Block & Burin #41 (Winter 2009)

John Buckland Wright in his London Studio, 1950

The title page shows the Frontispiece spread from John Keats Endymion published by the Golden Cockerel Press in 1947. BLOCK & BURIN FEATURES No. 41 Winter 2009 Block & Burin is the newsletter of the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN).

This issue: Block & Burin # 41, Winter 2009. Notes from Jim by Jim Horton 5 Cover: Homage to JBW, G. Mueller & T. Drehfal Copy Editor: William Rueter WEN 2009 Summer Workshop 6 For information on Block & Burin contact: Tony Drehfal, Editor, The Engraver’s Son 7 W221 East Wisconsin Ave., Nashotah, WI 53058 an interview with Chris Buckland-Wright by Tony Drehfal Phone: 262-367-5191 E-mail: [email protected] Wood Engravings from Endymion 18 For information on WEN contact: introduced with an excerpt written by Eunice Martin James Horton, WEN Organizer 3999 Waters Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 WEN Bundle # 41, Winter 2009 23 Phone: 734-665-6044 E-mail: [email protected]

Services of WEN: DEPARTMENTS • Twice yearly mailing/print exchange (April & November) Treasurer's Notes by Kathee Kiesselbach 4 • Membership Guide • Resources and Materials Guide Call for Bundle #42, Summer 2009 4 • Lending Library • Workshops and Exhibitions Bundle Participation? 34 • Website: www.woodengravers.net New Members 35 Since 1994, WEN is an organization for the education and enjoyment of relief printmaking and in particular Changes & Updates 36 engraving upon end-grain wood. Announcements & Notes 37 Block & Burin uses the Stone Print typeface family. Sumner Stone graciously donated the fonts to WEN. Advertisements 38

The Editor reserves the right to edit copy to fit as necessary. Treasurer’s Notes Call for Bundle #42 by Kathee Kiesselbach Summer, 2009

In December of 2008 we paid $848 to Leitzke Print- • Contributions are due by August 1, 2009. ing for the printing of Block & Burin for bundle #40, • Send bundle contributions to Sylvia Pixley, 601 and $581 for related postage and $100 for expenses Borgess Ave., Monroe, MI 48162 related to sending the 2009 dues letter, postage, • Quantity: Minimum of 76 (one extra for the Ar- and envelopes. chive). Our membership is at 180 at this writing We have received 2009 dues ($35 US & should you wish to distribute to all members. Canada/$40 overseas) from 106 members and • Size: Maximum 9" x 12" are grateful for the extra donations (amounting to (We are mailing in a 10" x 13" envelope). $235) included by members Susan Wilson, Rich- • Anyone submitting prints is ensured of receiving ard Wagener, Richard Woodman (Resingrave ad), entire Bundles and moving to the front of the line Dale Kennedy, Michael McGarvey, R. Lee Wheless, for future Bundles. John Johnson, Ken Allen, Sylvia Pixley, and Peter • We recommend sending printing information Newland. with your contributions. This is just a suggestion; We purchased two new fonts from Stone Type not mandatory by any means. This information Foundry for use in the production of Block & Burin accompanies your print which is stored in the by Tony Drehfal for $70. Princeton University Graphic Arts Library. This Our new Paypal account (dues@woodengrav- archive holds all WEN material. ers.net) has allowed our overseas members to pay • We encourage members to sign-up for producing a more easily, and three took advantage of this option cover for Block & Burin. We will cover expenses. in 2009. As of April 11, 2009, the WEN account • We welcome (and need) your submissions of stands at $4,329.48. articles, interviews, ads and announcements for publication in Block & Burin. Send articles, ads Respectfully submitted, to, Kathee Kiesselbach Tony Drehfal W221 East Wisconsin Ave. Nashotah, WI 53058, USA e-mail: [email protected]

Please send written submissions as unformatted text files via email, it makes the layout far more simple. Please make an effort to use Microsoft Word for your written submissions. Images should be mailed, or contact Tony for scanning specifics.

Notes from Jim by Jim Horton

Sharen Linder and myself just lost our fathers. Mine was 98 (married 74 years) and hers was 97 (married 70 years). Both mothers survive. As I chat- ted with Sharen, we both shared how much the little things are that catch us. For me, it is cleaning the basement. My Dad was a sign painter, and he also did wonderful show cards and screen prints (before it was commercially done on T-shirts…back when they used real silk!) I have all his old brushes, quills and fitches now. There are boxes with maulsticks, packs of gold leaf and pounce wheels. They are treasures that he kept. Like me, he loved that basement. He had his plants and tools. There is a bevy of little quotations he saved. He loved words and wrote whimsical essays. He had the most talented eye for lettering that I ever saw. He always drew a crowd if he was gold-leafing an office sign, lettering a truck, or even just practising. Often, I would see him roll An image from Frans Masereel’s out paper on his easel, and just make hundreds of Passionate Journey, A Novel in 165 Woodcuts lettering strokes…verticals, curves, and stems…on Greetings WEN Members. I hope the warmer and on. I know Sharen will miss her father too. weather is lifting your spirits. It has been a rough Deborah Mae Broad was included in the re- one for some of our WEN friends. Eric May has cently published book, Printmaking – Traditional been a member of our group from the first day we and Contemporary Techniques by d’Arcy and Vernon- organized. He attended our first workshop and just Morris. Simon Brett reviewed the book in the SWE about every one since. He quietly goes about his publication, Multiples (No. 1, February, 2009). He wonderfully conceived designs. It is absolutely hon- gave Deborah Mae a usual thumbs-up as a choice est work. He puts thought and skill into whatever for an interview. Deborah lives not far from the Red comes off his graver. Eric can use our positive energy River on the North Dakota/Minnesota border that as he is facing some challenges right now. When we is flooding right now. She is in our thoughts. By the saw him in West Virginia last summer, he seemed to way, Multiples had an inspiring article on Canadian be moving slowly. His lung cancer is in treatment, wood engravers. and he is optimistic about progress. We look forward to a summer with opportuni-

WEN 2009 Summer Workshop ties for wood engraving workshops. On June 28-July Wood Engravers’ Network 4th we will have a workshop at the John Campbell 15th Annual Summer Workshop Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. I’ll be July 19–24, 2009 teaching and I’m sure book artist Dea Sasso will be Guest Artist, Andy English around too. Yes, there will be wood chips flying but there is far more to enjoy than just having engrav- Sharen Linder will host the 15th Annual Summer ing all day. They have wonderful meals, activities, Workshop this year held in the Chicago area. Jim folk music and new friends. You will know how the Horton wrote this about the annual WEN gathering: Smoky Mountains get the name, as the mist rises “These workshops (and I think this is the 15th) have out of those awesome hills in the morning. been a huge reason of why the group exists. We have In August, I will be back at Augusta Heritage met so many people and learned so much from the Center. Our engraving class will run from the 2nd to guest artists and people that have attended, that I the 9th. Cliff Harvey will be back, as will our long- really hope tou give some consideration to joining time friend, R.P. Hale. R.P. always has extra things us. We really are a friendly group. We really do get for the wood engravers, like paper marbling. Cliff time to work, and study and have fun. A few of us Harvey will give us some binding options for ways have been to just about every one, and we are almost to present our engravings. like family. Please do not be intimidated if you are Of course, the “Main Event” of the summer new to engraving or WEN … We just want you to will be the workshop in Chicago. Sharen Linder has be there, to meet and study with Andy English, a a wonderful week planned. We have many cultural world-class printmaker, this is not an opportunity things to do, as well as time to engrave and learn to miss.” from each other. Look for more to come. But it is For details contact Sharen Linder at: safe to say, the dates are July 19 – 24th. I believe Sharen Linder this is our fifteenth summer gathering. Again, we 21243 W. Willow Drive will mail a brochure to you when all the details are Kildeer, IL 60047-8712 worked out. phone 847.438.4502 Thanks you all who make the Wood Engravers’ [email protected] Network continue for another year. Or, e-mail Tony Drehfal, editor of this extremely tardy edition of Block & Burin, and he can e-mail you a pdf version of the workshop mailing sent this April, 2009. [email protected]

The Engraver’s Son an interview with Christopher Buckland – Wright by Tony Drehfal

I discovered the work of John Buckland Wright through a chance internet search. I found a web exhibit titled Master of the Burin: The Book Illustra- tions of John Buckland Wright, 1897-1954, hosted by the University of Otago, New Zealand’s top-ranked university for research. http://www.library.otago. ac.nz/exhibitions/jbw/index.html The Foreword on the home page of Master of the Burin exhibit was written by Christopher Buckland-Wright, John’s son, and provided a perfect introduction to the work of John Buckland Wright. “In the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s three artists did a great deal to launch British engraving into the exciting waters of contemporary European art: the New Zealander John Buckland Wright and two Englishmen, William Hayter and Anthony Gross. They all had French attachments and were quite independent of the influences of earlier and highly successful schools of British engraving. Buckland Wright helped Hayter to found his famous Atelier 17 in Paris. At this workshop, in which artists experi- Christopher Buckland-Wright mented at novel methods of printmaking, JBW (as to the French Army at Verdun, the sector in which became known by his initials) worked with artists the French suffered the greatest devastation during such as Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Miró and Dali. the First World War. There he witnessed harrowing Later when teaching at the Camberwell and Slade scenes of human devastation while rescuing wound- Schools of Art, he was able to communicate to his ed and dying men from the front line trenches. pupils his experience of how these artists worked. Following the war, JBW found relief in drawing JBW’s work is characterized by the portrayal the female figure that incorporated the romantic of the sensuous nude, in which the female form ideal of Greek philosophy into the very essence of is depicted with grace and charm. The source for the emotional expression of his work. Through his his artistic expression has its origin in his experi- art he was able to come to terms with the horrors ences during the First World War. Having joined he had experienced during the war and to restore the Scottish Ambulance Service, he was seconded unity and tranquillity to the devastated landscapes,

to repair the damage that war had wrought on his love of nature. Once more he would fill his world with beauty of a timeless quality he had experienced in the gardens and countryside of New Zealand and England. He found his emotional renewal through his art. It was in this way that he was able to express his fundamental belief in the renewal of life and of the human spirit and to rediscover the joy he felt as a young man in nature’s soothing beauty.” I browsed the Master of the Burin web pages quite a few times, closely studying the images of John Buckland Wright’s wood engravings, and found his work beautiful and tremendously inspiring. I wanted to learn more about John’s work. The idea of contacting the author Chris Buckland-Wright came to my mind next, and after a few Boolean searches I found an e-mail address to Christopher Buckland-Wright, Ph.D., DSc., Profes- On the sea…From Keats Sonnets (1929) sor, Department of Applied Clinical Anatomy at One of JBW’s earliest works and his first successful book. King’s College London. would be pleased to help you with your planned I send an e-mail, first stating that I was guessing article.” We soon agreed upon using an interview the “addressed” Christopher was the son of John format for this feature and initiated the process. Buckland Wright. I identified myself as the editor Chris graciously fitted our correspondence into of a small journal named Block & Burin, and con- his very busy schedule. As we were e-mailing each tinued to introduce the Wood Engravers’ Network. other, Chris was retiring from his career as a doc- I mentioned that I was contemplating “getting a tor/professor, preparing to move from London to a feature together about John Buckland Wright” and home in East Devon. During the time this interview then asked if “there might be a chance that you took place Chris also travelled to New Zealand for may be interested in sharing your expertise and/or a well-deserved holiday. resources?” I concluded the e-mail with an offer to A Google web search the name “Christopher send the most recent issue of Block & Burin. Buckland-Wright” results in about 1,080 “hits”. You Chris’ reply was, “Yes, I am the son of JBW and will be directed to entries with terms like “Microfo- the author of some 7 books on my father. I certainly cal X-ray, osteodystrophy, osteoporosis, rheumatoid

“Barbers not only attended to the hair and shaving of their customers but took on surgical and medical tasks, including dentistry”. Chris recently served in the role of Master to this organization, “which prin- cipally acts as a charitable institution to the benefit of medical and surgical causes.” It is in the realm of Chris’s expertise as an author, and scholar of his father’s art, that is interview delves into. Chris is considered the expert on the work of his father. Amongst the books that he has written about JBW are: The Engravings of John Buckland Wright, John Buckland Wright (1897-1954): For My Own Pleasure, John Buckland Wright (1897-1954): The Golden Cockerel Years and John Buckland Wright (1897-1954): The Surrealist Years, 1934-1954. Like his father, Chris has partnered with an artisan spe- cializing in the art of hand-made books. Chris has teamed with the Fleece Press to publish Endeavours Artist and Model (1935) & Experiments, John Buckland Wright’s Essays in The first in a series that JBW did on this subject. “This has a Woodcut and Colour Engraving, Together With Other strong sense of the abstract rhythm characteristic of his work Blocks Remaining in His Studio and To Beauty, John at the time, while working at the Atelier 17 in Paris.” Buckland Wright’s Work with Joseph Ishill of the Oriole and osteoarthritis”, and others with phrases like Press. The Fleece Press is the one-man enterprise “Limited edition; folio; original quarter natural of Simon Lawrence, whose family has made wood- vellum and Compton marbled paper and solander blocks for wood engravers since 1859. box.” Chris has had a distinguished career during Chris generously allowed me to quote from which he “helped pioneer the medical applications any of his writings and reproduce the engravings of high definition macro-radiography… in the study of John Buckland Wright. He provided many of the of changes in the anatomy of diseased joints of images that appear in this feature, sending them patients, including renal osteodystrophy, osteo- via e-mail, as higher-resolution digital files. I am porosis, rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis.” Chris is grateful for Chris’ openheartedness in sharing time also an active member of the Barbers’ Company, an from his very busy schedule, making this interview organization that dates back to 1308, a time when a reality. Thanks Chris.

zines such as Arts et Metiers Graphiques, Minotaure and Verve. To the left of the desk, and set at right angles, was a long low table, on which he could place a wide range of objects related to the work in hand. Attached to the table and close to the desk was an angle poise lamp with a blue bulb, provid- ing more natural light than the yellow of electric bulbs. He worried that he might lose his sight as a result of poor light, when concentrating so hard on his engraving. Closer still to the desk was a small grinding wheel for sharpening the engraving tools. The latter were arranged in series to the right on top of a draw that pulled out from the architect’s desk. On an adjacent table were the printing rollers and platen for inking his wood blocks and the poupées for copper plates. At the other end of the room was JBW and student in his London studio, 1954. a star wheel copper plate press and in the middle of What is your earliest childhood recollection of the room a dye stamp press for printing small wood your father, as an artist? blocks. Indeed this press, acquired in Paris, was used We lived in a Victorian apartment building in Earl’s by my father for proofing blocks of different sizes. Court, South West London, which had large rooms Outside the studio, in the corridor, was the wood with high ceilings. To the left of the entrance to the block press that had formerly belonged to Lucien apartment was a large dining room with two sets Pissarro of the Eragny Press, which my father had of French windows giving onto a balcony, which acquired from his widow Esther. overlooked the street at the front of the building. My earliest memory of my father is that he My father had converted this room into a studio was constantly working in his studio from which where he did all his engraving, some of the printing, he would emerge at teatime with his hands covered and his paintings. A small architect’s desk, at which with black printer’s ink because he hand-wiped his he engraved his wood blocks and copper plates, sat copper plates. Another memory is of him turning in front of one of the French windows, which gave the wheel of the copper plate press and then pull- him as much natural light as possible. To his right ing back the blankets to lift the printed sheet from was a floor to ceiling bookcase, the shelves curved the copper plate. Most of my memories are of him under the weight of the large art books and maga- printing his copper plates. I can remember disturb-

10 How was it that you came to write about your father, often in the form of limited edition books (The Fleece Press), seeing that you had a busy career already as Professor of Anatomy at the University of London and Director of the Department of Applied Clinical Anatomy? When young I greatly admired and enjoyed my father’s work and felt that if I enjoyed it, others might do so as well. When I became involved in promoting his work through exhibitions and writing I found that this was the case. In addition, the sale of my father’s work at exhibitions provided the family with a source of revenue, which was most helpful. From the mid 1970s I found time, whilst I was working and developing my career, to explore which of the art galleries in London would be interested in selling my father’s work. At exhibitions of mixed artists print shows his work sold well and in 1980 I mounted the first major retrospective print show in the West End of London since father’s own one-man show in 1937. A decade later I received an invitation from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford to Danseuse Kham Luong No.3 (1935) mount a retrospective show. The Engravings of John “Here JBW returns, while in the midst of his abstract work to Buckland Wright, Scolar Press, 1990 was launched a more traditional form of expression for him. The different at the exhibition. levels of gray in the print are achieved by altering the pressure As a result of the Ashmolean exhibition I met of his finger nail used to burnish the print.” Simon Lawrence of The Fleece Press. I was already ing him when he was writing letters, standing beside aware of his work and was keen to see if it was him at his desk while in an instant he drew for me possible for Simon to include some of my father’s to colour, a young girl running from the open jaws blocks in his beautifully produced books. When we of a crocodile and on holiday having to sit quietly met we got on well together. From the beginning, beside him whilst he drew. He was constantly draw- when we reviewed all the blocks that had been ing, whenever there was a spare moment. present in my father’s studio when he died, Simon

11 Camber Sands (1953) “During his teaching stints, JBW would join his students on drawing trips to the beach. He encouraged them to sit down and sketch old weather-beaten driftwood, clouds and sand-dunes, the sea, each other. He also sketched, and the images drawn would end up as engraved prints…” developed a plan. He suggested we could publish a ment?” It was a case of finding time not only to work series of books covering the different aspects of my sorting my father’s material but also for writing father’s work. This led to the five books that we have articles, whether for exhibition catalogues, or for published: Bathers and Dancers (1993); Baigneuses The Fleece Press. I worked when I could whether it (1995); Surreal Times (2000); Endeavours and Experi- was during the evenings or at weekends. The work ments (2004) and the latest, To Beauty (2006). You on my father’s artwork necessarily came second to ask, “How did I manage this with my work commit- my professional commitments.

12 Sadly your father died in his prime. As you grew him as “… a man of great modesty and wisdom, he older, what are some of the things you learned could be depended on to see any problem through.” about him from his friends and students? The other great source of information has been the It was some 25 years after my father’s death that correspondence between publishers and my father. I came to write about him. Those of his friends These have formed the basis of a series of articles whom I met at that time were all in their eighties and by Roderick Cave, published in Matrix, on his col- had little to say about my father. One or two were laboration with Christopher Sandford, the owner helpful, such as the landscape artist John Piper. He and publisher of the Golden Cockerel Press. In the very generously wrote the preface for the first major recent Fleece Press volume To Beauty, I described the retrospective exhibition I mounted in London’s friendship that my father had with the American West-End and which I later included as the preface printer-publisher, Joseph Ishill, who described him- to the book The Engravings of John Buckland Wright self as an anarchist and libertarian. Both men had (Scolar Press, 1990). I found it was the articles about an unbounded respect for each other. They liked my father, written by his friends and students, and admired each other’s work. Their common goal which were most useful. From these I obtained an was based on the conviction that all elements of a understanding of my father’s approach to his work book must be harmonious – the physical appear- and a little more about his personality. These ac- ance working with the emotional content. counts I collected together and they are published in The Engravings of John Buckland Wright. One of JBW worked with the legendary Halcyon Press my father’s qualities, which I have had described and the Golden Cockerel Press. Could you tell to me on several occasions, is summarised in the us of one of your favorites of his many editions, quote from his former student Philip Sutton, who and why? said: “One of his most important qualities was his It is difficult for me to select just one volume from modesty, not a false one, but one which made for a those that my father had illustrated, as there are good relationship between teacher and pupil. This several books that I admire, all for different reasons. natural modesty meant that there was room for the High amongst those that I would chose are books student to develop in the place where he worked, my father produced as experiments in typography which was a great stroke of luck for me at the Slade and illustrations. These are the “JBW Editions,” School.” To my surprise I found a description of my where he has selected the text and chosen the il- father’s approach to his work in a book I picked up lustrations which pleased him most to accompany at a second hand bookstall. In it the artist Julian the book (he abhorred direct illustration of a text). Trevelyan, who had worked with my father during For me prime among these is Cupid’s Pastime (1935), the early part of the Second World War, described printed by his friend A.A.M. Stols, director of the

13 Halcyon Press. This slim volume contains six copper engravings, four of which are full page, illustrating the love of a shepherd for a nymph. The engraving of the figures is exquisite and classical in concept. The design of the book is quite refreshing and without the traditional formality of the period, taking much of its freedom of expression from the livres d’ artiste of the 1930s, in particular those of Picasso, Matisse and Maillol. Uniquely, my father was equally comfortable in engraving in wood as well as copper and although I have described one of the books illustrated with copper engravings there is only one book that I would take with me on a desert island and that is Keat’s Endymion (Golden Cockerel Press, 1947). This is without doubt the finest book produced by Christopher Sandford for the Press. The richness in the design and composition of all the 57 illustrations is staggering. This is a book that my father had always wanted to do and much of his work prior to its production was in preparation for this volume. His experiences with publishing books had provided him with a sound understanding of the processes and how to achieve the harmony between text and illustration. The reasons that I like this book above all others are because of the beauty of his illustrations, which has its foundation Girl or Nymph with Arrow (1935) within the creativity of his vision. There is no lack From Cupid’s Pastime, printed by A.A.M Stols for JBW. of freshness in the design for each image. The range JBW wrote in 1934: “If I have any conscious aims they are and variety is quite breathtaking. Although classical a plastically expressive line, richness and depth of content and impeccable composition.” in concept, the elements of the abstract impart a rhythm to his engravings and place them within the coming to the end of the book I constantly feel I have artistic movement of the time. There is so much to still have more to discover and that I will never tire be seen in each of the illustrations that even when of turning its pages.

14 Two Girls, (1954) JBW said of himself; “I prefer the freer, more or less abstract sphere of poetry, or the synthesizing of a whole story into one cut, which creates an atmosphere rather than picturing any definite scene. I dislike pure illustration as much as anecdote”.

Your father’s figurative work, the images of amongst his early books dating back to 1919 is A. women, the nudes, are tremendous. His en- Thomson’s A Handbook of Anatomy for Art Students graving breathes life into the figures. Could (Clarendon Press, 1915), into which he has pasted you share some insight into how JBW became a large number of photographs of nudes, many of such a master of the engraved human body, which he annotated. Above all he was constantly particularly the female form? drawing, whenever there was a spare moment My father’s understanding of the human form is throughout his career as an artist. He was always based upon an early study of human anatomy, as drawing the women around him. Importantly, he

15 Three Bathers (1954) “A tour de force using a wide range of different engraving tools to obtain the range of textures in the print. Again, a strong sense of the abstract underlying this image. Bathers on the beach form a new and exciting inspiration in his final years before he died so tragically early.”

16 felt that he had to draw the female figure from life approach I have also applied to understanding my otherwise he lost the sensitivity to his engraved line father’s attitude to his work and the influences that when portraying the female nude either in wood or there were present at different periods of his life. in copper. This was the basis of his skill, constantly It is these that I have tried to describe in the books drawing the female figure. In addition to this, he ex- that The Fleece Press has produced. As you can see pressed the view in a letter to Christopher Sandford my father and I are entirely different in the factors in 1937, “I envy you the country in a way, but I must that have influenced our work. Nevertheless, there be near humanity in the mass, with the possibility is one element that we have in common, and that of seeing a hundred girls every time I go out, and is the discipline needed when applying oneself to watching their shapes and attitudes”. As Sandford work. has added, “How intrigued those girls would have been had they known they were being observed by Christopher Buckland-Wright, May 2009 one of the greatest artists of the nude that ever lived, and stored for future use in his mind, whence they would emerge as nymphs to gambol with satyrs in the charmed magical world of his creations!”

Chris, you have inherited from your father skilled hands and a mastery of words. Could you share some of your insight about your father’s creativity and how what you have learned about him has influenced your creativity? Sadly, I have no insights about my father’s creativity; I can only read what he friends and students have written about him. For my part, I had from an early age a deep felt curiosity to find out how objects or systems were assembled and worked. This formed the basis of my professional life, as seen by my JBW engraving a wood block in his studio at 9 bis rue de fascination in understanding how the human body Valence in 1936. is put together and later, in my research career, to All images of the art of John Buckland Wright, and the analyse how the disease processes, such as arthritis, related photos, displayed in this edition of Block & effect changes in human joint structure and whether Burin, are used with the kind permission of Christopher drug therapy can alter or reverse such changes. This Buckland-Wright.

17 Wood Engravings from Endymion introduced by an excerpt written by Eunice Martin

In the darkest days of wartime London, Buckland Shelley to “load every rift with ore”.’ Many pas- Wright began work on Endymion by John Keats, sages which the artist illustrates were themselves published in 1947 and generally considered to described by the poet in visual terms recalling be his magnum opus as well as one of the finest specific paintings by Poussin, Titian, and Car- books produced by the Golden Cockerel Press. racci, Rubens and Girodet. Another description In four thousand lines of poetry it tells the love of Diana flying down to the sleeping Endymion, story of the shepherd Endymion and Diana/ matches almost exactly two of Tassie’s gems, one Cynthia, goddess of the moon. Divided into four of which was in his own collection. Whether or books set in sylvan glades, the underworld, the not Buckland Wright was familiar with these depths of the sea, and the starry firmament, it works, the circle is complete as he creates his offers the ideal text for an illustrator. And Keats own versions of the scenes in the poem. The was Buckland Wright’s favourite poet. His wood style is a summation of all his work up to that engraving, of a richness unequalled in anything point. They are white-line wood engravings at he had yet done, and Sandford’s design using their best, every inch highly worked, but with Caslon type on thick hand-made paper, blend in rhythm and grace of line recalling his abstract perfect harmony on every page. It was a sumptu- work with Hayter. ous book. One hundred copies were bound in white vellum and four hundred in quarter vellum This excerpt is from an essay, Illustrated Books, with coarsely woven buckram. For both bindings written by Eunice Martin, which appeared in Buckland Wright provided a gold block print of Christopher Buckland-Wright’s book, The the goddess surrounded by stars. A comparison Engravings of John Buckland Wright, Scolar of his illustrations with Keat’s lines reveal a con- Press. Eunice Martin’s writing and the images of sistent attempt to translate the poem as closely as JBW’s wood engravings from Endymion are used possible into visual terms in a more pronounced with the full acknowledgement of the author, editor, way than in any other work. He made no less and publisher, Christopher Buckland-Wright. than fifty-eight engravings, in a style both as classical and as romantic as the poet could have wished. In the Golden Cockerel bibliography, Cockalorum, Sandford expressed the view that Buckland Wright’s vision ‘approaches that of Keats as closely as it is possible for any artist working in our generation … In the intricacy of his detail he seems to follow Keats’s advice to

18 Frontispiece from Endymion Book I

19 Girls in the Forest from Endymion

20 Hymn to Pan I from Endymion

Hymn to Pan II from Endymion

21 The Moonbeam from Endymion

22 Bundle No. 41 Winter 2009

The prints contained in this issue of Block & Burin some images have been reduced in size, and color have been scanned from WEN Bundle No. 41. This prints have been reproduced in shades of gray. In section does not intend to substitute the value of some instances a print represented in the bundle viewing the original prints as printed by the artist may have been excluded in this section as requested on fine paper with quality inks, but is meant to by the artist. All original prints from the bundles are provide a facsimile for WEN members not receiving archived at the Princeton University Graphic Arts bundles. Because of space and Library, Princeton, New Jersey, with Agnes Sherman reproduction limitations, serving as curator.

untitled Johanna Mueller (actual size)

Johanna engraved this image on HIPS (high impact polystyrene) plastic. The print was editioned at George Mason University, on a Charles Brand etching press, using a mixture of Daniel Smith magenta and black ink. This is an edition of 80 for WEN.

23 Eastern White Pine Cone… Sylvia Pixley (actual size) Suffix Benjamin Love (95%)

Eastern White Pine Cone # 3 is printed on Mohawk Suffix was engraved on a maple block and printed Superfine Cover Cream paper, using a Hohner proof on Magnani pale blue paper using Daniel Smith press. This image was engraved on a Resingrave block ink. This edition of 76 was printed for WEN at Boise and printed in an edition of 120 for WEN. “This is State University. the 3rd state. #1 had a solid black background. #2, same carving, printed on white cover and painted with watercolor. It actually can be viewed in any orientation.”

24 Raptor John Benson (actual size)

Raptor was printed using the brayer/baren technique, using Braden Sutphin PMS 469 brown ink. An edition of 79 was printed for WEN.

25 AIDS Service 2008 John Benson (55%) Moonlore I Molly Branton (90%)

John’s linocut was printed using Van Son oil based Moonlore I was engraved on Corian and printed on ink & the brayer-baren hand printing method. This German Etching, Rives tan and Pescia blue paper. is an edition of 600, with numbers #101-185 sent to This is an edition of 100 for WEN. “The ancient WEN. This is the 21st annual cover in the series for moonlore tells us that a crescent moon facing up the World AIDS Day/Christmas Service. contains rain but doesn’t release it. In Texas we are facing a drought - so the subject comes to mind.”

26 Unwin’s Bend Anders Sandstrom (75%)

Unwin’s Bend was engraved on end-grain maple and printed in an edition of 76 for WEN.

27 House Wren W. Gale Mueller (actual size) Bookmark W. Gale Mueller (actual size)

Gale engraved House Wren this December 2008. Gale Mueller printed this Bookmark at Millstone Press for the WEN bundle. “I printed up a batch of bookmarks to get some extra mileage out of the cuts I did for the annual WEN calendar.” (Gale printed the cover for this year’s calendar.)

28 Elephant Eric Hoffman (97%)

Elephant is printed on gray acid-free card stock in an edition of 80 for WEN. The image was created on “. . . Resingrave using only a spitsticker and my magnifying glass.” The edition was printed using Graphic Chemical Relief Black ink using an “old Vandercook proofing press” at Fisher’s Press in Providence, Rhode Island.

29 Mike the Cat Carl Montford (85%) Iris II Joel Moline (actual size)

Mike the Cat is printed on cream-colored Pescia Iris II is printed on pale blue Magnani Pescia paper, paper using a SP-15 Vandercook press. Carl engraved using a Challenge proof press. Daniel Smith Relief the image on an English Boxwood end-grain block, ink was used for this edition. This image was engraved that was “home made and finished,” and he used into a Resingrave block and printed in an edition (not Vanson Oil Base Plus black ink. This is an edition numbered) of 70 for WEN. “The image was derived of 120 printed for WEN. “Mike is another ‘Book from a drawing of an iris I hybridized in 2007. The Store’ cat living in King’s Books (store) in Tacoma, iris seeding bloomed for the first time in June 2008. Washington.” So, from seed to print it took 2+ years.”

30 Puget Sound Anna Hogan (actual size)

Puget Sound is printed on cream-colored paper in an edition of 77 for WEN. “. . . an engraving I did many years ago after a visit to Washington State.”

31 Opossum Keri R. Safranski (70%) The Nietzcheans Earl Nitschke (65%)

Opossum is a wood engraving printed on Strathmore This is an edition (not numbered) of 100 printed 2 ply plate. Keri used Daniel Smith #79 black ink and for WEN. printed an edition of 100 for WEN.

32 Homage to JBW Gale Mueller & Tony Drehfal (65%)

The cover for Block & Burin #41 was printed on 80# Mohawk Superfine ultra-white smooth using a Vandercook press. The text was hand set and printed by Gale, who used “mosty” Cloister Oldstyle type. The cover quotation was “borrowed” from the frontis of the Golden Cockerel edition of Endymion (see title page). The back cover quotation is culled from a letter from John Buckland Wright to A.A.M Stols, Director of the Halcyon Press (First published in Halcyon, No. 1, The Hague 1940.) Gale wrote, “My original plan was to engrave the decorative border used at the top of the (back) copy block to also run vertically down the left side of the copy. By the time I finished the heading I realized that I was beyond my skill level; I needed someplace for the banner, date, etc., so dug into my dingbat cases for some alternatives.” For the cover’s engraving, Tony used an image he had created nearly 30 years ago, from his “college days” (the last time he attended a life drawing session) along with some studies he had drawn of JBW’s copper engravings.

33 Bundle Participation? Show your stuff!

A Note to All WEN Members on Bundle Participation: more so than ever. and in particular, those new members that might still We are always happy to hear of sales and be confused as to what and how the print exchange contacts that result from people seeing someone’s works. work in the Bundles, however, that is not the prime reason we exist. We know that giving away work is A Bundle is a name we dubbed the mailings that not exactly going to put food on the table (and cer- take place twice yearly (March and September). A tainly artists have to do so). WEN is just one place Bundle is a packet of prints, or a “non-digital” show where, if you have something extra to give, with the that comes to your door. They are not intended for spirit of “What goes around, comes around,” you sale or speculation. They are meant for people to donate. We are an appreciative audience. When share the joy of printmaking with others who know you do contribute to a Bundle, unless you indicate and appreciate what went into their production. that it not be used for exhibition, you are giving We have many levels of expertise represented. people the right to show it to others in educational There are established professionals along with displays. If it were to be reproduced for commercial beginners. There are a few who appreciate prints, use, permissions must be sought. but don't practice printmaking themselves. We Bundle participation is not mandatory for hope the Bundles are a means of education. We being a member of WEN. If you paid your dues, do not publicly judge or criticize the work that is you will receive a journal, all announcements, a contributed, though we are always open to com- welcome to come to any of our activities (such as ments, and certainly, individual contacts can be summer workshops), exhibit in any WEN connected made to these artists with your more personal com- exhibitions and receive some prints that have been ments and ideas. We avoid politics ... just the love donated by members. You might not receive all the of seeing ink on paper that came from an artist's prints (as members only have to submit a total of 76, hand. Sometimes we are awed by the quality of not enough to go around to all). Why that number? the work. Sometimes we learn from the rawness Some of these artists print by hand, slowly, and of a “Beginner's Mind” as the Zen masters call it, to even give away 76 of such work, is asking a lot, that hasn’t been influenced by standard practices though some do contribute the maximum. How do and shows the exciting marks of experimentation. you get the full array of prints? You do so by con- “A print is the halfway point between a thing and a tributing at least 76 prints to a Bundle. If you do so, thought,” as Fritz Eichenberg once said. To hold it you are put at the head of the list when the stacks close to the eye, and see the artists intimate journey of prints are sorted into envelopes for mailing. If of creation is no small thing. In these days of digital you never contribute (which there is no pressure to imaging, it is a rare and valued thing ... perhaps do so), you will get whatever is left over. That list is

34 sorted by the seniority of when you joined. If you Cheryl LeBlanc are a newcomer, obviously, you are going to be at the 3376 Chevy Chase end of the line. But contribute, and you are at the Eugene, Oregon, 97401 front of the line. This keeps a healthy array of new Phone: 541-844-1093 artists coming in. If contributing every few years, E-mail: [email protected] you are still getting just about everything. URL: hoffmanprints.bloodspot.com We do ask that the work going into a bundle Cheryl has a BFA in Printmaking from San Jose State is by your hand. You may contribute brochures, U., and has been a printmaker for 25 years. Recent advertisements or a prospectus. All materials are classes with Susan Lowdermilk and Paul Gentry have welcome as long as you feel it would be of interest inspired new directions in relief printmaking. and benefit to the group. We have received intaglio, lino and plank-grain woodcuts, which are welcome. Tim Musso Any questions, do contact us. 3935 La Sierra Ave., #100 Riverside, California 92505 Phone: 530-368-1911 E-mail: [email protected] New Members Tim teaches fine art and graphic design at La Sierra University in Riverside, California. He has been engrav- Josiane Keller ing for about three years, using Resingrave as a medium, 6-3 Shimoda – Cho, Tokiwa and his work often uses abstract organic forms. Ukyoku, Kyoto, T616-8228 Japan Phone: +81 – (0)80-570 54402 John Cameron E-mail: [email protected] 8R Decatur St. URL: josiane-cartoons.com Gloucester, Massachussets 01930 Trained as a ceramist and painter, Josiane has worked Phone: (home) 978-283-0839 and exhibited internationally. Her ceramic work was (shop) 978-283-0276 technically related to engraving. Since 2008 she has E:mail: [email protected] worked as a cartoonist. She is also a post-graduate URL: johncameroncabinetmaker.com research student at Kyoto Seika University of Art. The John is a finishing furniture maker and also a wood recent issues of her work are dealing with contemporary engraver, being intrigued by the complexity and possi- women in Japan, but stylistically related to traditional bilities of the medium. They are shown on his furniture wood engraving. Josiane’s address is going to change website. He has completed several a year for the past soon, so we will try to keep you updated. thirteen years.

35 Tina Johansen Johanna Mueller: 9490 Virginia Center Blvd., #428, 1330 Rand Road Vienna, Virginia 22181. Des Plaines, Illinois 60016 Chuck Lukacs: 911 SE 60th Ave., #308, Portland, Phone: 847-363-4417 FAX 847-260-0700 Oregon 97215. E-mail: [email protected] Eric Hoffman: 166 Valley St.,Unit 7304, Providence, Tina worked in the medium of wood engraving during RI 02909. college. She is currently in a botanical art and illustra- Kathee Kiesselbach: 269-240-0483. tion program at the Morton Arboretum, and sees the po- tential of the medium to illustrate botanical studies. URL’s: Johanna Mueller: www.feverishart.blogspot.com Christopher Register Michelle Post: www.michellepost.net 522 Saylors Hill Drive Michelle Lynch: www.michellelynch.com Rice, Virginia 23966 Phone: 434-391-1141 Change of E-mail: E-mail: [email protected] Michelle Lynch: [email protected] URL: chrisregister.com John McWilliams: [email protected] More information on Chris will be forthcoming. Kay Snodgrass: [email protected] Maria Arango: [email protected] Changes and Updates Richard Woodman: [email protected] Carl Montford: [email protected] The director of the Rare Book School at the Univer- John Bischoff: [email protected] sity of Virginia is now: Cindy Koopman: [email protected] Barbara Heritage. Richard Burrows: [email protected] Benjamin Love: [email protected] Change of Address: Glenn Grubb: [email protected] Nikki Vahle (Schneider): 816 Henckly Ave., Mobile, Kathee Kiesselbach: [email protected] Alabama 36609. Phone: 251-725-0621. Glenn Grubb: 246 Timber Ridge Dr., Kalamazoo, Michigan 49006. 269-250-0961. Peter Newland: 1035 Carl Johnson Road, Quilcene, Washington 98376-9702. 360-765-0600. Benjamin Love: POB 1343, Boise, Idaho 83701. 208-433-9717.

36 Announcements & Notes

WEN member Andy English has recently produced wood engravings used to illustrate a cook book.“I started my working year with a large illustrating job. This was to engrave nineteen illustrations for Freshly Picked: Kitchen Garden Cooking in the City by Jojo Tulloh. Many of the images were set in allotment gardens and so this was pleasant and sympathetic work for me.” Andy also contributed WEN member, Jim Westergard created six wood some wood engravings for A Outrance, by Philip engravings for The Old Woman and the Hen, “a Pullman. Andy joined artists Chris Daunt and Harry charming folktale written by one of Canada’s best Brockway to produce six full-page illustrations for known poets” P.K. Page. “This work is a small the project. This limited edition book, printed by treasure intended to be shared by grandmothers, Oak Tree Fine Press, “whose books raise money grandfathers – or other doting adults – with beloved for organizations assisting children living with or youngsters between ages 5 to 8.” The Old Woman affected by HIV/AIDS.” and the Hen is published by the Porcupine’s Quill, 68 You can read more about Andy English’s work at Main Street,P.O. Box 160, Erin, Ontario, NOB 1T0. his blog: http://www.sentex.ca/~pql/index.html http://studiodiary.blogspot.com/

37 Advertisements Service for WEN Members

38 39

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