Seth Apter's Blog, page 42

New Workshops New Venues - 2016/2017

I am thrilled to announce a variety of new (and old) workshops at a variety of new (and old) venues that will be filling out my 2016 teaching schedule - and a few special events in 2017 too. Please note that several more will be added to the list as soon as details are finalized.

You can see all of my classes on my workshop page, always available by clicking on the workshops tab at the top of the blog.
MAY
Ephemera Paducah in Paducah, Kentucky - registration open
JUNE
West Carlton Arts Society in Woodlawn, Ontario Canada - fullThe Ink Pad in NYC - fullKept Creations in Whitman, Massachusetts - registration open
JULY
Art is You Mixed Media Roadshow Retreat in Australia - registration open  
AUGUST

The Belmar Arts Council in Belmar, New Jersey - registration openThe Queen's Ink in Savage, Maryland - registration pendingPapercraft Clubhouse in Westbrook, Connecticut - registration pending
SEPTEMBER
Blue Twig Studio in Colorado Springs, Colorado - registration openStay tuned for an announcement of an additional September workshop 
OCTOBER
Art is You retreat in Stamford, Connecticut - registration openWorking on another venue that month too.
NOVEMBER
Art Retreat at the Prairie in Roundtop, Texas  - registration open

2017Save the Dates
--In February I will be hosting a 9-day retreat in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (Email me at shap97@gmail if you want to be added to an interest list)
--In March I am heading to Donna Downey Studios in Huntersville, North Carolina (registration for this is already open) 
--Also in March I return to Taos, New Mexico with Roxanne Evans Stout to re-experince our Case of Curiosities retreat. (Email me at shap97@gmail if you want to be added to an interest list)
--In June I return to Pacific NorthWest Art School on Whidbey Island in Washington (Registration is pending)

Art New York/CONTEXT new york

It's Frieze Week in NYC and we have been taken over by art fairs. Given the stretch of cold, wet weather we are having, what better place to be but indoors looking at art?
Yesterday I spent the afternoon at Art New York and CONTEXT new york, both being held side-by-side at Pier 94 in Manhattan. They run through Sunday if you want to attend.
Wanted to share with you a few of my favorite finds...
Lucas Weinachter @ Galerie Linz


Christiaan Conradie @ Galerie 55Bellechasse

 Daniel Quinn @ gibbons&nicholas


Nicholas Wilton @ CALDWELLSNYDER

Troy Abbott @ BERNICE STEINBAUM GALLERYvideo installation


Yuval Yairi @ Zemack Contemporary Artmemory suitcases

Jean-Michel Basquiat @ ARCHEUS / POST-MODERN

The Pulse 2016: Week 2

 Welcome to the 6th edition of The Pulse - 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, further your own artistic expression, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. Stay tuned for a new post every Wednesday.
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What is the one technique or tool that you cannot live without?
Annie Coe Venetian plaster. I discovered it about 9 years ago and never looked back. There are a few other tools that I love but this tops the list.
Sue Marrazzo Palette knives. I use them to mix and blend paints, mediums and more. I build up texture in layers and use them as mark makers in my mixed media work.
Janice Paine Dawes Stitch. Stitch can be a mark making device, it can hold layers together to be an embellishment. Stitch can be real by the use of thread or implied by painting/drawing.
Kathy Fritz My awl. As a compulsive bookbinder, I get the shakes if I do not have it by my side and at the ready. You can make a book with just about any materials but when it comes to binding, if you don't have the useful awl, forget it. It is not the prettiest of crafting tools, but it is tops in my book.
Darlene Campbell Watercolors. I must use watercolors everyday in a wash, glazing or wet on wet techniques. This process also includes line quality with black ink.
Nancy Lefko Clearsnaps ColorBox Fluid Chalk Inks - specifically their Cat's Eyes. Seriously I dread the day they decide to stop making them. I use them on virtually every piece on the outside edge, as a frame; to distress or add a touch of color to cut out text; and always with stencils. It is my go-to ink.
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If you would like to be a participant in The Pulse, please email me (shap97@gmail.com) the following:
1. Your response (which I might need to edit to keep all answers relatively consistent in length)2. ONE photo that somehow relates to your answer3. A link to ONE of your online sites
If you would like more Pulse, check out my books from North Light Media: The Pulse of Mixed Media and The Mixed Media Artist.

Live from New York....

Live from New York, it's Friday night....
I have referenced The Ink Pad in NYC many times on this blog. The premier stamp (and more) shop in Manhattan, The Ink Pad packs more than 10,000 wood mounted rubber stamps (and more) into their 300 square foot shop - the size of many apartments in NYC and no doubt the size of a small closet in many other places. Check out this feature in the New York Times on the shop.

This Friday 5/6 I will be bringing The Ink Pad to you!


Find me @alteredpage on your phone on the Periscope App
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For those of you who are in or close-by NYC, stop by to see me in action...

Hope to see some of you on my phone or in person!

Make, Share, Try

Make one...
Share it...
Try it...

(my new stamps from impression obsession and available in my online shop)

The Week Links: 100

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 100...

1.  Loving the organic ceramic work from Judit Varga. 



2. Really digging these collages from Lee McKenna, first seen here on Jealous Curator. 


3. You can practically touch the texture on this abstract work from Alicia Caudle. 


4. Wonderful recent charcoal work from Susan McCarrell. Love the beauty, mystery and emotion in each.


5. Check out these mixed media masterpieces from Susan Lenart Kazmer. 


6. Kim Henkel created these as earrings...but I just want to add them to some of my assemblage art. 


7. Really taken with the work of Juanan Requena.

Password: new stamps & a sale

PASSWORD
Thrilled to announce the release of my newest stamps from Impression Obsession.
These six new stamps are perfect for mixed media art, art journaling, the coloring craze, card making and scrapbooking. The stamps are designed by hand, produced in the USA, and made from deeply etched red rubber. They are available in 3 sets of 2 stamps or sold individually as either cling or wood mounted. 
The stamps sets are available now in my my online store. You can find them now in both sets and individually at the Impression Obsession online shop . They will be available soon in stores and other online shops as well.
Password I



Password II


Password III


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SALE
To celebrate the release of my newest stamps and as a way to say thank, all individual wood-mounted stamps in my online shop are available through May 5 at 30% off. 

The Pulse 2016: Week 1

 Welcome to the 6th edition of The Pulse - 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, further your own artistic expression, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. Stay tuned for a new post every Wednesday.
-------------------

What is the one technique or tool that you cannot live without?

Amy Duncan My diluted Elmers glue solution applied with my simple chip brush. I like using Elmers diluted with just a little bit of water when I am working on my collage pieces. It stays wet for awhile so you have a little flexibility in moving bits around. You don't get any bubbles/creases/burps. And I love the fact that it is so affordable.
Deborah Guthrie My wooden honey dipper. I love line work in my art and I also love a loose approach to the desired line work and my work in general. When dipped in paint and used as a drawing tool, the honey dipper will give me uncontrolled results which are so often exactly what I am looking for.
Rachel Stewart  My dental tool set I bought from Harbor Freight for less than a dollar! I use them in every line of work I do. I pull bubbles out of resin with them. I ream beads with them. I use them to create textures in polymer clay. They are great for positioning and moving around tiny collage parts. And I use them for making marks in wet paint as well. 
Gwen Lafleur Stencils. For years they have been my go-to-tool for adding pattern, texture, depth, dimension, and more to my work. I've used them for everything from creating simple patterned paper to to making the base for an armature for a sculpture. They can hide in the background and layers of my work so you don't even know they're there, or create a fantastic foreground or focal point. I love that you can stencil with all or part of them, use them with nearly any medium, or completely change the look by m,modifying the application method.
Kim Henkel My stamp carving tool. I carve  - usually from erasers - quite rustic, simplistic designs that I often use in combination with other bits and pieces in my creative work. I love being able to use my hand carved stamps rather than always using stamps I have purchased as it puts more of "me" into the final piece. A package of erasers, a carving tool, and a bit of time is all that is needed to get started.
Cindy Chinn My X-acto knife. I have about 20 of them, one in every studio, room, car, a couple on my counter where I set the things from the day that I forgot to put away, right next to my collections of small tape measures that were left in my pocket. I use an X-acto knife in every medium I work in. To carve pencil, to weed vinyl, to trim a paper pattern, to open that box of art supplies that just arrived, it is endless! I have many different blade styles but I prefer the #16 for most things. 
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If you would like to be a participant in The Pulse, please email me (shap97@gmail.com) the following:
1. Your response (which I might need to edit to keep all answers relatively consistent in length)2. ONE photo that somehow relates to your answer3. A link to ONE of your online sites
If you would like more Pulse, check out my books from North Light Media: The Pulse of Mixed Media and The Mixed Media Artist.

A Boy who Blogs

When I have ideas about topics that I would like to blog about, I set up a post in draft mode. Well, what I really mean is that I write a title. The title of this post - A Boy who Blogs - was written a long time ago. Probably back in about 2013. For many years, I have wondered why the online art blogging community - both bloggers and viewers - is primarily made up of women. And when I say primarily, what I really mean is nearly completely.


It always seemed strange to me that while the art world has historically (and with tremendous bias I might add) focused on men, our community, whether online or at workshops and retreats, consists of women and only a handful of men.

I am moved to finally write this post thanks to Danny Gregory - another guy in the neighborhood. As is so often the case, he has touched on the most current of topics and recently wrote a post entitled Why Men Don't Take Art Classes . His post - and the lively discussion that has occurred in the comment section - has inspired mine.

I have had many random thoughts over the years about why this is the case. My first thought is always that our blogging community is just that - a community. It is not only about art but it is about connecting through art. Sometimes it is even more about connecting than about art. Call me sexist, but I have always thought that women are so much more willing and able to express, connect, share and communicate. These are things that happen almost by definition in a community. For me, this issue explains a good deal of the gender disparity. But can it be that simple?

Theories about why men don't take classes don't always apply to why there are not more men in our blogging community. The whole men-don't-read-maps-so-as-not-to-appear-ignorant theory seems to me to be irrelevant to online blogging -- not to mention that we now have GPS, which I do believe men actually take advantage of.

So this boy is curious as to what you readers think on this issue. Commenting on blogs seems to be at an all time low (hmmmm....another title for a future post) but I am hoping that you all can shed some light on this. The floor is yours.....

The Week Links: 99

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 99...


1. In love with this cool vintage printers tray filled with treasures by Tammy Tutterow.

2. Stampington visits the 5 top trends in mixed media art on their blog Somerset Place.

3. Cannot wait to see Cornelia Parker's rooftop installation on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. It is a 30 foot high replica of the Bates Motel.

 
Fun fact: notice the tall, thin skyscraper to the left in the picture and in the video. That is 432 Park Avenue, the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere at 88 stories. Here is one of the views:

4. And speaking of building in NYC, Anton Repponen shows us what 10 iconic NYC buildings would look like in open spaces.

5. Digging the assemblage work of Jon Andrew from greyjey studios.


6. 15 creative Instagram accounts to follow via Design Sponge.
@wrightkitchen
@stellamariabaer
7. Around the World with 80 Artists: sign up now to get a free eBook on May 25 of what looks to be a very cool publication.