # 44, <strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2010</strong><br />
Cover: Chris Daunt & Jim Horton<br />
Copy Editor: William Rueter<br />
For information on <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> contact:<br />
Tony Drehfal, Editor,<br />
W221 East Wisconsin Ave , Nashotah, WI 53058<br />
Phone: 262-367-5191<br />
E-mail: adrehfal@wctc edu<br />
For information on WEN contact:<br />
James Horton, WEN Organizer<br />
3999 Waters Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103<br />
Phone: 734-665-6044<br />
E-mail: Jimhorton@sbcglobal net<br />
Services of WEN:<br />
• Twice yearly mailing/print exchange<br />
(April & November)<br />
• Membership Guide<br />
• Resources and Materials Guide<br />
• Lending Library<br />
• Workshops and Exhibitions<br />
• Website: www woodengravers net<br />
Since 1994, WEN is an organization for the education<br />
and enjoyment of relief printmaking and in particular<br />
engraving upon end-grain wood<br />
<strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> uses the Stone Print typeface family<br />
Sumner Stone graciously donated the fonts to WEN<br />
The Editor reserves the right to edit copy to fit as necessary.<br />
Notes from Jim<br />
by Jim Horton 5<br />
WEN Workshop <strong>2010</strong><br />
a photo album of the Grand Marais gathering 7<br />
Plein Air Engraving<br />
by Sylvia Pixley 14<br />
<strong>Wood</strong> Engraving Pilgrimage<br />
by Joanne Price 15<br />
WEN Bundle # 44, <strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2010</strong> 27<br />
DEPARTMENTS<br />
Treasurer's Notes by Bill Myers 4<br />
Call for Bundle #45, Spring 2011 4<br />
Bundle Participation? 36<br />
A Calendar of Days 37<br />
New Members 39<br />
Changes & Updates 39<br />
Announcements & Notes 40<br />
Advertisements 43
Treasurer’s Notes<br />
by Bill Myers<br />
The <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong> <strong>Network</strong> finances are in good<br />
condition to support the coming year of bundles<br />
and the 2011 workshop The present balance is<br />
$5,732 03 Late dues payments continue to trickle<br />
in, and we have sold another copy of Surroundings<br />
Coming expenses include approximately $1,200 for<br />
mailing and printing costs of the present bundle<br />
and <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> The balance includes $1,240 70<br />
surplus from the 2009 workshop in Chicago<br />
The income from the <strong>2010</strong> workshop in Grand<br />
Marais, including workshop fees, two donations,<br />
and miscellaneous sales was $2,723 00 Expenses,<br />
including space rental and a donation to the Grand<br />
Marais Art Colony, the banquet, snacks, and miscellaneous<br />
equipment, totaled $2,320 98 So there was<br />
a net positive balance of $402 02 I will be happy to<br />
supply detailed breakdowns on request<br />
A note on financial stewardship: a year or so<br />
ago the treasury was considerably depleted, in part<br />
due to the expense of producing Surroundings, and<br />
in part because the dues were not quite keeping up<br />
with expenses We have recovered from that low<br />
period, and with dues coming in after the first of<br />
next year we are likely to have a substantial balance<br />
to report in the next <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> While we do not<br />
want to deplete the treasury to the point that we<br />
can’t finance our regular activities, I do agree with<br />
Jim Horton’s philosophy that money should move<br />
and do things, not just sit in the vault I solicit suggestions<br />
from the membership: are there activities<br />
such as grants, exhibitions, travelling artists, or<br />
mini-workshops that we might consider supporting?<br />
Send your thoughts to wamyers@stkate edu<br />
4<br />
Call for Bundle #45<br />
Spring, 2011<br />
• Contributions are due by February 15, 2011.<br />
• Send bundle contributions to Sylvia Pixley, 601<br />
Borgess Ave , Monroe, MI 48162<br />
• Quantity: Minimum of 76 (one extra for the Archive)<br />
Our membership is at 180 at this writing<br />
should you wish to distribute to all members<br />
• Size: Maximum 9" x 12"<br />
(We are mailing in a 10" x 13" envelope)<br />
• Anyone submitting prints is ensured of receiving<br />
entire Bundles and moving to the front of the line<br />
for future Bundles<br />
• We recommend sending printing information<br />
with your contributions This is just a suggestion;<br />
not mandatory by any means This information<br />
accompanies your print which is stored in the<br />
Princeton University Graphic Arts Library This<br />
archive holds all WEN material<br />
• We encourage members to sign-up for producing a<br />
cover for <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong>. We will cover expenses<br />
• We welcome (and need) your submissions of<br />
articles, interviews, ads and announcements for<br />
publication in <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong>. Send articles, ads<br />
to,<br />
Tony Drehfal<br />
W221 East Wisconsin Ave<br />
Nashotah, WI 53058, USA<br />
e-mail: adrehfal@wctc edu<br />
Please send written submissions as unformatted<br />
text files via email, it makes the layout far more<br />
simple Please make an effort to use Microsoft Word<br />
for your written submissions Images should be<br />
mailed, or contact Tony for scanning specifics
Notes From Jim<br />
by Jim Horton<br />
I was reminded of the WEN Summer<br />
Workshop at the Art Colony<br />
up in Grand Marais, Minnesota<br />
when Sharen Linder posted some<br />
photos of “Gitche Gumee, the<br />
shining Big-Sea Water” (Lake<br />
Superior), kicking up her fury<br />
They say it was the worst since<br />
the Edmund Fitzgerald was sunk But when we were<br />
there this summer, it was hauntingly beautiful<br />
What a time we had<br />
Out host, Bill Myers, with the help of Rachel<br />
Scott and a few of the locals, made us welcome with<br />
an array of activities It was great seeing old friends,<br />
such as Dale Kennedy, Sylvia Pixley, Earl Nitschke,<br />
Joanne Price, Tony Drehfal, Carl Montford, Joel<br />
Moline, Josh Capistrant, Hans and Fiorella Mori<br />
(all the way from Italy), and newcomers John Mc-<br />
Williams, Gerri Carlson and Nancy Darrell Kent<br />
Aldrich popped in, and spouses, partners and<br />
friends added to the mix<br />
Visits to local art studios, fine dinners, showand-tell<br />
times, walks on the beach, evening presentations,<br />
a sketching field trip to Cascade River Falls,<br />
were highlights of the gathering Mainly, I think<br />
these workshops give us time to work When in the<br />
presence of other like-minded people, we socialize<br />
and we do what we really love, and that is drawing<br />
and engraving I even saw the Vandercook in the<br />
next room chucking out some editioning I always<br />
hear lots of talk about problem-solving and tips<br />
Joann Price did a presentation on her trip to<br />
England Gerri Carlson and family create and sell<br />
5<br />
world-class handcrafted fly rods She amazed us<br />
with some of that work John McWilliams showed<br />
his astonishing body of work John lives in the<br />
eastern edge of North Carolina in a unique natural<br />
environment Just walking around the room, looking<br />
over the shoulders of this group is an exhibition<br />
in itself<br />
Jim Horton at the Art Colony in Grand Marais<br />
Our business meeting was held, and not much<br />
is new Officers stay the same, Jim Horton – Chair;<br />
Sylvia Pixley – Secretary and mailer; Bill Myers<br />
– Treasurer; Tony Drehfal – Editor and producer<br />
of <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> One new addition was Josh Capistrant,<br />
offering to take on the management of our<br />
website<br />
We all agreed to ask Hamilton <strong>Wood</strong> Type<br />
Museum, in Two Rivers, Wisconsin if they would<br />
allow us to return for a workshop in 2011 (we were<br />
there several years ago) We are pleased that John<br />
Moran, the manager of the museum, has agreed
to the dates, June 20 – 24th We have invited Chris<br />
Daunt to be our guest artist Chris is a world-class<br />
printmaker and block-maker Chris has agreed to<br />
join us and we will be getting all the details to you<br />
over the coming months<br />
6<br />
One memorable image that has stuck in my<br />
mind, was Joel Moline and Carl Montford up at the<br />
very crack of dawn, meeting out on the Artists Point<br />
to draw In they would troop, sketchbooks loaded<br />
with drawings How I wish I could have arisen to<br />
such a venture They are “better men than I am,<br />
Gunga Din”<br />
On a personal note, my summer also included<br />
teaching engraving at Augusta in West Virginia<br />
Then this fall I returned to John Campbell Folk<br />
School in North Carolina I had an amazing group<br />
I had the couple that created the Badger brand<br />
balms from up in New Hampshire I also had my<br />
valued friend Tom Patterson I’ve written about<br />
Tom before, as he and his wife Kay epitomize the<br />
mountain people of the region Tom engraved an<br />
image of his favorite goat, Rufus Incredible!<br />
The week at John Campbell Folk School concluded<br />
with a festival Nancy Darrell was there exhibiting<br />
wood engravings Nancy’s husband, John,<br />
came and studied my proof press He concluded<br />
that he could make such a press, and he can! The<br />
people from this region are those who scrabble their<br />
lives out of the mainstream of our pop-culture<br />
Indeed, these people can forge, weave, play acoustic<br />
instruments, practice healing arts and grow their<br />
own food They are incredibly resourceful They<br />
don’t have TVs or electronic gadgets They make<br />
things We wood engravers are accepted in their<br />
value systems They understand us, and we them
WEN Workshop <strong>2010</strong><br />
a photo album of the Grand Marais gathering<br />
Grand Marais Art Colony workroom, base camp for the <strong>2010</strong> WEN Summer Workshop<br />
Scenic Grand Marais Harbor<br />
7<br />
Kent Aldrich stopped in for an afternoon visit<br />
Visiting the studio of woodcut artist Betsy Bowen Carl Montford, Fiorella Mori & Gerri Carlson
Banquet at the Naniboujou Lodge<br />
The original 1929 Naniboujou painted restaurant ceiling (traditional Cree Indian pattern & Art Deco influenced)<br />
8
Earl Nitschke at Naniboujou (David Moyer inspired?)<br />
Naniboujou beach & Lake Superior<br />
9<br />
Joel Moline & Nancy Darrell<br />
Jim Horton drawing at Cascade River State Park
Dale Kennedy<br />
Rachel Scott Joel Moline<br />
10<br />
Carl Montford
Standing Row: Dale Kennedy, Bill Myers, Earl Nitschke, Sharen Linder, Gerri Carlson, John McWilliams, Nancy<br />
Darrell, Joel Moline, Carl Montford Seated/Kneeling Row: Sylvia Pixley, Rachel Scott, Fiorella Mori, Joanne Price,<br />
Tony Drehfal Ground Level Seating: Jim Horton, Josh Capistrant, Potted Plant<br />
11
Jim starts the WEN public presentation<br />
Sharen Linder & Carl Montford<br />
John McWilliams presenting his wood engravings<br />
12<br />
Bill Myers presented next<br />
Bill, who is an accomplished magician, performing his<br />
signature “hovering end-grain maple block” illusion<br />
Joanne Price presenting her burin tattoo
Dale Kennedy looking at John McWilliams’ engravings<br />
The traditional passing of the burin ceremony<br />
13<br />
Nancy Darrell<br />
The photos in this album were taken by Carl Montford,<br />
Dale Kennedy, Tony Drehfal, Sylvia Pixley & Rachel Scott
Plein Air Engraving<br />
by Sylvia Pixley<br />
When Bill Myer announced that we would be doing<br />
some Plein Air engraving, I thought, “That’s<br />
impossible, ridiculous!” But when the time came on<br />
Wednesday to visit Cascade River State Park, I took<br />
a Resingrave block and a #5 liner tool, as well as my<br />
small camera, a sketch book, a couple pencils, a pen<br />
and an umbrella Thankfully after we got there the<br />
light drizzle abated, because I didn’t have enough<br />
hands for all of that I took lots of photos of the<br />
falls and cascades and the surroundings, even a<br />
ladyslipper flower, and stopped long enough for a<br />
pencil sketch of a section of the falls Then I saw<br />
Carl Montford carving on a block, supporting it<br />
on a sign post But he wasn’t doing the falls, he was<br />
looking into the woods I didn’t have to do an image<br />
of the falls! I didn’t have to do something big If he<br />
could do one, so could I But we were running out<br />
of time Back down the path I stopped at a patch of<br />
Bunch Berry plants Here was the perfect subject,<br />
great contrast, simple I sat down on the still damp<br />
wooden steps, put my sketch book in my lap and<br />
began sketching on my block The first rule is not<br />
to put the flower in the exact middle, OK, got that<br />
14<br />
But I did forget that the image would be reversed<br />
and we read left to right As I carved, people began<br />
leaving Was it time to go? OK “Don’t worry about<br />
the background, just get the flower and leaves ”<br />
Someone from The Art Colony took my picture I<br />
had sketched most of the important lines Then it<br />
began to rain! I had to stop and find my husband<br />
who now had my umbrella<br />
I don’t know how long I spent carving, maybe<br />
20 minutes When we returned to the press room,<br />
Carl and I printed our proofs Mine actually worked!<br />
I was on cloud nine, high on something other than<br />
caffeine Plein Air carving can be done, if the subject<br />
is simplified and you sit down in a relatively comfortable<br />
position More artists should try it<br />
People praised me for working quickly But I<br />
looked around and saw four other artists doing a<br />
different kind of Plein Air engraving Sharen, Cindy,<br />
Nancy and Fiorella had collected flowers or plants<br />
or weeds from around the Art Colony and sketched<br />
them on their blocks They were carving with their<br />
plants in front of them; not quick, simple blocks but<br />
involved, wonderfully complex compositions (See<br />
Cindy Coopman’s example in the bundle ) And at<br />
least two artists had gotten up with the sun to do<br />
more sketching at Artists’ Point and around the<br />
bay each morning before breakfast and used those<br />
sketches to create blocks to work on All in all, it<br />
was a glorious experience and the Grand Marais<br />
aura lives on in all those engravings
<strong>Wood</strong> Engraving Pilgrimage<br />
by Joanne Price<br />
Site of Thomas Bewick’s Newcastle workshop<br />
I was introduced to wood engraving by Frank Eckmair<br />
in 1993. I grew up in Buffalo, NY and moved to Minneapolis,<br />
Minnesota 11 years ago. As the Exhibitions<br />
and Cooperative Artists Manager at Highpoint Center<br />
for Printmaking for seven years, I was creating my own<br />
prints when time allowed.<br />
In December 2008, I started planning a trip to visit<br />
English wood engravers Simon Brett, Chris Daunt, Anne<br />
Desmet, Andy English, Peter Lawrence and Sarah van<br />
Niekerk. The trip represented a pilgrimage, a journey to<br />
study the historical and contemporary practice of wood<br />
engraving. I wanted to see and learn the printmaking<br />
15<br />
traditions in Great Britain in order to provide me with<br />
a better understanding of the roots of wood engraving<br />
and how that tradition fits in the contemporary art<br />
world. I was interested in each artist’s inspirations,<br />
influences, working methods, tools and techniques. I<br />
visited England, my first European experience, for 2<br />
1/2 weeks in May <strong>2010</strong>.<br />
I am immensely grateful to my amazing hosts<br />
who guided me through their landscape and their life.<br />
I am deeply indebted to them for their kindness and<br />
generosity.<br />
May 2, <strong>2010</strong><br />
After more than a year of planning, I arrived at<br />
Heathrow International Airport in London The<br />
hour drive to my cousin Ned’s residence in Hackney,<br />
Essex allowed me to adjust to the new architecture<br />
and landscape around London My first night in<br />
England was in a couple of pubs There was some<br />
concern that I could not handle a pint of English<br />
beer, so I accommodated their concern and slowly<br />
sipped my ale for nearly an hour<br />
May 3<br />
The next morning our group struggled through a<br />
hangover and drove to Leigh, near Southend on the<br />
Thames estuary We walked down to the historic<br />
fishing village on the River Thames which is now<br />
mostly shops, restaurants and pubs The Thames<br />
was at low tide and it was a bizarre sight to me – the<br />
river had stranded all these boats in the sand dunes<br />
Growing up on Lake Erie I had never experienced<br />
dramatic tidal forces
Andy English punting down the river Cam<br />
May 4, Andy English, Cambridge<br />
Andy and I walked around Cambridge through<br />
lovely parks and past St John’s University and<br />
down historic cobblestone roads The architecture<br />
and sculptural detailing is overwhelming and<br />
beautiful Andy suggested that we see Cambridge<br />
by boat Andy did a capital job punting while I<br />
snapped photos of the architecture and scenery<br />
Everything was so vividly green Next we visited a<br />
bookseller’s stall in Cambridge’s outdoor market<br />
We also visited the Haunted Bookshop and G David<br />
Bookseller where I found a sixth-edition copy of A<br />
General History of Quadrupeds by Thomas Bewick<br />
Meanwhile Andy spotted a first edition of the two<br />
volume Life of William Blake, a huge influence for<br />
his work Andy is an avid collector, very smart and<br />
patient, finding amazing art at manageable prices<br />
He has wonderful works displayed around his<br />
16<br />
house: A small self-portrait etching by Rembrandt,<br />
a David Jones drawing and Carel Weight paintings<br />
and watercolors There were wood engravings by<br />
Gertrude Hermes, Hilary Paynter, Michael Renton<br />
and Gwen Raverat Everywhere you look there is a<br />
treasure tucked away inconspicuously<br />
After the bookstores we headed to Kettle’s Yard<br />
House where Jim Ede, a former curator for the Tate<br />
Gallery in London, and his family lived from 1958 to<br />
1973 Ede’s friendships with English artists formed<br />
his collection and a way of living with great art We<br />
were greeted by a quirky but very friendly steward<br />
of the home who politely corrected my entry in the<br />
visitor’s log to reflect that Andy was not a first time<br />
visitor Andy pointed out some of his favorites First<br />
and foremost was a drawing by the artist and poet,<br />
David Jones The drawing was very soft, sweet and<br />
fantastical I had to wait a bit to see his wood engravings<br />
They were equally charming and ethereal I felt<br />
an immediate connection to his work<br />
May 5<br />
Andy’s home was very welcoming: a large garden<br />
in the backyard boasts cherry, fig, apple and pear<br />
trees, floral and vegetable bearing wonders Wisteria<br />
climbs along the front of the house under the<br />
bedroom window where a dove is nesting There is<br />
a beautiful panorama of rolling fields and pasture<br />
with a clear view of Ely Cathedral on the horizon<br />
Andy’s studio is in his garage where his two<br />
Albion presses reside The space is cozy and efficient,<br />
the way a studio should be There are many<br />
prints occupying the wall opposite the entrance that
make my eyes wander while I ask Andy about his<br />
inks and printing techniques Andy uses Lawrence<br />
Letterpress carbon black and often employs a specialized<br />
Zerkall paper for wood engraving specified<br />
by Edwina Ellis His registration system is clean and<br />
clever, using a plastic sleeve to place and protect<br />
his paper Andy takes commissions for bookplates,<br />
book illustrations and more – a self-described jobbing<br />
engraver I really enjoyed assisting Andy in<br />
printing some extra wedding invitations It was a<br />
nice way to get a feel for the Albion Press – the press<br />
of choice for English engravers<br />
After a morning in the studio and a quick<br />
romp through the fields with Bella, the family dog,<br />
we headed into Ely for a proper English tea experience<br />
Peacock’s Tearoom had elaborate lace table<br />
cloths and floral tea cups Bowls of sugar cubes<br />
with delicate doily covers and mini tongs adorned<br />
each table I relished the most flavorful tea I have<br />
ever had, Pleine Lune, a French vanilla, honey tea<br />
with savory scones that prepared us for our visit to<br />
Ely Cathedral<br />
Ely Cathedral is a dominant visual presence for<br />
miles around The Ship of the Fens has been a destination<br />
for many Christian pilgrimages for hundreds<br />
of years Difficult to take in all at once, the scale of<br />
the cathedral is unlike anything I have experienced<br />
before Everything is visually overwhelming Andy<br />
points out that the manner of carvings over the<br />
Prior’s door look suspiciously similar to Eric Gill’s<br />
engravings and sculpture<br />
From Andy’s home, views of Ely cathedral on<br />
the horizon are framed in impossibly perfect ways,<br />
17<br />
with fields and meadows of varied greens and bright<br />
yellow bands of rapeseed There is so much to see<br />
in the landscape – a connection to the community<br />
and land, echoing history and life<br />
Simon Brett in his Marlborough studio<br />
May 6, Simon Brett, Marlborough<br />
I was delighted to finally meet Simon Brett, wood<br />
engraving’s living legend, whose work as both an<br />
artist and an author I have admired for so long<br />
Simon Brett’s advice and many contacts were enormously<br />
helpful in planning my journey<br />
Through the conservatory and past the garden,<br />
Simon’s studio sat as a separate structure at the back<br />
of the property The organized studio space has 2<br />
iron hand presses, many work surfaces and framed<br />
prints filling any wall space unoccupied by books<br />
His engraving tools were carefully arranged at his
work station and the ergonomic kneeling chair<br />
suggested long stretches of engraving necessitating<br />
comfort and sustainability I am in awe of his<br />
drawing and engraving ability<br />
May 7<br />
We spent the morning in Simon’s studio where he<br />
showed me prints by George Buday, Leo Wyatt,<br />
Reynolds Stone, Michael Renton, Joan Hassall,<br />
Sidney Lee, Stanley Spencer and John Platt I also<br />
appreciated Simon’s insight as a professional illustrator<br />
and engraver as he showed me some of the<br />
50 book projects he has illustrated I particularly enjoyed<br />
seeing Legends of the Ring and The Meditations<br />
of Marcus Aurelius I was also treated to a preview<br />
of Brett’s current project The Play of Pericles: Prince<br />
of Tyre I stood entranced, staring at the theatrical<br />
presentation as Simon narrated Part I of the story<br />
It is a masterpiece<br />
As the authority on wood engraving, Simon was<br />
keen to introduce me to other local wood engravers,<br />
while at the same time providing a nice excuse to<br />
visit with friends After a fascinating visit to Avebury<br />
Manor and its standing stones, we visited a local but<br />
internationally accomplished engraver and painter,<br />
Richard Shirley Smith Over tea and a wonderful<br />
sweet homemade cake, Richard told me about his<br />
friendship and visits with the artist David Jones<br />
while he was studying in Cambridge; what a delightful<br />
coincidence As a parting gift, Richard gave me a<br />
book cataloguing his impeccable engravings Later<br />
Simon offered me a book Ten Letters, including correspondence<br />
between Richard and David Jones<br />
18<br />
Neil Bousfield and Simon Brett<br />
May 8<br />
Simon and I headed to Gloucestershire to visit<br />
Neil Bousfield in Stonehouse on our way to Sarah<br />
van Niekerk’s home Neil is an accomplished wood<br />
engraver in his own right, approaching the medium<br />
from a film, graphic novel and video game design<br />
background We viewed some of Neil’s 140 prints of<br />
an estimated 400 for his latest book project, Walking<br />
Shadows: A Novel without Words Very ambitious and<br />
prolific His studio was very organized and efficient<br />
with a neatly placed Vandercook – the only wood<br />
engraver I met using a cylinder press to print wood<br />
engravings in England<br />
Sarah Van Niekerk, Frampton-on-Severn<br />
Sarah’s street The Green features ponds and picturesque<br />
farms along a well-kept green grass lawn<br />
and a castle-like Frampton Court across the way<br />
from her home<br />
I had first seen Sarah’s engravings about 11<br />
years ago in the book Women <strong>Engravers</strong> by Patricia<br />
Jaffe at the campus library while I was studying<br />
printmaking at the University of Minnesota I fell
immediately in love with her lively engraving style<br />
Sarah told me that she focuses on the texture of<br />
things; how they feel determines how they are portrayed<br />
I often look at these textures as a guide when<br />
I make engravings Sarah uses Lawrence relief black<br />
and letterpress Seville Black when she prints I love<br />
her engraving station It has a stool with a sheepskin<br />
cover for the seat<br />
Sarah van Niekerk<br />
The view out Sarah’s back window is magical,<br />
like a living fairy tale; it takes my breath away<br />
19<br />
There are spotted horses grazing under the apple<br />
trees whose pink flowers are creating a confetti-like<br />
rain of blossoms in the wind I cannot stop staring<br />
outside Sarah told me that it gets really surreal<br />
when a Mississippi-like steamboat floats down the<br />
unseen canal between the apple trees and the pasture!<br />
I could easily fall in love with this place, this<br />
landscape<br />
Sarah brought me down to the River Severn<br />
in the middle of the horseshoe bend The weather<br />
was fitfully spitting rain at us and the wind was very<br />
strong and cutting The unsettled weather created<br />
many interesting changes in the light and mood of<br />
the landscape Peter Lawrence said later that she<br />
is an engraver of weather; there is definitely that<br />
sense of weather in her prints and after experiencing<br />
the River Severn for that short period of time,<br />
I understand why<br />
We drove to Wick’s Court, the location of<br />
“Farms for City Children”, where some very friendly<br />
pigs, piglets, cows, geese and ducks were anxious for<br />
some attention A giant split oak tree, the real life<br />
subject of one of her prints expressed such strong<br />
character as did everything; the flora, the fauna<br />
and their environment I feel I have a better understanding<br />
of Sarah’s art through these encounters<br />
Or maybe her work colored my perception … either<br />
way I enjoyed the experience<br />
May 9, Peter Lawrence, Oxford<br />
Peter Lawrence is the managing director of the<br />
Oxford Designers and Illustrators with a second job<br />
as president of the Society of <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong> Pete
and his wife Kath generously planned a thorough<br />
and engaging visit for me while in Oxford<br />
We first headed out to view Oxford’s local talent<br />
during Artweeks: Oxfordshire Artists’ Festival<br />
It is the same type of event we call open studios or<br />
art crawls We visited Wolvercote Baptist Church<br />
to view some of Pete’s prints among the Oxford<br />
Printmakers Coop exhibit Pete is the only wood<br />
engraver in the bunch, but his work is very strong<br />
Back at the Lawrence’s home, he showed me<br />
an old composition notebook with meeting notes<br />
of the Society of <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong> The first page<br />
says:<br />
Meeting March 27th 1920<br />
At Mr. Philip Hagneens Studio<br />
Resolutions<br />
1. That this be called The Bewick Club<br />
The Bewick Club? Well, that was changed on May<br />
13th 1920:<br />
Proposed & carried that resolution No 1 of March 27th<br />
be cancelled, & the society in future be called The Society<br />
of <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong>.<br />
Pretty cool Eric Gill, Robert Gibbings, Lucien<br />
Pissarro, Sydney Lee: they spelled his name wrong<br />
in the notes! An all-star cast to start the Society<br />
May 10<br />
During an Oxford University Press (OUP) tour that<br />
Pete arranged, I learned that the OUP did not use<br />
the standard “type high” or “trade height” ( 918”)<br />
the height of a shilling on its edge When Dr John<br />
Fell was Bishop of Oxford and Dean of Christ<br />
Church during the 17th century he brought Dutch<br />
20<br />
typefounders to Oxford to create beautiful fonts of<br />
“Oxford height” ( 9395”) called the Fell Types<br />
Next we made our way to Keble College where<br />
Colman Hunt’s painting, The Light of the World is<br />
kept Keble College is quite beautiful, with a strong<br />
gothic influence and patterned brickwork by architect<br />
William Butterfield Keble College sits across<br />
from the Oxford University Museum of Natural<br />
History designed by Benjamin <strong>Wood</strong>ward, incorporating<br />
John Ruskin’s ideas of “true Gothic ” The<br />
building is a neo-gothic structure and it is rumored<br />
that whenever Ruskin rode between Keble College<br />
and the Natural History Museum he would employ<br />
the carriage curtain to block his view of the offending<br />
Keble College architecture<br />
We toured the Sheldonian Theatre where the<br />
Oxford University Press was housed at one point<br />
and headed up to the cupola for a stunning 360degree<br />
view of Oxford We also visited Blackwell’s<br />
Bookshop, a huge bookstore with 5 levels of new<br />
and used books But wait, there are 9 other specialty<br />
Blackwell bookstores in Oxford! In Blackwell’s art<br />
bookstore, I was pleasantly surprised to spot A<br />
Being More Intense on the feature display next to<br />
an Albrecht Dürer book Pete thought that was an<br />
acceptable placement<br />
After a quick tour of the Bodleian Library we<br />
walked to the Oxford Printmakers Cooperative,<br />
where Pete teaches wood engraving classes about<br />
twice a year As in the United States, there appears<br />
to be a real concern from wood engraving artists<br />
regarding the lack of interest at universities<br />
and colleges in teaching wood engraving in the
printmaking curriculum Most people are learning<br />
the art through day or weekend workshops that offer<br />
only a taste of the medium Gaining a good grasp<br />
of the medium requires practice, encouragement,<br />
support and time<br />
Peter Lawrence<br />
Pete’s studio is mostly a desk on the top floor<br />
of his home – a place where collages of drawings,<br />
photos, printed ephemera, collectible cars, sea<br />
shells and other collected objects start amassing<br />
in the stairwell and continue into and around the<br />
studio space The objects, drawings, posters and<br />
collections reflect Pete’s personal interests in jazz,<br />
maps, pop culture and his aesthetics as a designer,<br />
21<br />
Peter working on a large engraving<br />
organizing fonts and visual information: “This is<br />
what designers do, we arrange the world ” Pete<br />
names Barbara Hepworth, Peter Blake, William<br />
Morris, Eric Ravilious, Eric Gill, Wallace & Gromit,<br />
John Surman, Penguin Books and Mr Punch as<br />
a short list of influences for his personal work<br />
Lawrence’s drawings are very carefully and slowly<br />
engraved after the basic drawing is worked out,<br />
sometimes taking up to 6 months to finish because<br />
he improvises the design around his drawing Engraving<br />
for Pete is a sanctuary, the place where he<br />
can listen to jazz and follow his own ideas<br />
May 11<br />
We started out early to meet the SWE Treasurer,<br />
Nigel Hamway Nigel works in finance and had just<br />
returned from a business trip in New York As we arrive,<br />
he is busily welcoming us and directing all sorts<br />
of activity in the house There are beautiful prints<br />
everywhere I look There is a collection of David<br />
Jones prints from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner
leading up the stairs Jim Todd, James Bostock, Rosemary<br />
Kilbourn, Jonathan Gibbs, Hilary Paynter, Peter<br />
Lawrence and many other engravings adorn the<br />
walls Nigel shared with us some of his impressive<br />
book collection: John Farleigh’s The Adventures of<br />
the Black Girl in her Search for God, Eric Gill’s Troilus<br />
and Criseyde and David Jones’ The Book of Jonah,<br />
Gulliver’s Travels, and a Welsh language only title<br />
with beautiful illustrations, Llyfr Y Pregeth<br />
Next, at the Ashmolean Museum, Pete officially<br />
transferred the entire archive of SWE’s materials,<br />
including the secretarial notebooks of early Society<br />
meetings to Colin Harrison, Assistant Keeper of<br />
the print room<br />
Mr Harrison, also our print room guide, provided<br />
insightful commentary on many of the prints<br />
we viewed including Dalziel Brothers’ (pronounced<br />
Dee-el) engravings of John Everett Millais’ drawings<br />
for the Parables of Our Lord Included with the<br />
engravings were letters written by Millais to Dalziel<br />
In one letter Millais suggests that the already<br />
delicately engraved fingernails could be finer!–We<br />
viewed prints by William Blake and Edward Calvert<br />
(a fervent follower of Blake), Blair Hughes-Stanton,<br />
Gertrude Hermes, and Hermes’ teacher Leon Underwood<br />
Hermes’ prints are some of my favorites,<br />
and Hughes-Stanton’s engravings for The Revelation<br />
of St. John the Divine are, well, divine We ogle some<br />
of Robert Gibbings prints from his time in Tahiti<br />
- whose name I suddenly remember from the SWE’s<br />
official first meeting notes The Ashmolean print<br />
room was truly a treat<br />
Next we walked to Christ Church to tour the<br />
22<br />
Christ Church, Oxford<br />
great hall and the Cathedral In the church, a steward<br />
tells us the story that William Morris depicts<br />
in a stained glass piece, Legends and Scenes from the<br />
life of St. Frideswide, the Abbess of Oxford, above<br />
the church’s reconstructed 1289 Shrine The Pre-<br />
Raphaelite style depicts some interesting scenarios:<br />
St Frideswide’s prayers are answered when lightening<br />
strikes the village’s oppressor, directly on his<br />
forehead making him blind And the last scene<br />
appears to illustrate a modern toilet near the dying<br />
St Frideswide; it is thought to be the earliest stained<br />
glass rendition of a toilet, the steward points out<br />
– or maybe the only one<br />
Pete and I walk around the central meadow<br />
where we can see a cricket game on the other side<br />
of the Cherwell River On the walk from Christ<br />
Church toward the bus, Pete pointed out an Eric<br />
Gill relief carving above a door – cool It was hard<br />
to leave Oxford Pete and Kath were perfect hosts,<br />
very friendly and engaging people
Chris Daunt<br />
May 12, Chris Daunt, Newcastle<br />
Our first stop was the Newcastle City Library’s<br />
sixth floor where they house the Bewick Collection,<br />
complete with a showcase exhibition of Thomas<br />
Bewick’s work table, a copy of a marble bust of<br />
Bewick by E H Bailey, engraving tools, blocks and<br />
prints The tool box is the real treat to see: there<br />
are 23 items total in the box, including 16 tools:<br />
four lozenge gravers, two square scorpers, a round<br />
scorper, a spitsticker, a chisel tool, three tint tools,<br />
seven multiple line tools: two seven-line, one sixline,<br />
one four-line, one three-line, plus two without<br />
handles, a double ended burnisher, a graphite lump,<br />
a leather covered lead dome, a sharpening stone, a<br />
small round of boxwood, an offcut, a small dish of<br />
lead white pigment and a magnifying loop<br />
Chris’ studio, the nearest room to his home‘s<br />
entrance, houses a large Albion press, formerly<br />
owned and used by Monica Poole His engraved<br />
blocks sit neatly on a shelf, upright on their sides,<br />
23<br />
Daunt made end-grain blocks and rounds<br />
creating a visual collage of relief images Chris is a<br />
self-taught wood engraver who admires the work<br />
of Karasawa Hitashi and Monica Poole Born in<br />
Northumberland, Chris has followed a wide variety<br />
of interests starting with four years as a Cistercian<br />
monk, a degree in English Literature, English<br />
language instruction in Poland, and his longest<br />
endeavor before block making, as an engraving<br />
illustrator
May 13<br />
Chris’ woodshop is in a small room off the kitchen<br />
Inside the woodshop there were various tools and<br />
different stations to accommodate each step in the<br />
process of block-making In between tools, shelves,<br />
tables and supplies there is wood everywhere One<br />
wall is completely covered with shelving to house<br />
neatly stacked rough-cut rounds of boxwood and<br />
squares of lemonwood Large boxwood trunks<br />
and rounds lie on the floor under tables and milled<br />
beams of lemonwood sat ready to be processed<br />
<strong>Wood</strong> engraving is well supported in Bewick<br />
country – not surprising, but still impressive As<br />
we walked around Newcastle Chris pointed out<br />
evidence of wood engraving everywhere We found<br />
enlarged wood engravings by Hilary Paynter depicting<br />
scenes of the city just around the corner from<br />
Northern Print, a community printshop where<br />
Chris often teaches wood engraving We found a<br />
plaque and sculpture marking Bewick’s original<br />
workshop next to St Nicholas’ Cathedral, Bewick<br />
Square and a bronze enlarged reproduction of the<br />
Chillingham Bull inset into the concrete sidewalk<br />
on Bewick Street Where else in the world would<br />
you find such public support for a wood engraver?<br />
I think I have found my second home<br />
May 14<br />
Chris’ friend Ian Corrigan, a genius traditional<br />
artisan, shortens and assembles engraving tools<br />
for Intaglio Printmaker and makes leather sandbags<br />
for Chris to sell Ian is a trained welder and<br />
possesses an overwhelming amount of traditional<br />
24<br />
Bewick’s recreated workshop at Cherryburn<br />
and historical artisan knowledge and skill We<br />
discussed the proper way to sharpen and maintain<br />
engraving tools Ian also taught me the proper,<br />
Northumbrian way to pronounce Thomas Bewick’s<br />
name: “ByOO-ick ” I responded, “Where I come<br />
from, ‘Buick’ is a car brand ”<br />
“Cherryburn, the Mecca of wood engraving”,<br />
as my wood engraving friend Carl Montford<br />
calls it, was next on the itinerary The birthplace<br />
of Bewick, the cottage, farmhouse and recreated<br />
workshop are all at Cherryburn featuring a picturesque<br />
landscape on the River Tyne We browsed<br />
through the exhibition of Thomas Bewick’s work<br />
and life, a collection of tools, blocks, prints, books<br />
and Victorian dioramas of animals The reconstructed<br />
workshop is housed in the adjoining barn<br />
and is packed with all the equipment and materials<br />
required to do wood and copper engraving and<br />
letterpress
May 15<br />
I caught the train back to my cousin Ned’s home<br />
in Essex in time for a barbecue with friends They<br />
were curious about where I had gone and what I<br />
had done with my time in England I explained to<br />
one of them that I would be visiting Anne Desmet<br />
in Hackney, London the following day<br />
May 16<br />
Anne had given me good directions to her house<br />
“We have a very distinctive path with an elaborate,<br />
colorful, fish mosaic ” That made it easy to find and<br />
verify I was in the right location Anne’s neighborhood<br />
was quiet, clean and calm<br />
Anne led me inside for a warming cup of tea<br />
and introduced me to her husband, Roy Willingham<br />
and her daughter, Marion Anne’s studio had bright<br />
large windows with a clothesline to hang prints to<br />
dry above her Albion press Anne works nontraditionally<br />
with wood engraving, using the prints<br />
to collage large unique pieces She prefers to use<br />
Lawrence’s relief printing inks and a German letterpress<br />
ink: Hostmann Steinberg Anne is inspired<br />
by Piranesi, Gertrude Hermes, Edward Wadsworth,<br />
Giotto, Piero della Francesco and Masaccio Anne’s<br />
hallway and stairwell have a wealth of engravings<br />
Some that I can recall include prints by Monica<br />
Poole, Colin See-Payton, Gertrude Hermes and Blair<br />
Hughes-Stanton<br />
Anne is a very busy woman actively involved<br />
in art making, educating and parenting As the<br />
editor of Printmaking Today, a quarterly journal of<br />
contemporary international graphics, Anne spends<br />
25<br />
Anne Desmet<br />
every Wednesday compiling, designing and editing<br />
for the publication She is the co-author of the book,<br />
Handmade Prints, and taught relief printmaking<br />
to Hackney primary school students, ages three<br />
to 11 Students carved and printed images and<br />
wrote poetry about their homes to be compiled<br />
into a book called Our London Anne also conducts<br />
wood engraving demonstrations during her exhibits<br />
around the UK She is also featured in a video<br />
demonstrating the traditional woodcut process<br />
at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Materials and<br />
Techniques gallery for prints<br />
Anne learned wood engraving and linocut from<br />
Jean Lodge in her postgraduate studies at the Ruskin<br />
School of Art in Oxford A Rome Scholarship in<br />
Printmaking allowed Anne to work as a residency<br />
artist at the British School in Rome in 1989 – 90:<br />
the source of her interest in architecture Anne<br />
is currently working on a series of prints related<br />
to the construction of the London 2012 Olympic<br />
stadiums being built near to her home She exposes
the transformation and mutations of urban history<br />
I admire Anne’s incredible motivation, professionalism<br />
and work ethic The scope and reach of her<br />
work is inspiring<br />
Roy Willingham is also a wood engraver<br />
and linocut artist creating fun, colorful prints<br />
Roy’s working process starts with a drawing and<br />
progresses through a series of reinterpretations<br />
through drawing, painting, collage and print Roy<br />
learned printmaking from Ian Mortimer, who still<br />
runs the private press I M Imprimit in London,<br />
near their home in Hackney Both Anne and Roy<br />
seem to inspire each other and continue to discover<br />
that they have overlapping interests<br />
Anne talked about creating a still silence, as<br />
Monica Poole creates through her engravings I<br />
can understand a desire for that still silence after<br />
a busy day in the life of Anne Desmet and Roy<br />
Willingham<br />
When I returned to the United States, my mind still<br />
swimming with all the new experiences and knowledge,<br />
work and stress piled high at work – my friend asked me<br />
what I walked away with from my journey? I responded,<br />
“English engravers do some of the finest work in wood<br />
engraving – they are really professional and well organized.<br />
I realize that I need to spend more time practicing<br />
my own engraving – a renewed vigor to prioritize my<br />
own practice.”<br />
My journey to England was an incredible experience<br />
that I will cherish for the rest of my life, thanks to all the<br />
artists who so generously volunteered their homes, energy,<br />
time and resources for my educational adventure. 1920 Society of <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong> meeting notes<br />
26
Bundle No. 44<br />
<strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2010</strong><br />
The prints contained in this issue of <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong><br />
have been scanned from WEN Bundle No 44 This<br />
section does not intend to substitute the value of<br />
viewing the original prints as printed by the artist<br />
on fine paper with quality inks, but is meant to<br />
provide a facsimile for WEN members not receiving<br />
bundles Because of space and reproduction<br />
limitations, some images have been reduced in size,<br />
North Shore Dale Kennedy (actual size)<br />
North Shore is printed on Mohawk Superfine Cream paper Dale printed the edition at Bill Myers studio This<br />
wood engraving was printed in an edition of 95<br />
27<br />
and color prints have been reproduced in shades of<br />
gray In some instances a print represented in the<br />
bundle may have been excluded in this section as<br />
requested by the artist All original prints from the<br />
bundles are archived at the Princeton University<br />
Graphic Arts Library, Princeton, New Jersey, with<br />
Agnes Sherman serving as curator
Split Rock Lighthouse Carl Montford (60%)<br />
Carl engraved this image of Split Rock Lighthouse<br />
located at Split Rock State Park, Minnesota This is<br />
an edition 100 for WEN The lighthouse was built in<br />
response to a particularly tragic year of shipwrecks<br />
(1905, with 215 lives lost on Lake Superior) The<br />
light was visible up to 60 miles away<br />
28<br />
You Will Have… Susan Lowdermilk (actual size)<br />
You Will Have Good Luck And Overcome Many<br />
Hardships was engraved on Resingrave and printed<br />
on a Tanach etching press For the WEN bundle<br />
edition Daniel Smith Relief Black #79 ink was used,<br />
mixed with 1/8 th magnesium carbonate Susan<br />
engraved the image in a wood engraving workshop<br />
taught by Paul Gentry at Lane Community College<br />
in Eugene, Oregon in November, 2008
Germania Earl Nitschke (70%)<br />
Earl was engraving Germania at the WEN workshop<br />
in Grand Marais An edition of 100 was printed for<br />
WEN<br />
29<br />
Old rockers never die!… Ken Ferguson (82%)<br />
Old rockers never die! they just play away! is a linocut<br />
and printed on Sumerset Soft White 300gm paper,<br />
using a mixture of Van Son Black and Red ink An<br />
edition of 90 was printed for WEN
Untitled John Carrera (actual size)<br />
John sent an assortment of 10 differents prints to<br />
WEN for bundle <strong>#44</strong><br />
30<br />
Cruise II Rachel Scott (actual size)<br />
Rachel engraved Cruise II on Resingrave and printed<br />
an edition of 150, with 118 for WEN
Rocks at Artist’s Point Sylvia Pixley (actual size)<br />
Sylvia started working on Rocks at Artist’s Point at the WEN workshop at Grand Marais The edition of 120 for<br />
WEN is printed on Mohawk Superfine<br />
31
DragonFlight Karin A Hokkanen (38%)<br />
DragonFlight is a woodcut on plank pine and printed<br />
on office supply paper, using a blue green mix of<br />
Speedball oil based ink An edition of 110 was printed<br />
for WEN<br />
32<br />
Untitled Mary Thompson (actual size)<br />
Mary sent in 9 different prints, all images of cars
2009 AIDS Service Cover John R Benson (55%)<br />
2009 AIDS Service Cover is a hand printed linoleum<br />
block print using brayer baren techique John<br />
printed an edition of 600 with prints 101–200 sent<br />
to WEN<br />
33<br />
Hotei John R Benson (40%)<br />
Hotei is a linoleum block print The image is printed<br />
on Chinese Joss Paper using brayer baren technique<br />
An edition of 125 was printed for WEN
Dandelion Cindy Koopman (actual size)<br />
Cindy sent an edition of 100 for WEN, printed on a Vandercook SP15 press, using a toned linen paper “The<br />
block was begun during the WEN workshop of 2004 in Minneapolis I couldn’t think of what to carve so I pulled<br />
up a dandelion in the back parking lot of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts This has become a workshop<br />
theme – for the Grand Marais workshop I found some plantain outside the Art Colony Building ”<br />
34
She Says What She Thinks Linda Karel Sage (90%)<br />
Linda printed She Says What She Thinks, engraved<br />
on end-grain maple, in an edition of 76 for WEN<br />
The edition was printed, hand inked with Graphic<br />
Chemical Litho #1796 Ink, on a Morgan Line-O-<br />
Scribe sign machine press<br />
35<br />
Stone Sandy Webster (actual size)<br />
Sandy Webster printed Stone in an edition of 80 for<br />
WEN It is one of seven wood engravings of stones<br />
for a small book titled Owning Stones
Bundle Participation?<br />
Show your stuff!<br />
A Note to All WEN Members on Bundle Participation:<br />
and in particular, those new members that might still<br />
be confused as to what and how the print exchange<br />
works.<br />
A Bundle is a name we dubbed the mailings that take<br />
place twice yearly (Spring and <strong>Autumn</strong>) A Bundle<br />
is a packet of prints, or a “non-digital” show that<br />
comes to your door They are not intended for sale<br />
or speculation They are meant for people to share<br />
the joy of printmaking with others who know and<br />
appreciate what went into their production<br />
We have many levels of expertise represented<br />
There are established professionals along with beginners<br />
There are a few who appreciate prints, but<br />
don't practice printmaking themselves We hope the<br />
Bundles are a means of education We do not publicly<br />
judge or criticize the work that is contributed,<br />
though we are always open to comments, and certainly,<br />
individual contacts can be made to these artists<br />
with your more personal comments and ideas<br />
We love of seeing ink on paper that came from an<br />
artist's hand Sometimes we are awed by the quality<br />
of the work Sometimes we learn from the rawness<br />
of a “Beginner's Mind” as the Zen masters call it,<br />
that hasn’t been influenced by standard practices<br />
and shows the exciting marks of experimentation<br />
“A print is the halfway point between a thing and a<br />
thought,” as Fritz Eichenberg once said To hold it<br />
close to the eye, and see the artists intimate journey<br />
of creation is no small thing In these days of digital<br />
imaging, it is a rare and valued thing perhaps<br />
more so than ever<br />
36<br />
We are always happy to hear of sales and contacts<br />
that result from people seeing someone’s work<br />
in the Bundles, however, that is not the prime reason<br />
we exist WEN is just one place where, if you have<br />
something extra to give, with the spirit of “What<br />
goes around, comes around,” you donate We are<br />
an appreciative audience When you do contribute<br />
to a Bundle, unless you indicate that it not be used<br />
for exhibition, you are giving people the right to<br />
show it to others in educational displays If it were<br />
to be reproduced for commercial use, permissions<br />
must be sought<br />
Bundle participation is not mandatory for<br />
being a member of WEN If you paid your dues,<br />
you will receive a journal, all announcements, a<br />
welcome to come to any of our activities (such as<br />
summer workshops), exhibit in any WEN connected<br />
exhibitions and receive some prints that have been<br />
donated by members You might not receive all the<br />
prints (as members only have to submit a total of 76,<br />
not enough to go around to all) Why that number?<br />
Some of these artists print by hand, slowly, and<br />
to even give away 76 of such work, is asking a lot,<br />
though some do contribute the maximum How do<br />
you get the full array of prints? You do so by contributing<br />
at least 76 prints to a Bundle If you do so,<br />
you are put at the head of the list when the stacks<br />
of prints are sorted into envelopes for mailing If<br />
you never contribute (which there is no pressure to<br />
do so), you will get whatever is left over That list is<br />
sorted by the seniority of when you joined If you<br />
are a newcomer, obviously, you are going to be at the<br />
end of the line But contribute, and you are at the
front of the line This keeps a healthy array of new<br />
artists coming in If contributing every few years,<br />
you are still getting just about everything<br />
We do ask that the work going into a bundle<br />
is by your hand You may contribute brochures,<br />
advertisements or a prospectus All materials are<br />
welcome as long as you feel it would be of interest<br />
and benefit to the group We have received intaglio,<br />
lino and plank-grain woodcuts, which are welcome<br />
Any questions, do contact us<br />
A Calendar of Days<br />
Participate; promote WEN and your work!<br />
We now have a new WEN tradition, A Calendar<br />
of Days, which promotes the <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong>’<br />
<strong>Network</strong> to an expanded audience, thanks to our<br />
partnership with Tim and Elke Inkster and their<br />
marvelous literary press, The Porcupine’s Quill<br />
A Calendar of Days includes fourteen reproductions<br />
of wood engravings contributed by artists<br />
from the United States, United Kingdom and<br />
Canada, all of whom are members of the <strong>Wood</strong><br />
<strong>Engravers</strong>’ <strong>Network</strong> (WEN) The images have been<br />
engraved by hand, proofed letterpress by the artists<br />
themselves, then digitized and printed offset on<br />
the Heidelberg KORD by Tim Inkster at The Porcupine’s<br />
Quill in Erin Village, Wellington County,<br />
Ontario A Calendar of Days is what promises to<br />
be an on-going collaboration between the <strong>Wood</strong><br />
<strong>Engravers</strong>’ <strong>Network</strong> and The Porcupine’s Quill, a<br />
small publishing company noted for its expertise<br />
in using twentieth-century offset technology to<br />
37<br />
replicate the quality look of a nineteenth-century<br />
letterpress product<br />
For the <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong>’ <strong>Network</strong>, our primary<br />
involvement in the production of A Calendar of Days<br />
is to provide high-quality wood engraved prints<br />
that will be reproduced and featured For future<br />
calendars, engravings can be submitted year round<br />
Our hope is that it becomes a regular habit of WEN<br />
members, to print an “extra” proof of their latest<br />
edition and mail it to Tim Inkster Prints not chosen<br />
for the current year’s calendar will be kept as candidates<br />
for future calendars As our pool of prints<br />
grows, finding the best seasonal image for any given<br />
month should become an easier task for Tim<br />
The finished size for A Calendar of Days will<br />
be 8 1/2” high by 5 1/2” wide, with 1/2” margin at<br />
the bottom and 5/8” at the top for a ring binding<br />
Prints will be reproduced in black and white at<br />
their actual size Prints submitted will have to fit<br />
within the following calendar template dimensions:<br />
within a 4”x4” space (3”x3”, 3”x 4”, 3”x3”, etc ) or 5<br />
1/8”width x 4”” height, in which case there will be<br />
no border, and the image will bleed left and right<br />
A border may be used for images less than 4” x 4”<br />
in size<br />
The artists whose work is chosen will be compensated<br />
for the one-time usage of their image in<br />
advance with 10 copies of the calendar, including<br />
freight For this royalty, The Porcupine’s Quill<br />
can reproduce the selected artist’s engraving for<br />
a one-time use in the calendar The artist retains<br />
all copyrights to the image Artists whose work<br />
is selected also will be eligible for a 40% discount
on any additional calendars that they may wish to<br />
order The artists would be paying the freight for<br />
these additional calendars<br />
Tim Inkster will select the engravings to be<br />
reproduced, as The Porcupine’s Quill will have total<br />
creative control over the design and printing of the<br />
calendar If Tim would like to receive any additional<br />
input pertaining to the selection of engravings for<br />
A Calendar of Days, the <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong>’ <strong>Network</strong>’s<br />
organizers would be happy to help If the WEN/<br />
PQL Calendar partnership ends, all wood engravings<br />
submitted will be returned to WEN To keep<br />
the process simple, all the prints would be returned<br />
to WEN organizer Jim Horton<br />
At this time, 14 engravings will be chosen<br />
for the current calendar design, including a cover<br />
image, an image for each of the 12 months, and a<br />
“bonus” month – January of the following year<br />
Extra leaves will be included that will include brief<br />
biographies of the contributing artists, calendar<br />
information, etc When you submit an engraved<br />
print, please include your contact information, so<br />
if your image is chosen a follow-up request for your<br />
biographical information can be sent to you<br />
Tim Inkster will determine the retail cost of the<br />
calendar and the number of copies to be printed<br />
WEN members are eligible for a 20% discount off<br />
the list price from The Porcupine’s Quill, excluding<br />
shipping and handling A Calendar of Days is already<br />
listed on amazon com in both the US and the UK<br />
The calendar is also available through Barnes &<br />
Noble (US) and Waterstones (UK) websites<br />
As The Porcupine’s Quill has committed its<br />
38<br />
resources to this endeavor, we believe it is important<br />
that Tim should have enough quality engravings to<br />
select from for the A Calendar of Days effort For the<br />
continued success of this partnership it is essential<br />
that WEN members send Tim Inkster prints on an<br />
ongoing basis, so our collection builds Always print<br />
an “extra” (if the image size fits within the calendar’s<br />
template size) when you can, and mail it to The<br />
Porcupine’s Quill – address below (Write Tim a<br />
nice note while you are at it ) We encourage you to<br />
submit engravings often Our hope is that Tim and<br />
Elke receive so many quality engravings that they<br />
will have a difficult time choosing the best<br />
As our calendar spans a little more than a year,<br />
the topic of the engravings you submit may find a<br />
matching month to represent it Your winter scene<br />
might be competing against another engraver’s<br />
snowy landscape It may be the case that an image<br />
that is more universal, and not having a seasonal<br />
aspect to it, will have a better chance at being selected<br />
As the WEN engraving collection grows<br />
at The Porcupine’s Quill, the calendar’s months<br />
and seasons will find their matches naturally My<br />
advice would be to submit your best, and in time,<br />
your work may be featured on one of 14 pages of A<br />
Calendar of Days<br />
When you mail your submissions, it is<br />
very important that when you fill out the customs<br />
declarations form, and identify the content of the<br />
package (printed material) that you do not assign<br />
any value to what you are mailing The Canadian<br />
Customs collect a 13% Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)<br />
for the value listed on the declarations form This tax
has to be paid before Tim can receive the package<br />
If you sent two wood engravings and valued them<br />
at $50 each, Tim would have to pay $13 HST before<br />
he can receive the parcel! Therefore, any package a<br />
WEN member assigns a substantial value to most<br />
probably will be refused at the Erin, Ontario post<br />
office and returned back to its sender<br />
With your mailing to The Porcupine’s Quill,<br />
please comply with the Canadian Customs and<br />
postal administration addressing requirements<br />
Be sure to display the complete name and address<br />
of both the sender and recipient on your parcel<br />
If you decide to send a proof/print inside a “standard”<br />
letter you won’t need to fill out the customs<br />
declaration form The print may get scrunched a<br />
bit, but it should scan just fine if it is selected for A<br />
Calendar of Days<br />
Please join in our new tradition, A Calendar of<br />
Days, which promotes the <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong>’ <strong>Network</strong><br />
and The Porcupine’s Quill WEN encourages<br />
you to participate Mail your engravings, including<br />
your contact information to:<br />
Tim Inkster CM RGD<br />
The Porcupine’s Quill<br />
68 Main Street, PO Box 160<br />
Erin, Ontario N0B 1T0<br />
If you have any questions about A Calendar<br />
of Days or any other WEN-related topic, feel free<br />
to write or call Jim Horton or Tony Drehfal, using<br />
their contact information located in the masthead<br />
from this edition of <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong><br />
39<br />
New Members<br />
Linda Sage<br />
4466 Morrison Road<br />
Morgantown, IN 46160<br />
n, North Carolina 28907<br />
Changes and Updates<br />
Address change:<br />
Richard Wagener<br />
900 Middlefield Drive<br />
Petaluma, CA 94952<br />
Phone: 818 599-0945<br />
John Carrera<br />
2722 Thurston Road<br />
Frederick, MD 21704<br />
E-mail change:<br />
William Rueter<br />
dovecotte@295 ca
Announcements & Notes<br />
Eric May Remembered<br />
The Kent State School of Visual Communication<br />
Design celebrated the life and creative spirit of Eric<br />
May by showcasing his work in an exhibit entitled,<br />
Eric May: Printmaker, Educator, Mentor The exhibit,<br />
which occurred from August 4 – 21, <strong>2010</strong>, featured<br />
Eric’s work from Type High Press Kent State has a<br />
web site dedicated to Eric May<br />
http://www theericmayproject com<br />
40<br />
Palm Tree Story<br />
Congratulations to WEN member Joanne Price who<br />
has published Palm Tree Story<br />
Greetings My two-year book project, the Palm Tree<br />
Story is finally done Come help me celebrate during<br />
the MCBA Book Arts Fellowship Exhibit opening<br />
reception:<br />
Opening reception: November 12, 6pm - 8:30<br />
Exhibit dates: November 12 – February 6<br />
Open Book building<br />
Minnesota Center for Book Arts<br />
1101 Washington Ave S<br />
Minneapolis, MN 55415<br />
The Palm Tree Story is a Colombian oral tale which<br />
chronicles a little boy’s quest to help three men who<br />
had set out to find their fortunes Along the way the<br />
boy encounters continual resistance and rejection<br />
from the three men, but he endures their trials and
outwits an old woman with evil intentions The<br />
boy guides the men to a fortuitous future despite<br />
their cruelty<br />
Two versions, both hand printed and bound,<br />
include a pamphlet and portfolio edition, presenting<br />
the story in very different ways The pamphlet<br />
edition has 16 pages on Arturo soft white with 12<br />
wood engraved illustrations and several linocut<br />
embellishments accompanying the text Pamphlet<br />
bound edition of 80 with Lokta chestnut covers<br />
Pages are H11” x W6”<br />
The portfolio edition presents the text and<br />
selected embellishments as an accordion book and<br />
the 12 wood engravings are hand printed on loose<br />
sheets of Revere Silk, all resting within a portfolio<br />
box The accordion book has hand printed unique<br />
woodcut end sheets carved by the artist Portfolio<br />
edition of 20 Single, unbound sheets are H9 5” x<br />
W7” www snickleprice com<br />
Full Circle, Hilary Paynter <strong>Wood</strong> Engravings<br />
“… a landmark publication, not only for Hilary as one<br />
of the country’s foremost engravers and promoters of the<br />
art, but for the world of wood engraving.”<br />
Peter Lawrence, Chairman of the Society of <strong>Wood</strong><br />
<strong>Engravers</strong><br />
It has been a busy <strong>Autumn</strong> for Hilary Paynter<br />
as she celebrated the launch of the book Full Circle,<br />
Hilary Paynter <strong>Wood</strong> Engravings, with a major retrospective<br />
exhibition in London at the Bankside<br />
Gallery, September 22–October 3, <strong>2010</strong><br />
Here is a description written about Full Circle,<br />
41<br />
Hilary Paynter <strong>Wood</strong> Engravings “The past thirty<br />
years has seen a renaissance in the art of wood<br />
engraving to rival the ‘golden age’ of the 1930s Hilary<br />
Paynter has been prominent in this resurgence,<br />
both as an artist/engraver and through her work<br />
as Honorary Secretary and later Chairman, of the<br />
reformed Society of <strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong> This book<br />
brings together all her engravings of the past 40<br />
years, telling both the story of her life and providing<br />
a visual commentary on the world ”<br />
Encouraged by friends and admirers to produce<br />
a book, Hilary has gathered together a comprehensive<br />
record of her work, which she has arranged thematically.<br />
Within these pages lies a cornucopia of imagery<br />
to enjoy, whilst her introductions to the themes, and<br />
detailed captions to the images, provide a truly personal<br />
and revelatory account of her forty-or-so years of wood<br />
engraving.<br />
From the Foreword by Hilary Chapman<br />
With 264 pages and over 600 wood engravings<br />
(21 in colour), this book covers a huge range of subjects,<br />
from breathtaking landscapes to bookplates,
from collections of animals to social and political<br />
commentary<br />
Hilary self-published Full Circle, Hilary Paynter<br />
<strong>Wood</strong> Engravings She received a grant from <strong>Wood</strong>end<br />
Barn art centre as she was completing the book<br />
so she named them as publishers Hilary worked<br />
closely with Pete Lawrence who designed the book,<br />
allowing her to construct it slowly, chapter by chapter<br />
It took two years to complete the book<br />
The book is available in the United Kingdom<br />
through Art Matters at the White Lion Street Gallery<br />
(http://www artmatters org uk/galleries/hp/<br />
book/index htm) The paperback version of Full<br />
Circle is available for £25 (currently $40 45) for the<br />
book and £22 08 ($35 73) for postage (The book<br />
is substantial and weighs 1 55kg The postage costs<br />
are what artmatters org have paid, shipping to the<br />
USA) E-mail info@artmatters.org.uk for order<br />
information Payment can be taken via credit/debit<br />
card or artmatters org could send you an invoice<br />
via Paypal As Hilary has self-published Full Circle,<br />
she is learning about the publishing world Hilary<br />
has yet to sort out the distribution of the book, as<br />
she is very busy with a series of major exhibits Feel<br />
free to e-mail Tony Drehfal for an update of North<br />
American distribution Everyone who the editor has<br />
corresponded with says the book is fabulous A full<br />
book review will be featured in <strong>Block</strong> & <strong>Burin</strong> #45<br />
Hilary Paynter was born in Scotland, and studied<br />
sculpture and wood engraving at Portsmouth<br />
College of Art She illustrated numerous books,<br />
including titles for the Gregynog Press, and her<br />
work is in the collections of the Victoria & Albert<br />
42<br />
Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the FitzWilliam<br />
Museum, the Laing Art Gallery, and Hereford and<br />
Durham City Museums amongst others<br />
Major commissions have included a mural<br />
for the Newcastle upon Tyne Metro stretching 22<br />
metres and printed on vitreous enamel<br />
Hilary is President of the Royal Society of<br />
Painter-Printmakers, a Fellow of the Royal Society<br />
of Arts and former Chairman of the Society of<br />
<strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong> ”<br />
Book of Hours by George A. Walker<br />
The Porcupine’s Quill continues its avid support of<br />
the art of wood engraving with its publication of<br />
a new work by George A Walker, Book of Hours, A<br />
Wordless Novel Told In 99 <strong>Wood</strong> Engravings. “The Book<br />
of Hours draws us back through time and into the<br />
intimate routines of daily life in the hours before the<br />
onslaught of 9/11 Here Walker expresses through<br />
images what is too horrific for words, and although<br />
the inhabitants of The Book of Hours can’t imagine<br />
the tragedy about to befall them, the reader must<br />
dread the slow, uneven countdown that weaves<br />
between the pages ”<br />
“This is not only a remembrance of innocence<br />
lost but also a recollection of the historical activism<br />
and art genres that had such an important influence<br />
on today’s graphic novel Walker contributes to the<br />
great woodcut tradition established by the likes of<br />
Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward and Otto Nückel, and<br />
shows the endless need to expose and question<br />
social injustice through art and narrative ”
In Memoriam<br />
<strong>Wood</strong> <strong>Engravers</strong>’ <strong>Network</strong> Members<br />
Fred Brian<br />
Jane Walker Conneen<br />
Robert Crump<br />
Dale DeArmond<br />
Guy Debenham<br />
Bill Jackson<br />
Eric May<br />
Ann Mikolowski<br />
Erena Rae<br />
Ross Zirkle<br />
43<br />
Advertisements<br />
Service for WEN Members<br />
The WEN Calendar of Days for 2011 is<br />
now available from Ingram, Baker&Taylor,<br />
amazon.com or direct from the publisher<br />
at http://porcupinesquill.ca<br />
Contributors include Wesley W. Bates,<br />
Gerard Brender à Brandis, Simon Brett,<br />
Evan Charney, Tony Drehfal, Andy English,<br />
Jim Horton, Judith Jaidinger, Rosemary<br />
Kilbourn, Michael McGarvey, Carl<br />
Montford, Gale Mueller, Abigail Rorer,<br />
and Jim Westergard.<br />
14 images 16 pages coil-bound $16.95<br />
978 0 88984 336 3
44<br />
AREPO AREPO<br />
s t o n e t y p e f o u n d r y . c o m