Seth Apter's Blog, page 98

My Own Story

My exhibition of collaborative work made with Roxanne Evans Stout opens in less than 2 weeks  at Illahe Studios and Gallery in Ashland, Oregon. We will both be there for the opening reception on Friday, May 3rd and hope you can join us.

The show is entitled "The Story Within" and centers around 12 mixed media paintings that Roxanne and I both worked on, shipping them all back and forth from Oregon to NYC. In addition, we each tell our own story with additional works that we created on our own.

I started with eight 4 x 4 cradled wood panels and created layered backgrounds...

Each panel was completed with the addition of mixed media so that I could tell my own story...
As Is

Shoreline

Fenced In

Covered With Clouds

Site Unseen

Unfolding Corners

Ancient Aura

Counting Wheels



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Sending congratulations to Hue Plus Me, winner of my recent giveaway for a signed copy of Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen's new book Acrylic Solutions: Exploring Mixed Media Layer by Layer.

A True Story

Last week I was inspired to create some Face Books, handmade mini books with an artful face(s) on the cover. Today I made one more book but my inspiration can be found on the inside rather than the outside of the book: tabs.

One of my favorite "book looks" is when things spill over the edges of the cover. Todays "spillage" is courtesy of Donna Salazar and her Creative Page Tabs from Spellbinders.
I started with one of the mini books from my stash. Made of hand painted, watercolor paper, it measures about 3.75 x 3 inches and uses the pamphlet stitch.

First thing I did was cut out a series of tags using the Creative Page Tabs dies and Ephemera Paper from the Media Mixage line.

I cut out some other images from the Ephemera Paper set to use for my cover.

I also made some shaped die cuts to create layers for the cover, using both decorative paper and hand painted paper.

Wanting to add more interest to the book, I used some stickers from 7 Gypsies to add words to both the tabs and the cover. I also added a bit of shading and line using both a pen and a marker. In the end, I had "A True Story"







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Supply List
Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:
GC-001 SpellbindersTM Grand Caibur® MachineS5-052 SpellbindersTM Shapeabilities® Creative Page TabsMD1-001 SpellbindersTM Media Mixage Ovals OneS4-201 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities® Deckled Rectangles SmallMP1-002 SpellbindersTM Media Mixage Ephemera Paper Two
Cross Promotional Partners: 7 Gypsies Stickers
Other: watercolor paper, decorative paper, gesso, acrylic paint, acrylic medium, paint brush, rub ons, pen, marker, adhesive, waxed linen thread, sewing needle, scissor, awl

Acrylic Solutions - giveaway

There is a new book in town: Acrylic Solutions: Exploring Mixed Media Layer by Layer by Chris Cozen and Julie Prichard. This is a book that every artist who either uses or wants to use acrylics should own. And it won't be for your book shelves because this book is likely to actually be used. 
There are a lot of books available these days to choose from but my sense is that this one will become a classic. It contains easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions so that you not only learn about product and technique...but you can quickly apply the material to your own artistic practice. 
Of the many tutorials, my favorites include mixing and working with glazes, creating a good foundation, using mediums to create texture, using transparent images, and developing complexity (which itself is 26 pages).
Both Julie and Chris each take you through the process of creating their own artwork, following along step-by-step as they introduce new materials and techniques. Happily, this book is hard back and spiral bound so it can lay open flat when you are referring to it. It includes beautiful images throughout of artwork from both of these talented artists. While beginners will easily be able to follow the instructions, this book would also truly benefit the more seasoned artist as well. I am also pleased to have been a contributor to this book, with one of my own paintings included in a small gallery section at the end of the book:
Vector

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I asked Julie and Chris to share with my readers some thoughts about this book:

Julie: "When we were approached to write this book, I declined. In the few days that passed my initial protest, I began to realize how important I felt it was to produce a "workbook" that others would be able to carry with them and refer to again and again. I am thrilled that Acrylic Solutions is THAT kind of book. We are hearing how much people like the book and how they are completing the exercises and learning...and that makes everything worthwhile to me."
Chris: "I've been a teacher for many years, not always of art. But the constant across my life as a teacher has been to give sound content, clear instruction, and to inspire innovative thinking and action in others. Moving past what we know about something into unknown territory is scary, but it is necessary for us to grow. That place between the known and unknown is where the most stuff happens.  If I can help someone walk across that space then I have met my personal goal. Acrylic Solutions is just one part making that happen."
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Julie and Chris have generously provided me with a copy of the book to offer as a giveaway on my blog. And the winner will also receive a surprise from Chris (read this to see what the amazing surprise is!). To be eligible to win, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post by end of day Thursday 5/18 and make sure that I have your email address. I will announce the winner on both my blog and my FB page. Good luck!!

The Story Within

In every painting there is a story within, needing to be told and waiting to be discovered. 

In this group of paintings, Oregon artist Roxanne Evans Stout and New York artist Seth Apter collaborate to tell their story.

From a distance you will see beautiful abstract paintings... deep and mysterious... but on closer inspection layers, textures and colors will unfold, pulling you closer for examination. 

Part encaustic, part acrylic and part plaster, these paintings are a unique blend of the artists themselves.

Each of these twelve paintings has traveled back and forth across the United States for the last year. 

One artist would begin and the other would finish until "the story within" was revealed. 

The story unique to each artist is also told side-by-side in an intimate grouping of of individual work.
Join Roxanne and myself on May 3rd at Illahe Studios and Gallery in Ashland, Oregon where we will be celebrating the opening of our collaborative exhibition from 5-8pm. We each worked on the surfaces of the same 12 (10x10 or 12x12) cradled panels so that our artwork is blended in a truly collaborative process. In addition, I will be showing 8 and Roxanne will be showing 7 different artworks that we each created on our own. We are both so very excited for this show and hope that all our friends out there who are near Ashland will be able to attend.

Face Books

With all the talk about social media these days, I decided to shift focus to a different type of Facebook: books with faces on them! 

To start, I grabbed a bunch of mini books that I always have on hand. These are all handmade by me using watercolor paper painted with gesso, acrylic paint and acrylic glaze. They are simply bound with a pamphlet stitch, which you can read more about in an earlier post.

I sourced my faces for the covers from Spellbinders Ephemera Papers Two, part of their new Media Mixage line. This is a 36 pages book filled with the coolest images to use in art.

I chose four images of faces to match with my four books and die cut them into different shapes.

I created a series of frames and shapes with both hand painted paper and black cardstock by using Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles dies...

and Spellbinders Standard Circles dies.

Then the fun part began. I dug into my selection of rub ons to create some background elements and then layered my faces and my die cuts until I was happy with the cover designs. Now I have my very own Facebooks...















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Supply List
Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:
GC-001 SpellbindersTM Grand Caibur® MachineS4-114 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities® Standard Circles LargeS4-201 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities® Deckled Rectangles SmallMP1-002 SpellbindersTM Media Mixage Ephemera Paper Two
Other: watercolor paper, cardstock, gesso, acrylic paint, acrylic medium, paint brush, rub ons, adhesive, waxed linen thread, sewing needle, scissor, awl

Time After Time

I have the privilege of being one of the ten artists participating in the Great Grafix Challenge, hosted by Interweave and Cloth Paper Scissors. I was provided with a series of products from Grafix, a company that manufactures some truly unique products such as Frisket Film, Drafting Film, Shrink Film, and Rub-onz Transfer Film, the product that I chose to use.
I like to take commercial products and apply a twist to make them my own. So when I saw the Rub-onz Transfer Film, I knew that this was the item I would build my artwork around. Rather than altering a commercial rub-on, I could create my own.
The basis for this piece was a photograph I took of a vintage clock face...

that I turned into a rub-on using the product. I also creating a rub-on for the text on the piece, which is also the title: Time After Time. I thought this was the perfect name as the piece is not only made up of the clock, but also of stacks of rusty, found metal objects -- themselves naturally impacted by time.








You can see all the creations from all the participants in the May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, which will be available for purchase soon. If you cannot wait for your print copy, you can download the digital version right now here.

A Kiss Before You Go

A Kiss Before You Go: An Illustrated Memoir of Love and Loss by Danny Gregory is a very special book. It tells the story, in hand written words and hand drawn illustrations, of the death -- and life -- of his wife Patti. I asked Danny to share a few words with my readers, and this is what he had to say:

"Patti and I shared so much over the twenty-four years we were together: her paraplegia, raising our son, lots of adventure, laughs and love. When she died in a horrible accident, I had to face a completely new life and approach it day by day. "A Kiss Before You Go" is an illustrated record of our years together and my first year alone. It covers sad events but ultimately it's a book about loving and living, about beauty in its many shades. I hope reading it brings as much to you as writing it did to me."
The emotions that he conveys on these pages are painfully familiar to me and I read this book, cover to cover, in one sitting...not able to put it down. So many passages resonated deeply with me but one in particular struck home:
"A year ago they told me it would take a year to get over it. Now I know - there is no getting over it. Ever. That I will always be cracked and reglued and that no matter what new chapters I write, there will always be tearstained pages, their ink running."
This book ought to be "required reading" for every person who has lost somebody close. Danny has a gift in being able to capture and present the raw truth fearlessly and without pretense. This book is deeply personal and intimate and the details that Danny shares clearly belong only to him. And yet the words he chooses and the illustrations he creates are achingly familiar and belong to us all. That accomplishment, as a writer and an artist, is no easy feat. And this book, is not to be missed.

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Sending out congratulations to Barbara Israel, winner of my recent giveaway and a signed copy of An Altered Existence by Melody Nunez!

Creating Art...

I am extra-excited to see that Pam Carriker's new book is now available for pre-order. 


Creating Art at the Speed of Life: 30 Days of Mixed-Media Exploration is due to be released in September and I for one cannot wait. And while I am thrilled to be a contributing artist to this book (thanks Pam!), that is honestly not the reason I am so excited. It is because I know Pam and the quality of all her creative work. Her first book Art at the Speed of Life: Motivation + Inspiration for Making Mixed-Media Art Every Day is truly one of my most favorite art books. It checks all the boxes that are important to me in this type of publication. And I just know that her second book will do the same.

I asked Pam to share a bit about her experience in putting together "Creating Art at the Speed of Life" and here is what she had to say:

"Even before I'd met the deadline for my first book. Art at the Speed of Life, I began to jot down notes for a second book. It seemed the more immersed in being creative I became, the more inspiration bubbled out! I truly believe that creativity begets creativity. There was so much more I wanted to share about the process of actually making art. I'm a does; it's not enough just to have a great idea, I have to actually roll up my sleeves, dirty my hands and get to work. So I proceeded with plotting out my next book and slowly but surely it has come into being. The process is long, and it seems an eon ago that I first whispered the words about what I'd like to do next to a few close friends. The giant white board in my studio is never blank for before I'm finished with the project on it there are yellow sticky notes with ideas of what will follow. I hope this never ends, it's the part about being a creative person that I love the most."

I hope it never ends too Pam!

Kaleidoscope

As a child I remember being mesmerized by kaleidoscopes. Turning and turning the tube led to an endless array of ever changing, never repeating bursts of color. This was my inspiration for today's artwork: Kaleidoscope 1
I started by gathering some card stock: black, red and kraft-colored, which die cut using the following Spellbinder's dies...
Exquisite Circles
Imperial Gold Circles One
Standard Circles Small and Large
I then broke into my stash of hardware. With all the bits and pieces I so frequently but, I am thinking the guys at the hardware store must think I am quite the DIYer. The circle with the swirls was a perfectly timed gift that I received from Sharon Walworth just a few days ago.

I got to stacking, keeping in mind the idea of capturing both the circular movement and the depth of image that are such big parts of a kaleidoscope.


I decided to mount this stack on a 4 x 4 inch cradled wood panel...

...which I painted with black gesso and accents of red iridescent gold


Kaleidoscope 1








---------------------------------
Supply List
Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:
GC-001 SpellbindersTM Grand Calibur® Machine
GC-015 SpellbindersTM Grand Calibur® Junior Magnetic Placement Mat

S4-114 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities® Standard Circles LargeS4-116 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities® Standard Circles SmallS4-384 SpellbindersTM  Nestabilities® Exquisite Circles
S4-390 SpellbindersTM  Nestabilities® Imperial Gold® Circles One
Other: cradled wood panel, acrylic paint, gesso, paint brush, card stock, hardware, adhesive 

A Wish List of Books

So many books and so little time...

I am always finding books to pre-order on Amazon but at this moment in time, there seems to be even more than usual that are calling my name. Some titles on my wish list right now include:

Incite, Dreams Realized: The Best of Mixed Media
Various Contributors

Playing with Image Transfers: Exploring Creative Imagery for Use in Art, Mixed Media, and Design
Courtney Cerruti

101 Mixed Media Techniques: Master the Fundamental Concepts of Mixed Media Art
Walter Foster Creative Team

Mixed Media Techniques for Art Journaling: A Workbook of Collage, Transfers and More (Art Journal Workbook)
Kristy Conlin

Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Embracing Imperfection and Celebrating Happy Accidents
Serena Barton

Stencil Girl: Mixed-Media Techniques for Making and Using StencilsMary Beth Shaw(no image available)
...and I guess this list would not be complete for me if I didn't include my own book :-)
The Mixed-Media Artist: Art Tips, Tricks, Secrets and Dreams from Over 40 Amazing Artists