MEET THE NEW RAT

My suspicion seems to have been correct. That visit to my website, from someone in Nigeria, may very well have been the origin of an e-mail I received today from…. Now, are ready for this?
Lesley Donna From Norway!
See? Same middle name (From), and the last name is a place.  Stan From California, Debbie From New York and Jon From Norway all have that same middle name.  I wonder if Lesley Donna knows Jon?

I know, I know, I probably shouldn't be posting this on the blog until the rat has the cheese, but I just couldn't resist and am excited that I might get another chance to pull this off.  But this one has a different twist. There's no mention of Lesley Donna sending a cheque this time. Instead there's a credit card mentioned. She says she will pay with her "Master card Detail".  Hmmmm? Never heard of a "Master card Detail".  There is one similarity to the others however. There will be a courier who will be picking up the purchase, so no need to send it. She doesn't say which print or drawing she wants. In fact, as you can tell from the content, she doesn't even know what I have to sell, but she likes them and finds them "creative and desirable".  Another difference this time is that her courier, Stanley Braim, is also adding information in the e-mail.  Maybe Stanley and Lesley Donna are an "item".

Here's the content of the e-mail:

Good Day,
   I am Lesley Donna from Norway, i want to inform you that your items are most creative & desirable, so much talent! I am interested in purchasing some of your artwork/items into my shop here in Norway, but before this is done, i want to inform that i will be making the payment with my Master card Detail because presently my best form of payment is via credit card.

 This is where i put all my money for any international transaction, so kindly reconfirm your website/contact details and get back to me with it so as to know if I'm right with the site.
Stanley Braim is typing...
Stanley Braim: Concerning the shipment, my shipping company will be coming to pickup the items because i already have some merchandise with them in which they will be shipping together to me here in Norway, so you don't need to be worried about the shipment nor handling fee.

Lesley-DonnaShop

My concern this time is the "Master card Detail". In the previous ones My goal was to have their cheque framed and on the wall. There will be an overpayment, for sure. That's how the scam works. Then I'll be asked to send a cheque for the overage, but maybe this time there will be a different method of sending a refund. Stay tuned.

I WONDER IF I'LL BE HEARING FROM STAN, JON OR DEBBIE SOON

I checked the statistics on my website counter this morning and noticed there were two separate visits from two separate computers in Nigeria earlier today. Each of them had followed a link from two other different wood engraver's websites. That might be a coincidence, but I'm interested to see if there will be an e-mail arriving soon, requesting a large purchase. This suspicion is raised after the experience I had in 2010 through 1012 (see my blog entries of March 2010, to November 2012).

If I've guessed correctly I'm hoping to receive a message from "Juan Gomez From Madrid", or "Hans Weiss From Hannover". Whomever it will be from will be wanting a large order and I will be instructed to not send the prints or drawings, but for me to wait for Juan's or Hans's courier (they are very well-to-do and have their own private couriers!) to pick up the work. The money will arrive but the courier will not. The payment will be far too much and I'll be instructed to send a bank draft to Mr. Madrid or Mr. Hannover (their last names are always a city and one of their middle names are always From) for the overage.

My goal during these exchanges was to receive that hefty payment and frame it, to hang on my studio wall. But I was having so much fun stringing "Stan", "Jon" and "Debbie" along, I think they recognized I was on to them and they stopped corresponding. This time, if this is another of those Nigerian scams, it's either members of the Nigerian gang who are new, or they don't have very good memories.

Here's hoping I don't scare them off this time.

THE WINTER FROM HELL

For me, this has been the Winter From Hell. It began with the usual plummeting temperature and heavy snow sometime in October, and has not let up until this past week (it's April 11 today). The forecast on the local radio is calling for two or three centimetres of snow tomorrow, but then it's supposed to stop and the temperature will rise back above zero (32 degrees, for those in the States). At the beginning of the Winter From Hell (October), the snow was beautiful and created interesting formations. We have a round glass-top table near the entry to my studio where, during the few weeks of warm weather, we sit and have breakfast in the morning or enjoy a gin and tonic in the afternoon. We always leave this table out all year and I enjoy watching the snow grow higher and higher. I call it a snow-cake.  I took a picture of it back in January (1).

Shortly after taking that photo the snow-cake began to shift (2). But the odd thing was, even though the grade of the concrete sloped downward slightly, to the left, the snow-cake was shifting to the right. Then a few days later, as I was going from the house to the studio I noticed the snow-cake had shattered the glass and had fallen through the table. Those little blue shards beneath the table (3) are what's left of the glass table top. Looks like the snow-cake exploded the table top.

1-

2- 

                                    3-

This snow-cake disaster illustrates the nature of this 2013-14 winter we've just survived. In mid January, about the time the snow-cake was shifting to the right, Carol was admitted to hospital and has been there, recovering, since. There are encouraging signs that Carol will soon be coming home and that Spring just might be arriving (hopefully after tomorrow's predicted snow). 

I've learned many new things during this Winter From Hell, such as: how to set the washing machine to wash dirty clothes and which frozen single meals I like from the supermarket and which ones to avoid. Between January and today I've tried to get work done in the studio but it's been hard to concentrate and my mind wanders. 

I owe a great debt to my family and many friends for their support and encouragement and for the wonderful home-cooked meals I've been invited to share with them. I admire their incredible patience and ability to avoid falling asleep as I go on and on, repeating stories I've forgotten I've already told them numerous times before.

MODERN BRITISH WOOD ENGRAVING

The Society of Wood Engravers (SWE) and Tin Films released a new DVD last year titled MODERN BRITISH WOOD ENGRAVING A New Look at a Traditional Medium. I recommend it highly. It is produced and directed by Leonie Bradley and David Robertson who introduce us to contemporary wood engravers in Britain. The main film runs for 45 minutes and there are also 10 minute conversations with each of the ten wood engravers featured in the film. The wood engravers include: Neil Bousfield, Simon Brett, Harry Brockway, Chris Daunt, Anne Desmet, Edwina Ellis, John Lawrence, Peter Lawrence, Miriam Macgregor and Hilary Paynter.

The exceptional value in this DVD, I believe, is how we are introduced to the individual artists. We see their studio environments and we listen and watch as they describe not only their working methods but what motivates and inspires them to create these fascinating wood engravings. I have met a few of the artists who are interviewed in this production and their generous and sharing nature comes across in the film just as it did when we met face-to-face. Of course, that should be no surprise. One of the consistencies of wood engravers is their open and willing nature, to share what they do and how they do it. I suppose it comes with the territory of working in an antiquated medium. There's a compelling desire to share it, in the hopes that it will be picked up and will continue on to the next generation.

The British DVD system is different from the system in North America. There are different systems throughout the world. Britain's is a number 2 and North America is a number 1. If you have a DVD player that gives you an option of 1 or 2, you can play the disk in Canada or the US, but if you have an old and simple DVD player like mine, you can play the disk on your computer. That's what I do, I'm in Canada (and yes, it's bloody cold here).

The SWE website has a page that includes information about how to order MODERN BRITISH WOOD ENGRAVING:
http://www.woodengravers.co.uk/news.html#dvd

SOCIAL MEDIA

I'm not a fan of those "social media" bandwagons everyone is jumping on. Their structures and functions confuse me and I find them intrusive. This blog is simple and as close as I get to participating in social media. The publisher of The Fly on the Wall asked me to get a Facebook account when the book was released. I thought it was for some kind of live internet interview with the publisher's customers (my internet savvy is showing). So I did. Someone I know "invited" me to "join" Linkedin. I didn't want to offend him, so I did. Those were the only social media wagons I've jumped on. I've finally cancelled my accounts at both of them.

Just before I cancelled Facebook, a notice arrived from Facebook, letting me know that someone had sent me a message (I can't remember the term Facebook uses for that; "poke" or "pinch" or "chat", or some silly term). I went to my Facebook page and found it. It was a message from a person who asked if I was the artist who had created a print he had. He included an image of the print. It shocked me because it was a multi-block colour relief print I had created in the late '60s or early '70s. I believe, from information on his Facebook page, this individual lives in the central US somewhere. I answered the message (to the whole world, of course, because I can't figure out how to send a direct e-mail in Facebook) and told him, yes, I was the person who created it. I mentioned that I was very curious as to how he had come in possession of the print. I mentioned my distaste for Facebook and asked him to go to my website and contact me via my e-mail address listed there. I cancelled my account the day after that.

A couple of weeks have passed and there has been no e-mail from this individual. This would be a good opportunity for one of the con-artists-conning-artists, like "Stan From California", "Jon From Norway" or "Debbie From New York". They could contact me, pretending to be that individual and use that as a means of trying another con. C'mon, "Wei From Shanghai" or "Victor From Nigeria", give it your best shot!

THE PUBLIC OF RED DEER SPOKE

The results of yesterday's voting have been announced and I'm happy to report that the citizens of Red Deer have remembered after all and have NOT given a city council seat to Dennis Moffat. Kudos to the citizens of Red Deer!

POLITICS, PUBLIC OPINION & PUBLIC ART IN RED DEER

It was 1980, the 75^th anniversary of the Province of Alberta. The Province set aside funds for each city to create something to commemorate that anniversary. The city of Red Deer chose to commission a series of public sculptures, as one of its projects. Dennis Moffat got himself onto the committee to select the sculptures. Dennis was a teacher in the local school district, and eventually ended up taking over an art class in the high school. He was also involved in city politics and served on city council for 27 years. The committee’s task was to run a competition and choose sculptors. Some of the finalists worked in the abstract constructivist manner. The sculptures were created in the city, where everyone was invited to watch if they were interested (I don’t think very many were interested), then the sculptures were placed in various locations on city property. Venomous letters to the editor spiked regarding the sculptures, especially the abstract metal ones. One idiot suggested shooting at them (no shortage of NRA sympathizers here!). A group of seniors named one of the steel sculptures, located near the senior centre, “Rusty Ridiculous”.  In 1982 one of the sculptures that had been placed on a grassy hill between two directions of a main thoroughfare was vandalized with paint. The city was forced to spend taxpayers’ money to sandblast and refinishing the sculpture.

Ten years later, Dennis (high school teacher, member of the city council, the committee to select the sculptures) decided to admit that he had led a group of his high school students to vandalize the sculpture.  Here is a portion of the interview he gave to the paper.

“The night before graduation I told my (high school) art class if they wanted to go down in history, they should paint it, said Mr. Moffat recently at his downtown studio. I gave them some money and sent each one to a different paint store. We were very careful to spread out so no one could trace it back to us. Mr. Moffat told the group to meet at the old Beaver Lumber store at Parkland Mall that night and to wear black. They worked in pairs, one painting while the other watched for police. It was a real operation, he laughs now, remembering.”  Red Deer Advocate by staff writer Michelle Jarvie, Dec. 23, 1992

(Notice how he admitted not only organizing the vandalism and paying for it, but also thoroughly instructing the teenagers how to escape detection? A dedicated teacher, don’t you think?) Very few people condemned Dennis’ criminal act and their opinions fell on deaf ears. The school board didn’t care, the Minister of Education didn’t care, the justice system didn’t care, and the majority of the voters didn’t care (maybe because it happened ten years before and the statute of limitation had run out on destroying public property and contributing to the delinquency of a minor). Dennis continues to enjoy his status as a revered Red Deer artist, the owner of the Red Deer Farmer’s market, a retired school teacher on full pension and now, after losing an attempt to be re-elected a few years ago he is running for city council again. That’s politics! We’ll see if the voters of Red Deer remember any of this, or if it matters to them, on Monday.

A CASE FOR ENGRAVING ON WOOD

I've always preferred to engrave on wood. I've tried Resingrave, Corian and other synthetics for various reasons, including curiosity and cost (creating a large wood engraving on end-grain wood can be quite expensive).  Each time I've used synthetics I've been dissatisfied with them. The chipping of the Resingrave, when using hand tools was my main objection to it. When I heard that the formula for Resingrave had been changed to eliminate the chipping problem I tried it again.  I use a power engraver (Foredom Micromotor) for the majority of the engraving I do.  Resingrave is basically a plastic and when the engraver bit is cutting through the plastic it creates a powder that clings to everything and is impossible to clean up. Have you ever tried to dispose of those foam "packing peanuts"? It's like that. Despite the change in formula, the static electricity remained a problem. So, I have a few synthetic blocks that sit on the shelf year after year.

I'm currently working on a series of small portraits. I'm calling the series "The Quotables" and these include, so far, Mark Twain, George Carlin and W.C.Fields. They're "The Quotables" because I'm also using the images on my line of letterpress printed cards, where I'm including some of the things these people have said that have been quoted and passed down to us. A week or so ago I decided to start a portrait of Groucho Marx and when I went to my storage of small blocks I noticed a couple of lonesome synthetics sitting there. I decided to try a Corian block that someone had given me to try out. Corian is a material manufactured primarily for counter tops, I believe. This 2 X 3 inch block of Corian was mounted to a piece of plywood to bring it to near type high. When I started running trial proofs of Groucho there were some low areas that weren't inking evenly and I added pieces of paper to the back of the block as make-ready to bring it level. This is common, even on end-grain blocks. I proof and print on a Vandercook SP-15 proofing press and I added a piece of paper to add pressure before doing some more engraving. I reached a point where I made the final decision that enough work had been done on the block and it was time to print an edition. One small little area at the bottom of the block needed a narrow slip of paper added to the back of the block and it was "good to go"!

I placed another sheet of print paper in the press and rolled the carriage over the block and ... "POP!"  I was stunned. This was one of those "S**T!" moments. I knew that sound and I knew the block had cracked! (I had heard that sound years ago when I was a guest artist at Wake Forest University and a graduate student and I were printing a block of mine on an intaglio press. The rollers on the press had been set too low.) My press is made for printing from this thickness. The block only had three or four thin pieces of paper added to the back and it was not too high for the setting of .918 of an inch. That crack shouldn't have occurred. But it did.

You can see the crack in the photo here, running horizontally through Groucho's moustache.

I'm not going to mess around, trying to figure out how to fill a crack in Corian. So, as they say: "Back to the drawing board". Only this time, on wood.

WHO'S CONNING WHO?

I suppose I was too cocky and shouldn't have shared my "Debbie from New York" story with the world on my blog. Perhaps that's what gave me away. Maybe "Debbie from New York", "Stan from California" and "Jon from Norway" and the other con artists who are conning artists, are sitting around reading blogs in their spare time and they came across my blog in which I described that I was trying to con them.  Maybe that's what made them give up and stop their con before it was finished.

Even if I hadn't read about the "refund" con I think I would have smelled a rat.  Who ever heard of anyone with their "own shipper" who is supposed to come and pick up the purchase? Nobody in their right mind would send a legitimate bank draft or money order for an expensive item, made out for an amount over the price by a ridiculous figure and then ask the seller to send them a bank draft for the over-payment. Of course there won't be a shipper who ever arrives to pick up the purchase. Debbie doesn't want the drawing. Debbie wants my refund of the overpayment.

If I receive another e-mail from a "George from Toronto" or "Paulo from Brazil" (Isn't it interesting how their middle names are always "from" and their last names are a city or a country?) I'll resist the temptation to share the story and I'll wait until I have their phony money order or bank draft framed and on my studio wall. Then I'll share the story with you!

"THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL"

I can sense the tension in the air! You've all been waiting on the edge of your seats to read the finale. Well, it's been a month since "Debbie from New York" wrote that the check was in the mail and the check hasn't arrived yet.  My last move to try to see this scam of "Debbie's" work I've sent the following e-mail:

Dear Debbie from New York,
I have a request from a client to sell the drawing "Thunderpeek III". You offered to buy it and said you were sending the cheque. That was on September 12, 2012. Your cheque has not arrived. I thought I would notify you first, before selling the drawing, since I promised to sell it to you.

I will await your decision. If I don't receive an e-mail response from you in two days I will consider our arrangement cancelled.
Jim

The ball's in your court, Deb!

DEBBIE'S UPDATE

Here's the latest from "Debbie from New York":

Dear Jim,  Thanks for your response, i really appreciate your help and honesty. I'll get the check prepared and have it sent out to you asap.Then i'll let you know as soon as i have it sent to you. Kindly consider the piece sold to me and pls do take it off market.  Thanks and i'll talk to you soon, Debbie. Hmmmmmmmm?! Take it "off market"? I don't think so, Deb. Not just yet, anyway! No need to send a response to Deb. She/he knows I'm honest and wouldn't sell it out from under her/him. But wait! I wonder if she/he will go to my website and check? Y'think? Naw! She'll/he'll be too busy buying the other works for her/his new digs in South Africa.

MORE FROM "DEBBIE FROM NEW YORK"

Deb seems to be keen on buying my drawing and has given me final instructions. This is "her" latest message:
Jim,
I'm just reading your email now as I have been so busy all day preparing for the conference in the office,it starts this week. 
 Actually, my shipper should be in town sometime next week and will definitely be getting in touch with you for the pickup and also to inspect it for me.
Truth is, I would have handled this much differently if i would be at home but Im a bit pressed for time myself. Im moving to South Africa this month as Im being transferred and Promoted. 
 As it is, I'm sending you check which will include my shippers fees as well.He has asked for an upfront before coming and since I have no access to a lot of cash, Im trying to kill two birds with a stone.
 So, once you have received and cashed the check, deduct your funds and PLEASE help me send the remaining funds to him(shipper). I will forward his contact details to you once you have received the payment.
 Now I'm concluding you are a responsible person and I can therefore entrust you with this arrangement.I'll let you know Immediately the check is sent out to you so you should be looking out for it.
Many thanks and talk to you soon,
 Debbie.
P.S: I can't find any address at the bottom of any of your e-mail response.

And here's my response to Deb:

Debbie,
My address is here in the logo.











What I am expecting and what I've learned when I originally called the police to ask about this scam, is that the con artist will send me a check and it will be for a greater amount than necessary. A much greater amount. When I contact the con artist and point out the mistake I will be instructed to send a money order or bank draft for the overage. In "Debbie from New York's" scam she is having me do essentially the same thing by paying the overage to "her" "shipper" and then I'll wait for the "shipper" to arrive to pick up the drawing. Only I'm not stupid enough to send money to the "shipper" and the "shipper" will never arrive. I plan to frame "Debbie from New York's" check and hang it on my studio wall. 

Stay tuned.

METHINKS ME SMELLS YET ONE MORE RAT!

If you've been following my various aromatic adventures of smelling rats, you might be interested in what (I think) is yet one more. If you haven't been following this line, of course you're free to move backwards through my blog entries (I don't put too many of them up) and check out the previous ones.

I received the following e-mail, titled "Thunderpeek III" (title of one of my drawings), a couple of weeks ago:
Hi,
My name is Debbie Walker, from New York. I hope this message finds you well.I was going through some of your works and my eyes caught this particular piece, I'm interested in purchasing it as I'm moving to a new apartment this month.Please let me know if you still have the piece available, if yes let me know and it's final price and more information about it. I will be waiting to read from you.

Regards,

Debbie.

As you can see from my previous posts on this subject, there's a similarity in the content of this message. This one contains fewer spelling and syntax errors than some of the previous ones I've received. My answers to the previous ones have shown suspicion on my part, resulting in the rat ending the correspondence and going back into its hole. I hope this time to keep the bait out there and get the rat on the hook. I doubt very much that the rat is interested in my website (other than a way of getting in touch with the "mark"... me) and I doubt "Deb" will follow the link to this blog and discover that I'm on to "her". 
Should this person turn out to be a legitimate client (which I doubt) I will have "stepped in it" royally, as they say.

I was about to go on a road trip, so I sent "Debbie Walker from New York" (aka "Stan from California" or "Jon from Norway") the following:
I am out of the studio for two weeks but will answer your message as soon as I return.
Thanks for your patience.
Jim

"Deb" responded:

Okay. I'll be waiting to hear from you.

When I returned a couple of days ago I sent "her" this:
Hi, Debbie Walker from New York,
I've returned to the studio and can now respond to your request. The piece is still available and is priced at $3500.00 Canadian plus shipping and packing (unframed). When you supply me with your address I can calculate the cost of shipping and packing and I will let you know the total cost.
Thank you for your interest in my work,
Jim

"Deb" answered:
Jim,
Thanks for your prompt reply.
Unfortunately, I'm on my way to France on an official trip(I'm a marketing Executive) and wont be back for another two weeks.
 If you'd like to know, Im relocating to South Africa soon and I'm trying to gather some good stuff for my new abode. Im buying yours amongst others,quickly! before someone else grabs it.So, I'll arrange to send you payment ASAP.
However, I'll have to notify my shipper who's helping me move my stuff to get set for the pickup of the piece from your place as I MIGHT be delayed depending on how things goes.
PS: In the mean time, kindly get back to me with your contact address and also your phone# so I can get in touch with my Bank to get a check prepared and have it mailed out to you right away.

My reply today:
Debbie,

My address has been included at the bottom of each of the e-mail responses I've sent you. But I don't understand this shipper arrangement you describe. The normal procedure is for me to send the work to the purchaser. I can send it by courier to arrive by air if you wish. I just need to know your address so as to calculate the cost and add to the price of the drawing. The drawing will be unframed and will not weigh very much, and it will be in a secure container.

Thank you,

Jim

And that's where things sit at the moment. Stay tuned.

Screenwriter/Author, Jason Brink created a short video in my studio

HOW THE SMELLY RATS WORK

The scam that Stan and Jon and all their buddies use is fairly easy to spot. They contact an internet seller expressing an interest in buying an item, usually a high-end item like a boat or a car (therefor Jon wants to make a "list" of the many cheap wood engravings he wants so the total figure is jacked up). Stan and Jon say they have "shipping agents" who will pick it up (but there aren't any such agents who ever show up), which puts the seller's mind at ease. Then when the seller receives a check it is way over the amount needed for the purchase. The buyer responds by saying he made a mistake, so he instructs the seller to simply deposit the check and then send the buyer a cashier's check for the overpayment. This works for the scammer if the international exchange of the fake check he sent is slower than the refund check sent to him.

I SMELL ANOTHER RAT

Back in March of 2010 I started posting a description of my lively correspondence with "Stan" from California (although I suspected he was from Nigeria).  Now I think I smell another rat.  I received an e-mail from "Jon Rosberg From Norway" who wanted to buy something from me (notice he doesn't mention what he wants, nor does he know what I have to offer).  He also adds spice to the bait by hinting that he will supply me with a shopping "list" of what he wants, if I would just be so kind as let him know the address of my website!

Here's what Jon Rosberg From Norway wrote:
Good Day, I'm Jon Rosberg From Norway.I want to place an order and i know the difficulties encountered when shipping internationally,But that will not be a problem because i am registered with a shipping company which I've used severally times without any delay nor damage.Before i place the order,i want to inform you that i will be making the payment with my Mc/Visa cards because as for now i can only make payment with my US credit card account information,so if it's okay by you kindly get back to me with the contact details and please reconfirm your website so as to know if I'm right with the site.I awaiting your swift response so as to list out the items needed. Malin-Da-Store Th. Owesens gate 35, N-7044 TRONDHEIM, Norway. Telephone: + 4773825300 Telefax: + 4773515704 Warmest Regards, Jon.


The first red flag that came up when I read the e-mail was that Jon didn't express what he was interested in, nor did he even know my website!  Then, of course, the other red flag was one I had seen before.  Jon, like Stan, is "registered with a shipping company".  I'm sure, if Jon answers my e-mail at all he will tell me he doesn't need to have me ship it to him because his shipping company will pick up "the merchandise".  As far as Jon's method of payment goes, I've heard of McNuggets, McDouble and McMuffins, but I've never heard of a McVisa.  I'm afraid that wouldn't work for me.  Then I googled the address and found it is actually in Trondheim Norway and is a company called Q Free ASA which is in the business of traffic management.  Their phone number has the first six numbers included in Jon's e-mail but it seems Norway doesn't divide its phone numbers in the same way as ours (first three is the area code).  I first thought 477 had been the area code and it would have been in Leon Mexico.  There were also links on the Google results which were to websites dealing with scam e-mails.  When I brought one up on the screen there was a copy of a letter with the very same wording as the letter I received, only another name, not Jon!  It's possible this is Stan again or one of his Nigerian Mafia cronies.

So, in the spirit of sharing with one and all, here is my response to Jon:
Good day Jon Rosenberg from Norway,
Thank you for your interest in my work.  There are no difficulties shipping internationally at all.  I only accept payment through PayPal.  Please let me know which work you would like to purchase.  As soon as you tell me your address, I can calculate the shipping charges to add to the cost.  Then, when you have made the payment of the cost of the work, plus the shipping to PayPal and I have received notice of payment from PayPal, I will ship the piece to you.  If that works for you we can proceed.

Sincerely,
Jim


Stay tuned, folks!

ADDICTION TO TECHNOLOGY

I'm learning some lessons about addiction to technology in this new year.  Lesson number one started with my old desktop computer. Attempts to download some video and graphic files were failing because my software was out of date. When I attempted to update the software I learned the computer was too old to support the upgrades. Time to get a new one so I did. But I couldn't open my word or data files on the new one now. I have to find alternative software I can afford and find out how or if I can transfer files to the new software. It's frustrating to be confronted with a totally new way of doing what I used to do naturally. Now, the second lesson was about to start......
I was in the studio the other day working on a new wood engraving block with my trusty electric engraving tool. Suddenly the hand piece seized up. This had never happened before and I've owned this handy tool for at least seventeen years. I use it nearly every day when engraving a block and for many hours a day. I took the hand piece apart, even though I'm mechanically challenged. I had taken the thing apart before when there had been an electrical short. That was not the problem this time, so I twisted the little motor to see how it turned. There seemed to be some resistance but after turning it more it seemed to loosen up and spin freely. The bearings in this unit are sealed and don't need lubrication (according to the manual) so I figured I could put it back together and give it a try. I did, and it work... for about ten minutes, then it screeched to a sudden halt. I accepted the fact that it had reached the end of its rope and it had served me well.... very well. So I ordered a replacement hand piece from the manufacturer.

Until that replacement arrives, I am re-acquainting myself with my trusty hand tools. I've used hand tools all along, but only when it is necessary to have more tight control over the engraved line. This all causes me to reflect on how reliant we are on technologies and how we become so used to them that our manner of working is totally reliant on them. We reach the point where more direct methods of making things or making things happen become totally foreign. I'm now developing a higher level of respect for basic methods of doing things. But I'm still anxious to receive the replacement hand piece so I can work as I've worked before.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

I've just returned to Red Deer, after a wonderful weekend in Toronto where I was invited to participate in an event called "New York, New York", sponsored by TINARS (This Is Not A Reading Series) held at the Gladstone Hotel.  "New York, New York" refers to two books published by Porcupine's Quill that tell two very different stories about New York.  One book is a wordless book of wood engravings by George Walker titled "The Book of Hours".  The book describes, in images with no text, the lives of people who worked in the Twin Towers during the hours leading up to the attack on the Towers.  The other book is titled "Beasts of New York: a Children's Book for Grownups" by Jon Evans and illustrated with wood engravings by Jim Westergard.  "Beasts" follows the life of Patch the squirrel as he awakens one early Spring morning, in his tree in Central Park, to discover his caches of food have been stolen.  This discovery is followed by a series of crises, including squirrel clan wars and dangers from various beasts.

George Walker presented a short video of his images that took us dramatically through the day before and up to the attack on the Towers.  I joined Jon Evans on the Gladstone Hotel ballroom stage as we fielded questions from Tom Smart, art historian, author and curator, about "Beasts of New York".  Jon Evans presented a slide show of the locations in the New York area which are the sites of Patch's adventures.  Mr. Smart also supplied questions directed at George Walker and myself about wood engraving and the role of wood engraving today.  Books and prints were on sale.  Don Black Linecasting Service set up a table of letterpress items and offered demonstrations of letterpress printing.  It was a very enriching afternoon.

The flight from Calgary to Toronto took about four hours and was rather a routine flight.  I took the Airport Express Shuttle into downton Toronto then took a streetcar from the Shuttle's final stop, the Sheraton Hotel, down Queen Street to the Gladstone Hotel.  What I didn't know until I got on the streetcar was that there was construction near the Gladstone (1214 Queen St. W.) which forced the streetcar to turn off Queen Street at about the 1100 block.  I figured it would be no big deal to pull my bag three blocks in the rain.  When I had pulled the bag for a couple of blocks west of the Sheraton and started to look for an address I discovered the addresses were still in the 1100 range and gaining in very small increments.  Obviously the system there was not what I was used to (each block increasing by units of 100).  By the time I reached 1214 I was fairly wet, even though the rain was light.

The set-up for the event in the ballroom the next day began at noon and when it was opened to the public the time passed quickly.  I met some wonderful people and enjoyed every minute. Please check out the photos and a video prepared by TINARS as well as a Porcupine's Quill blog.

My room at the Gladstone (above, taken the morning I left) was a white room called the "Map Room" (below) and I spent a cozy warm night there.  The next morning, after breakfast, I returned to discover the temperature was 82 F (the thermostat was not metric).  I tried turning the heat off and had the window propped open while I went for a walk.



When I returned it was still hot, so the desk clerk moved me to a red room (remember "redrum" in the movie, "The Shining"?). Each of the rooms in the hotel is designed by a different designer and art work is hanging in all the hallways.

The elevator is very old and works the old fashioned way, with a counter-weight and an operator.  No buttons to push here.  

Jon Evans, George Walker and I (l to r) posed for a photo.

All in all, I think a good time was had by all!

The Westjet flight back to Calgary was not as routine as the flight out to Toronto.  I had watched the news the night before and saw the report of the hurricane strength Chinook wind that had blasted out windows in the buildings of downtown Calgary the previous day.  It had also torn up trees, ripped roofs apart and blown tractor-trailers off the hiway.  There was a scene of a Lufthansa airplane fighting the wind to attempt a landing at Calgary airport.  That scene was on my mind as I boarded the plane.

I was seated in the second row, not far from the front entry of the plane and just a few steps from the toilet.  When we were a few hundred miles east of Calgary and had been in flight for nearly four hours there was a distinctive sewer-gas aroma, getting stronger by the minute.  I noticed a flight attendant hand something to one of the three ladies in the row ahead of me.  Suddenly the sewer-gas smell was replaced with the aroma of fresh coffee.  They asked her what it was and I heard her say "coffee grounds".  

During the flight I ordered two glasses of red wine and had given my credit card to secure the tab. I settled the tab as we neared Calgary.  When I was about to put the receipt away I noticed the charge was only for one glass.  I asked one of the flight attendants to check with the attendant who had settled the tab.  She came back and said the other attendant had wanted to buy me a drink!  Imagine that!  Yessiree, a good time was had by all!

Surprise Critic

I thought things were progressing fairly well in the studio lately.  When I came out this morning to start working I noticed that some art-critic bird had left a comment and shat upon my doorstep.  Perhaps I'll take a second look at what I've been working on.

Alcuin Society Wayzgoose - Vancouver

I flew to Vancouver over the weekend with Carol to attend the Alcuin Society wayzgoose at the Vancouver Public Library on Saturday.  Heavenly Monkey, the press that printed the text and published my new book, ODDBALLS, gave me space at their table.  I set out some prints and some trade books of mine and some that I had illustrated.  This was the first time ODDBALLS was presented in public.  A very good film called Making Faces: Metal Type in the 21st Century, about Jim Rimmer and produced by Richard Kegler, was shown at Simon Fraser University the evening before the wayzgoose. There were wonderful people participating in and visiting this event.  It was a fascinating weekend.  Carol helped take some photos while I was busy at the table and we enjoyed going around and meeting some of the other participants.

ANOTHER IDEA ABOUT CREATIVITY.

I came across a TED Talk that brought back a thought I had and shared on an earlier post, about ideas and where they come from.  This was a talk given by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the book, Eat, Pray, Love.  She describes her own experiences with creativity and the mysterious sources of ideas, as well as the experiences of others.  I recommend the talk (it lasts about 19 minutes) and if you're interested and want to watch it, go to http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Evolution of printmaking

I received an e-mail the other day from an art college student who is working on a degree in relief printmaking.  He was conducting a survey amongst printmakers to find out what printmakers think about the technological direction of printmaking.  I thought I would share it here and maybe even elaborate upon it more.
There were three questions.

Q: What quality do you consider hand pulled printmaking to have, to make it more of a niche and an unique medium?
A: The quality is already there.  The answer is in your question: "hand pulled".

Q: What do you believe printmaking to be, and does this have boundaries or exclusions to technology or process?
A: I believe Printmaking to be a fine art, created by the hand of the artist.  The debate regarding the role of mass production technologies in printmaking has continued since Senefelder introduced lithography for theatre posters and will continue as more of these "easy-to-create" technologies are developed.

Q: Do you feel competitions and awards are the key to awareness and the future durability of contemporary printmaking?  If not, how do you feel print will progress and how will it need to evolve?
A: I don't believe competitions and awards are the key to either awareness or the future of contemporary printmaking; any more than "Britain's Got Talent" is the key to awareness or the future of the performing arts.  I would never presume to declare what that key is, but educating the public about the difference between a mass-produced poster and a fine art print seems to be important.  Some people simply don't care that the framed Van Gogh on their wall is a mass produced giclee poster with "realistic brush strokes".
I believe it's not necessary to mess with or influence the direction of the "evolution" of printmaking.  And I definitely don't believe there is such a thing as "progress" in creativity and art.  Artists who make prints will continue to make them the way they want to make them and the public that supports the artists by buying them will buy the ones they like for the varied reasons they like them.  I don't believe fine art printmaking is an industry which needs to be manipulated to meet the demands of the "consumer", and it would be a big mistake for art colleges to teach students to anticipate fashionable trends in the print "market".

Another print technology that has been questioned in the past was silk screen, which first appeared in China ten or eleven centuries ago and was used in England at the beginning of the twentieth century as a means of creating wallpaper.  When it became a common tool in the advertising industry, printmakers noticed it and began to create fine art prints with it.  To move the process from advertising to fine art they christened it "serigraph".  But as Shakespeare said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet".
The issue of technological boundaries is not new and will no doubt be around for a long time.

If the artist's hand was in control through the whole process of getting an image from a matrix to another surface, it should be considered an original print.  But I believe the artist and the gallery owe it to the buyer and collector to let them know the difference between a reproduction of a painting or drawing and an original fine art print.  An intelligent buyer could then make the decision whether to own a piece of fine art or save their money and go buy a poster or pretty calendar.

Robert Kroetsch

I just learned of the tragic death of Robert Kroetsch from an automobile accident in Alberta yesterday.   Robert was the acclaimed author of books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction and is revered as one of Canada's top writers.  He was recognized with the Governor General's Award as well as the Order of Canada. The news is especially hard for me to accept, since I had worked on an edition of one of his books.  I had been commissioned by the late Dennis Johnson to illustrate the Red Deer Press edition of "Seed Catalogue".  I traveled to the Heisler area to get a feel for the location of the poem and was able to locate his former house and farm following the descriptions in the poem.  While working on the wood engravings I communicated with Robert regularly and sent him sketches as I prepared for each wood engraving.  I grew to admire and respect him and appreciated his guidance on this project, and especially appreciated his elegant and visual use of the language.

The nation and the world has lost a literary giant.

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ART

It's been a couple of days since the final Stanley Cup game in Vancouver.  It's taken me that long to get my head around what happened out there, when Vancouver lost to Boston.  I've watched, spellbound, as images of that night have been shown on the news and as the commentators have tried to explain what happened.  It's impossible to avoid shaking the head and mumbling, "What the hell is going on?  It's just a damned game for cryin' out loud!"  And that's when I realized it had nothing to do with the game; whether Vancouver lost or won, there was going to be a riot.  When thousands and thousands of people are invited to the streets to watch the game on large screens and to party, the mob mentality takes over.  Of course, as the commentators have pointed out, there were instigators in the crowd with the specific goal of igniting this and they understand how a mob works.  All they have to do is strike the spark and the mob of sheep take over.  That doesn't excuse the mob, made up of hockey fans fired up with enthusiasm and booze and their inhibitions and common sense taking the night off.  The same thing happens in soccer (football to the world outside North America).  Britain has had their share of "lager louts", "skinheads" and "hooligans" who have created havoc throughout Britain and Europe.

I didn't grow up with hockey and I've had difficulty understanding the street fights which are tolerated on the ice during games.  When I've tried to point out the radical difference between sanctioned violence and brutality in hockey and the quick removal of violence and brutality in other sports, die-hard hockey fans dismiss the violence as being "part of the sport".  I was told once, by a relative that I should study hockey so I would understand!  Even that idiot clown Don Cherry, who sees himself as Canada's authority on hockey, defends the violence and brutality.  But the violence tolerated on the ice has nothing to do with the rioting and vandalism that went on Wednesday night in the streets of Vancouver.  The brainless, pampered and spoiled idiots who tore up Vancouver had long since turned their brains off and let themselves be mindlessly led into that disgusting mess.  I watched a reporter ask the mayor of Vancouver if there was going to be a ban on street parties during events like this in the future.  I couldn't believe it when the mayor replied that street parties would continue to be allowed!

Kudos to those few individuals in the crowd who tried to reason with the idiots who were rioting and tried to calm them down.  All some of those heroes got was what some hockey players get on the ice at the hands of sanctioned "enforcers" while the referees look on... a beating.

In the end I can't help comparing the riots I saw on TV, that took place in Egypt a while back, and the riot in Vancouver that I watched Wednesday night.  There was a big difference.  The rioters in Egypt were focused on overthrowing a tyrant and taking back there lives.  The rioters in Vancouver were laughing and having fun, watching cars burn and breaking store windows and looting them.

Cultural Cool

Turn a Blind Eye  wood engraving 4 x 5 in.

The other day my friend Bill Starke sent me a link to a very good Wall Street Journal article written by Joe Queenan about Frank Gehry and the nature of "cool" trends.   As is often the case when I receive e-mails from Bill, the content gets me thinking and this one was no exception.  Not only did I agree and applaud everything in the article but it got me thinking past architecture, to art and culture in general and my own observations of the "cool" in art.  The phenomenon of fads in culture and the rush to jump on the "bandwagon" is fun to watch.  Those bandwagons move with the power of a runaway train, gathering passengers like a magnet gathers paper clips.  Queenan's article discusses the rush by civic governments to "keep up with the Joneses".  He says your city isn't "cool" unless it has a gallery or a library designed by Frank Gehry.  I've noticed too, that if the city can't afford Gehry, then they find a second-rate Gehry wannabe.

This rush to be "cool" is part and parcel of culture.  "Cool" sells.  Hollywood is another place where the bandwagon is overloaded.  If a movie makes it big at the box office you can expect years of other movies in that genre to follow in style or even story.  And the original blockbuster can't just end there.  Oh, no.  If that first one is a blockbuster and sends the stockholders into fits of ecstasy, why not try another?  How many more comic book super heroes, Terminators or Pirates of the Caribbean can this planet take?  (I don't want to know!)

In university I took a painting class from a professor whose own painting style was abstract expressionism.  There was indirect and implied pressure, from the professor, as well as other students, to work in the "ab-ex" manner.  So I did.  I would have preferred to work from life or nature but, as a 27 year old undergraduate with a wife and child and no idea what I was going to do with an art degree, I needed to keep my grades up.  Plus, I was in school to learn and figured I may as well give it a shot and learn something.

The printmaking professor didn't apply pressure to conform to a style and I felt free to express myself.  This may have been one of the reasons (besides the smell of solvents) I chose to take that route.  Wood engraving wasn't a formal part of the class, but it was the process that fascinated me most and I studied examples in the course text and in the library (those were the days when you went to the library for information or images).  Leonard Baskin was the artist whose work impressed me the most.  There were others but nobody topped Baskin in my estimation.  I needed to go on to graduate school because my goal was now to teach at the post secondary level.  Some of the graduate students would get excited when the latest issues of Art in America or Art Forum arrived in the library, with articles about whatever was "hot" in New York.  As soon as the latest issues were on the shelves, some of those "hot" styles and techniques would show up in class critiques.

 Graduate students grow older and move out into the world, carrying what they've collected in school.  There were moments in the 70s when, recognition by fellow faculty, art critics or gallery directors demanded the incorporation of the latest technology.  If it wasn't made with some new and hi-tech material, it wasn't worth looking at.  Then that gave way to making nothing at all.  Art students were taught to talk about art instead of making it.  Gallery walls were covered with typed descriptions of what the artist had been thinking about.  If there was any thing in the gallery at all (a pile of molding food for instance) it had to be explained with typed pages of information that were impossible to understand because they were typed in "art speak", the pontifications of art critics.  Some universities did away with courses involving the "making" of art.  Some faculty at one of the schools where I was teaching wanted to eliminate drawing from the curriculum.  A few of us fought against this and finally had to agree to a name change because the others thought "drawing" sounded too "traditional"!  By the 80s universities were churning out graduates who couldn't nail two boards together or who didn't know which end of a brush or pencil to use.  It didn't take many years of this foolishness and students began to realize that they were headed nowhere and they began to demand visual content.  The universities and colleges woke up and started putting the visual back into art.

In the "art world" there is a rush to be in front, with the most innovative and creative ideas.  If these ideas receive a following and are accepted in the mainstream they can take off like a rocket and they are "hot property", coveted and snapped up by collectors and investors.  The owner of a gallery that once showed my drawings asked me to work larger.  He said corporations wanted larger work and if I would work larger he could sell more of my work.  I told him I do drawings and prints on paper and am comfortable with the scale I work at.  I eventually pulled my work from that gallery (not because I was asked to work larger).

As I ponder the points raised in that Wall Street Journal article and think about fads and what's cool, what's hot and what's not, I can't help but feel relieved that this is a treadmill I've avoided.  I've been very fortunate that I haven't succumbed to the pressure to conform to the style or trend of the day and have been happy in my ignorance.  I can spend time in the studio creating for me, instead of spending time searching for the next fad du jour.  Besides, it's asking a lot be creating flavor of the day when using the eighteenth and nineteenth century medium of wood engraving.