Seth Apter's Blog, page 122

Save the Dates: Part 3

To celebrate the release of The Pulse of Mixed Media, I will be holding a series of live events starting in March and ending in May. My book tour will take me from coast to coast in the United States and into western Canada. Along the way, I will be meeting up with many of the more than 130 artists that are represented in the book. I hope that I can meet up with YOU too!

There are still more events that I am planning, but I wanted to share with you the cities, venues, and dates that have been confirmed so far, so that you can save the date if I am making a stop in your neighborhood. I will post updates to my blog and add to this original post, which will always be available to find by clicking the link on the sidebar of my blog.

And if you know of a venue that you think would be a good match, please do not hesitate to email me with contact information. Hey...you never know!

March 26th: The Gallery Link in Ellenvile, NY. There will be an artist reception at 6pm (coinciding with my art exhibition running from March 1 to April 23). At 7pm I will be presenting an artist talk about the inner aspects of the creative process of the artist as revealed on the pages of The Pulse of Mixed Media. This will be followed by a Q & A session and a book signing. The events are free and open to the public but please RSVP at 845-647-5530.

March 31st: The Ink Pad in NYC. I will be moderating an artist panel with contributing artists Michelle Ward, Leslie Marsh, Karen Cole, Jill Zaheer, Roxanne Evans Stout, and Julie Prichard. The panel members will discuss their contributions to the book, answer audience questions, show samples of their artwork, share their personal creative process, and sign copies of the book. The panel runs from 10am to 12pm. The event is free and open to the public but you must contact The Ink Pad in advance at 212-463-9876 to reserve a place as seats are limited.

April 11th: Judith HeartSong Fine Art Studio and Gallery in Metro DC. Artist talk, book signing. The event runs from 6 to 8pm. Seating is very limited. Please email me at shap97@gmail.com for more details and to reserve your space.

April 26th: Momo Lomo in Fort Collins, CO. Join me from 7 to 9pm for a book signing and launch party. Also attending will be a number of contributing artists from Colorado, including Sarah Fishburn and Lisa Hoffman. The event runs from 7-9pm.

April 28th: Two Hands Paperie in Boulder, CO. I will be moderating an artist panel with local contributing artists Lisa Hoffman, Sarah Fishburn, Fran Meneley and Marie Danti. The panel members will discuss their contributions to the book, answer audience questions, show samples of their artwork, share their personal creative process, and sign copies of the book. The panel is free and open to the public. The event runs from 10:30am to 12:00pm.

May 3rd: Le Marche St. George in Vancouver, BC Canada. Join me for a book signing and launch party at 7pm. Also attending will be a number of contributing artists from the book, including Patricia Larsen and Lelainia Lloyd. The event will be held in conjunction with Con Leche, an art exhibition including works by the Larsen family (Patricia, Janaki, Klee) and myself.

Master Class 11: Those in the Now

Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.
Style File and Techniques & Tools were the first two projects posted and links to all 23 posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The third project, Master Class, continues now...

Participants were asked : 'If you could take a class from one artist from anytime in history, including the present, who would it be and why?'
(Images and links have been added by The Altered Page)
---------------------------------------------
While many survey participants chose old master artists, a good number chose artists hard at work today. These artists in the know have become artists in the now.

Denise Aumick said "One day I stumbled upon images of Gerhard Richter's abstract paintings while perusing a museum's holiday gift catalogue. Richter's abstracts are filled with so many textures and layers they encourage me to look deeper and look longer, enveloping me in their depths. Who better to take a class from than the person whose work has had a direct influence on my own?



---------------------------------------------
Ange selected Yves Leterme "for his striking contrast of blue pigment on gesso but mostly for his apparent ease in constructing gestuals of alphabets; they seem to arise effortlessly out of each piece."



---------------------------------------------
Kim Palmer decided to "go with someone from the present that I really admire and say Elfi Cella. Her ability to combine both her skills in miniature painting,


along with found objects and fabrics


and create the stunning work and textures she does, leaves me absolutely hooked every time. Where do I sign up?"
---------------------------------------------
Lise Hoffman selected Flora Bowley. "I love her approach of art and spirituality. I love her colors and art technique."



Brave Intuitive Painting---------------------------------------------Cathie Parreco chose Gregory Euclide. "I admire the many layers in his work and would like to know what adhesives and materials in uses. Does he start with a plan or does he just 'wing it.' He has a large library of You Tube videos documenting his work. It adds value for his audience and is a fine example of how an artist can use the web to market their work."

---------------------------------------------Jude said "I'm going with Gregory Colbert. He is one artist whose work I look at and think 'what more can an artist say?' I'd like to learn more about his creative process."


Ashes and Snow: One Thousand Rivers ---------------------------------------------Tracie Lyn Huskamp selected Sarah Lugg. "It would be heaven to study under Sarah Lugg. Although I admire many artists and many different styles, her nature inspired, ethereal works imbued with the most rich and dreamy colors, often highlighted with a splash of metallic, leaves me completely mesmerized. It is her complex collage arrangements, married with natural objects that has me staring at and studying her work for hours."



The Objects Of My Affection
---------------------------------------------
Dayna J. Collins said "It has to be Pat Wheeler, who I have been fortunate enough to take classes from on three occasions. Any chance I get to learn from Pat is time well spent. She not only teaches great art techniques, but also how to live in this world."



---------------------------------------------
Next 'Master Class' will be held on Saturday, February 25th.

Save the Dates: Part 2

In just a matter of weeks, The Pulse of Mixed Media will be available to purchase in book stores and online. The pages of this book are made up of the art and words of more than 130 artists from our community, all of whom share their innermost secrets and passions. Think of this as an intimate discussion with all your favorite artists - a one-on-one show and tell.

To celebrate, I will be holding a series of online events starting this month. These events have been set up to mirror the content of the book. Each and every one will offer you an opportunity to experience the inner workings of these talented artists as a true art insider. Mark your calendars, save the dates, and get ready to take The Pulse of Mixed Media...


February 16: Podcast with Rice Freeman-Zachery posted now on her blog Notes from the Voodoo Lounge and on Create Mixed Media. Hear a preview of the contents of the book including responses to several survey questions, a review of the live and online promotional events to be held, our thoughts about the mixed media community, the theme of my next series on Create Mixed Media, my plans for the upcoming year, and much more.

March 1 - March 31: 31 Artists/31 Days. Meet the contributors. On every day in March, 1 of the 31 spotlight artists from the book will be highlighted on my blog. Read their "quirky" artist statements written specifically for the book, see some of my favorite artwork from each, and read my personal thoughts about them all. Then head over to their sites to read about their experience of being in the book. And get ready to be eligible for a very special giveaway by simply leaving a comment.

March 21: Twitter Launch Party. Log into Twitter between 9-10pm EST to have a real time talk with myself and many of the contributors in the book. More details about this event will be posted on my blog as the date approaches.

March 28: Podcast with Mark Lipinski on Creative Mojo. I will be Mark's co-host for the entire 2 hour podcast which airs live from 3-5pm EST (and which will be archived for listening anytime). We will talk all about The Pulse of Mixed Media and be joined by contributors Michelle Ward, Angela Cartwright, Pam Carriker, Julie Prichard, and Lisa Hoffman. Get your questions ready as this radio show has a live call-in feature!

March 29: Live artist panel at The Ink Pad in NYC. I will be joined by contributors Leslie Marsh, Karen Cole, Jill Zaheer, Julie Prichard, Roxanne Evans Stout, and Michelle Ward. So why am I talking about a live event in this list of online events? Because the panel will be video taped and available for viewing on Create Mixed Media sometime in early April.

April 2 - April 12: Blog tour. Visit 11 blogs on 11 consecutive days for a traditional blog tour with book reviews, interviews, and more. Hear how each of these bloggers answer their choice of 3 of the questions posed to the contributors of the book. And again, get ready to be eligible for a very special giveaway by simply leaving a comment.

There will also be frequent updates on my Facebook page and on Twitter as I travel on my book tour throughout the United States and Canada. AND look out for your opportunity to answer the very same questions posed to the artists in the book for an online project I will be hosting in conjunction with the release of the book.

Out of the Dark

The work and words of over 130 artists are included in The Pulse of Mixed Media. Every single one of them is an art star in my book (pun intended). And one is about to burn a bit brighter.

I am happy to announce that Annex 24 Gallery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania will be showcasing the mixed media artwork of artist Loryn Spangler-Jones. Her exhibition, Out of the Dark, opens on Friday, March 2nd with an artist reception at 6pm. The show runs through March 31st.


The exhibition has been developed around the artwork that Loryn created for my book in answer to the question "Can you share a secret?" While that work of art can only be seen on the pages of The Pulse of Mixed Media and at the gallery, several of the pieces in the show are pictured below.



I will be attending the opening on March 2nd and look forward to meeting Loryn and seeing all her art, including her contribution to the book, in person. I hope to see some of you there as well. Your can read the press release for the show here and visit the Gallery's website here.

CREATE....now!

Registration for workshops at CREATE New Jersey, a mixed media retreat sponsored by Cloth Paper Scissors, goes live today at 2pm Eastern time. The retreat runs from July 18th to July 22nd and I will be teaching four workshops: A Box of Dreams, Collaboration Station, Mixed Media Dossier, and Text Tiles.

You can read all the details on the CREATE New Jersey website or go directly to the workshop page here.  Hope I get to meet many of you in July!

The Gallery Link

I am happy to invite you to an exhibition of my artwork being held at The Gallery Link of the Ellenville Public Library and Museum in the beautiful Hudson Valley, New York. The exhibition opens on March 1st and runs through April 23rd. It is being presented in conjunction with the release of my book The Pulse of Mixed Media.


Join me on Monday, March 26th for an opening reception at 6pm, followed by an artist talk at 7pm. I will be speaking about the inner aspects of the creative process as revealed within the book. There will be an a Q & A and a book signing as well. Please sign up for the event in advance at 845-647-5530.

This is my first solo exhibition and I have been hard at work in my studio creating over 20 new pieces of art that comprise two series - one that will feel familiar to those of you who follow my blog and one that is a new direction for my work. For those unable to attend, I will be posting images of the artwork and exhibition next month.

Your Blog, Your Way: Part 11

Head on over to Create Mixed Media to read my 11th and last post in the series. What better way to finish than with a Celebration. 
Thank you to everybody who took the time to read through the posts. I hope that you found the information I shared helpful. And I hope that you are all well on your way to having Your Blog, Your Way.

Priceless

Pages: 144
Dimensions: 8" x 10"
Contributing artists: 133
Original artworks: 94
Artist self-portraits: 32
Survey questions: 34

Seeing my book for the first time: Priceless

Master Class 10: Portrait of an Artist

Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.
Style File and Techniques & Tools were the first two projects posted and links to all 23 posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The third project, Master Class, continues now...

Participants were asked : 'If you could take a class from one artist from anytime in history, including the present, who would it be and why?'
(Images and links have been added by The Altered Page)
-------------------------------------------------------------
The artists highlighted in this post were selected for a variety of reasons but what unites them here is there unique perspectives on portraiture.

Lisa Sarsfield chose Vincent Van Gogh. "He was a bit of a rebel and I want to sit beneath night skies with him and paint starry nights or to sit sketch trees with him. I admire the passion which drove him to create in hard times and in the shadow of disapproval." Cathy Minerva noted that "despite his frequent bouts of mental illness, which seemed to frustrate and hinder him creatively, he continued to paint. Imagine what might have been if he had access to modern medicine to help combat his mental ailments." theresa mARTin "would love to hang out with Van Gogh. I've read many of his letters and I think it would be interesting to watch him work. Reading his letters made me feel like I was standing alongside him many times." 
-------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal Neubauer said that "it may sound cliche but I would want to learn to paint under the tutelage of Picasso. He is most famous for his later works and co-founding the cubist movement, but he was an immensely gifted painter, from his childhood mastering of painting in the realist style and evolving into his later works."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Keron Lee (aka The Colourguru) chose Edgar Degas. "I love that he worked in various media as new technology and ideas developed. I had always thought of Degas as the "ballet guy" until I quite serendipitously went to an exhibition of his work. At the first painting, I stood, mouth agape, wooed, faint hearted and a dribbling convert. His bronze sculptures have an ethereal, almost surreal sense about them, yet are a perfect form. His printmaking and photography (pioneering for the time) was instructive and intuitive. He frequently reworked the printed images with pastel. He copied the masters long into his career and practised all the time. Sounds like my kind of man!"

-------------------------------------------------------------
Sarah Fishburn chose Marc Chagall. "Truthfully, mainly just to spend time with him, and peripherally, to absorb all I could from him regarding color."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Marie Otero selected Duy Huynh adding "I love his poetic and emotional style and enjoy the clever humor he injects into his work."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Terry Rafferty selected Rembrandt "because whenever I see his work it takes my breath away."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Marion Bocklemann said "It would be Max Ernst. I'd love to see how he made his collages from 19th century imagery, how he painted those wonders of fantasy, and even how he made his sculptures. I'm sure that we modern collage artists could learn a lot from him, and I think he must have been a great teacher because I love his sense of humour.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Rhomany said "I would love to take a coloured pencil class with Raymond Briggs, the artist behind The Snowman. I love his use of coloured pencil. As a colour blind child, I was really able to appreciate the way he indicated textures in his illustrations. He brings an amazing amount of depth and feeling to his characters that few other artists manage to achieve."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Gillian McMurray chose Albrecht Durer "because he had a great eye for detail in the natural world and I could learn a lot about his observational skills."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Maude May picked Mary Cassatt. "The gentle, intimate beauty of the domestic scenes and portraits she painted bring me great joy. She was a very accomplished painter during a time when women weren't at the forefront of the Paris Impressionist scene. Miss Cassatt followed her own path."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Julie Prichard selected Jean-Michel Basquiat. "I dig Basquiat. I like his controversy. I like the story of his super-stardom, but I admire his simplicity. I think that would be a great meeting for sure. I don't think I would be looking for a class as much as I would a discussion about art instead." Adrienne "Dree" Berry adds "I just love how he creates. Those gigantic canvas, the childlike drawings, the language only he knew. He just seemed so raw, untainted. I long for such freedom in creating. I would love to just sit back on a couch and watch him." Loryn Spangler-Jones agrees. "I love his story. I love his work. Like myself he had no formal training, instead played and painted intuitively. This I believe personally to be the purest form of Creation."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Alicia Caudle chose Egon Schiele "because I have admired his unique representation of the human figure for as long as I can remember. I absolutely adore the "perfectly imperfect" lines and often distorted proportions of his paintings. In addition to taking a class from him to learn his skills, I imagine he would be quite an interesting character to converse with as well."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Lani Gerity said "if I were a fairy godmother and could grant me this wish, I'd love to sit with Maggie Taylor while she's working and just see how she puts it all together. I love her work. There are so many layers, such richness..."

-------------------------------------------------------------
Next 'Master Class' will be held on Sunday, February 19th.

News of the Day

The Create Mixed Media Retreat website has now gone live and includes a description of all the workshops and instructors from the event. Registration begins on February 16th. I will be teaching four workshops: A Box of Dreams, Collaboration Station, Text Tiles, and Mixed Media Dossier. I am excited to teach but am also looking forward to spending quality time with so many people from the mixed media community.

-------------------------------------------
Sarah Fishburn and Angela Cartwright have just released the newest issue of Pasticcio Quartz - with a twist. After completing 13 issues of their QUality ART Zine, they have created Pasticcio Panoply. Unlike their previous zines, which include a wide variety of content related to art and creativity, the Panoply issue focuses on art and only art. Never before seen artwork from nearly 40 artists is presented in full page images. 
One of my newest artworks, Held, is featured in the issue and is now available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

-------------------------------------------I just read that one of my all-time favorite artists, Antoni Tapies, has died. This desciption, from the notice in the New York Times, sheds light on why he was such an inspiration to me:
"a largely self-taught Spanish abstract painter whose seductive, tactile surfaces, often scratched with mysterious graffiti-like marks, made use of unconventional materials like marble dust, ground chalk, sand and earth."
I have been lucky to have been able to see many of his paintings in person in both New York and in Barcelona. But I am even luckier to be the owner of one of his prints, which I will continue to treasure and look to for inspiration.

-------------------------------------------
My eNewsletter for February hits the virtual newsstand very soon. If you would like one in your inbox, be sure to sign up for my mailing list. You can see my first issue from January here.

-------------------------------------------
I can finally say that my book, The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed, will be released next month. It has been a long wait - from developing the idea, signing the contract, holding an open call, writing the book, and editing the book - until now...but the wait most definitely has been worth it.

And in what will be a periodic feature on my blog, the first of many little known facts about The Pulse of Mixed Media: despite the subtitle, you will actually find the secrets and passions of more than 130 artists in the book.