Seth Apter's Blog, page 51
November 20, 2015
On Trend
trendsetter or trend forgetter?
Concentric
Artists tend to fall into one of four categories when it comes to trends, with most people straddling more than one. Where do you fit in? Are you a trend lover, hater, setter, or forgetter?
Check out my column The Creative Pulse in the paper or digital November/December issue of Cloth Paper Scissors to read more about the phenomenon of trends and how they impact (or do not impact) artists.
ConcentricArtists tend to fall into one of four categories when it comes to trends, with most people straddling more than one. Where do you fit in? Are you a trend lover, hater, setter, or forgetter?
Check out my column The Creative Pulse in the paper or digital November/December issue of Cloth Paper Scissors to read more about the phenomenon of trends and how they impact (or do not impact) artists.
November 19, 2015
Art Blog Directory
Have you visited my Art Blog Directory lately? In it I include links to creative blogs.
I just finished my biannual review and deleted 55 blogs, all of which have not been active within the last six months. What does that say about the state of the blogosphere?
That still leaves 415 links for you to explore. Yes. 415. Better get started now...
And if you want to add your blog to the list of links, email me at shap97@gmail.com.
November 18, 2015
Inspirational
I am so pleased to be a featured artist in issue #7 of Inspirational, a 201-page magazine from John Hopper from The Textile Blog.
For every issue, John highlights a group of 8 artists from a wide range of creative disciplines. He not only includes an extensive number of images of their artwork, he writes an accompanying article focused on how each artist perceives the world around them and, in turn, how that unique perception is projected back onto the world within their art.
In John's words: "Mixed media to Seth is a medium of freedom, of layers of expectation, and of expression. It is the bringing together of events, often long dissociated from the materials used, but still nevertheless imbued with an essence. It is a scattering of old memories, and the bringing together of the new."
"As an artist he takes note of the nature of streets and the people that inhabit those streets. Life is all about attachments, connections, imbuing space and time with meaning and understanding."
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Earlier issues of Inspirational have highlighted a diverse group of artists including some of my favorites such as Chris Keegan, India Flint, Patricia Oblack, Cas Holmes, Wen Redmond, Annie Coe, Jude Hill and Elizabeth Bunsen.
You can read more details about Inspirational, download a free sample feature, and purchase issues here.
For every issue, John highlights a group of 8 artists from a wide range of creative disciplines. He not only includes an extensive number of images of their artwork, he writes an accompanying article focused on how each artist perceives the world around them and, in turn, how that unique perception is projected back onto the world within their art.
In John's words: "Mixed media to Seth is a medium of freedom, of layers of expectation, and of expression. It is the bringing together of events, often long dissociated from the materials used, but still nevertheless imbued with an essence. It is a scattering of old memories, and the bringing together of the new."
"As an artist he takes note of the nature of streets and the people that inhabit those streets. Life is all about attachments, connections, imbuing space and time with meaning and understanding."
-------------------
Earlier issues of Inspirational have highlighted a diverse group of artists including some of my favorites such as Chris Keegan, India Flint, Patricia Oblack, Cas Holmes, Wen Redmond, Annie Coe, Jude Hill and Elizabeth Bunsen.
You can read more details about Inspirational, download a free sample feature, and purchase issues here.
November 15, 2015
The Week Links: 76
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 76...
1. Veronica Funk shares her thoughts on the highs and lows of being an artist in this wonderful guest post.
2. Looking forward to seeing Squeak Carnwath's new exhibition What Before Comes After at Jane Lombard in NYC.
Love her book Lists, Observations & Counting3. I cannot get enough of Lynne Hoppe's unique painting style and in this post she shares a tutorial on tea bag painting for the Documented Life Project.
4. I absolutely love the texture that Janaki Larsen achieves on her ceramics. Love every single photo on her Instagram feed too.
5. Love this series of Italian collages from Caterina Giglio.
6. Look closely at these two artworks. They are made completely from paint brushes by Finn Stone. On exhibit through 11/25 at Woolff Gallery in London.
7. Alice Fox's collection of stitched shells are stunning, serene and beyond beautiful.
November 14, 2015
Forecast
Today I am guest artist on the PaperArtsy blog. Follow along step-by-step to see how this...
became this...
November 12, 2015
Coming Soon...
Less than one month until your first look at my new mixed media product line from Spellbinders. Sign up here for updates and sneak peeks.
November 8, 2015
Workshops 2016: Part 1
CREATE WITH ME
I am finalizing details for my 2016 workshops which will take me across the United States and to a number of International locations. Planned destinations include New York, California, New Mexico, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Connecticut, Florida, Colorado, and Virginia. I will also be teaching in Canada and Australia -- and hopefully two other countries that are in the works and will be announced once nailed down. And you never know -- there may be a few more stops along the way.
I have posted my schedule as it stands today for the first 7 months of 2016 on my workshop page. Registration is already open for many venues and for others it is "save the date."
Here are the highlights but head to the workshop page for registration details and direct links:
January takes me to Anaheim, California where I will be teaching two workshops at the Craft & Hobby Association's annual mega show. Both classes are filled.
In February I head back to Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, Virgina to teach 3 workshops. I am also teaching a one-day workshop at Pratt Institute in New York City, a class open to all even if you are not a Pratt student.
March brings a very special experience: A Case of Curiosities -a 5-day art retreat in collaboration with Roxanne Evans Stout at The Mabel Luhan Dodge House in Taos, New Mexico. One spot recently opened and we are considering adding two more participants.
April is a busy month and starts with three workshops at Everything Scrapbook in Lake Worth, Florida. I then head to the West Coast where I return to A Work of Heart in San Jose, California for two workshops, followed by a very special 3-day workshop Library of Memories at Art is You retreat in Santa Rosa, California. I end the month back home, teaching two classes at Pratt Institute in New York City - again open to all.
May brings me to Ephemera Paducah where I will be teaching three workshops in Paducah, Kentucky, my first time teaching in that state.
In June I head north of the border and will be bringing a week's worth of classes to the West Carlton Arts Society in Woodlawn, Ontario Canada. All the workshops are already filled with the exception of two seats in one of the classes. In the middle of the month I head back to my home turf and teach a 1-day class at The Ink Pad in New York City. The end of the month brings me to Kept Creations in Whitman, Massachusetts for 2 workshops.
July brings me back to Australia as part of the second Art is You Mixed Media Roadshow down under. If this experience is anything like the first round in 2014 - it will be nothing short of art nirvana!
I hope you can join me for some creative play. If you are unable to, stay tuned for an alternative coming your way in 2016.
I am finalizing details for my 2016 workshops which will take me across the United States and to a number of International locations. Planned destinations include New York, California, New Mexico, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Connecticut, Florida, Colorado, and Virginia. I will also be teaching in Canada and Australia -- and hopefully two other countries that are in the works and will be announced once nailed down. And you never know -- there may be a few more stops along the way.I have posted my schedule as it stands today for the first 7 months of 2016 on my workshop page. Registration is already open for many venues and for others it is "save the date."
Here are the highlights but head to the workshop page for registration details and direct links:
January takes me to Anaheim, California where I will be teaching two workshops at the Craft & Hobby Association's annual mega show. Both classes are filled.
In February I head back to Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, Virgina to teach 3 workshops. I am also teaching a one-day workshop at Pratt Institute in New York City, a class open to all even if you are not a Pratt student.
March brings a very special experience: A Case of Curiosities -a 5-day art retreat in collaboration with Roxanne Evans Stout at The Mabel Luhan Dodge House in Taos, New Mexico. One spot recently opened and we are considering adding two more participants.
April is a busy month and starts with three workshops at Everything Scrapbook in Lake Worth, Florida. I then head to the West Coast where I return to A Work of Heart in San Jose, California for two workshops, followed by a very special 3-day workshop Library of Memories at Art is You retreat in Santa Rosa, California. I end the month back home, teaching two classes at Pratt Institute in New York City - again open to all.
May brings me to Ephemera Paducah where I will be teaching three workshops in Paducah, Kentucky, my first time teaching in that state.
In June I head north of the border and will be bringing a week's worth of classes to the West Carlton Arts Society in Woodlawn, Ontario Canada. All the workshops are already filled with the exception of two seats in one of the classes. In the middle of the month I head back to my home turf and teach a 1-day class at The Ink Pad in New York City. The end of the month brings me to Kept Creations in Whitman, Massachusetts for 2 workshops.
July brings me back to Australia as part of the second Art is You Mixed Media Roadshow down under. If this experience is anything like the first round in 2014 - it will be nothing short of art nirvana!
I hope you can join me for some creative play. If you are unable to, stay tuned for an alternative coming your way in 2016.
November 7, 2015
The Week Links: 75
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 75...
1. Maker Visits: Textile designer Rebecca Atwood's studio tour from Apartment Therapy.
2. Melbourne street art - 29 ways. And some pics I took in Melbourne in 2014...
3. Austin Kleon, author of the recently released The Steal Like an Artist Journal, talks about notebooks and journals.
4. Absolutely love this file folder journal that Gwen Lafleur created using my new stencils.
5. I love the power and authenticity behind all of Orly Avineri's journal pages and accompanying text.
"Those who turn off the light in others, and those who turn it on. Radiate it, give it. Your and my choice. Oversimple but true."6. Unique and creative assemblage art from Robbii Wessen of Foundlings.
7. I have loved this door on Greene Street in NYC for more years than I can remember. Never knew what was behind it. Until Sharon Morrison sent me this link.
November 6, 2015
On the Road(House): Post 3
Bringing you my last of three posts about my recent workshop experience at Roadhouse Arts in Texas.
On the final day of the workshops, we collaborated on a group project and literally left our mark at Roadhouse.
Step by step we each took a turn painting on one of the cabinets...
The Big Reveal: live
Short class clips: the next best thing to being there
November 5, 2015
On the Road(House): Post 2
I visited Texas last month and taught three workshops at Roadhouse Arts in Bulverde, a venue that is in the process of transforming into The Makery. Check out my earlier post for some Texas flavor and all y'all keep on reading for a taste of the workshops themselves.
Day One: Collage Camp
Spent the day cutting and collaging. 
All the collages started with painted backgrounds.Somehow I got so focused I didn't get pictures of the finished collages...
but the evidence is here on the floor.
The Creative CrewDay Two: Brick by Brick
This workshop starts big, with painting layer after layer.
Then participants learn to let go as they tear there work into small pieces.Work in progress...
The pieces are then reassembled in the form of bricks and our walls, complete with graffiti words, are created. 
Days Three & Four: Cover to Cover
Pages and pages and pages...
Layers and layers and layers...
Texture and...
texture and...
texture...
Stack...
The classy class.Stay tuned for a very special On the Road(House): Post 3
