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As I am working away behind the scenes on my new book, I am happily seeing that my first book "The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed" is still making its way out in the world.

My 5x5 project, an online extension of the book, is being featured in the current, November/December issue of Somerset Studio. Christen Olivarez, the editor of the magazine, has  highlighted the article on Somerset Place, the blog from Stampington & Company. In it she says "I truly feel like this article is like no other we've ever published. Perhaps it's because it is based on a book, "The Pulse of Mixed Media," that is like no other. When Seth first contacted me with the idea for this article, I was quick to say "yes!" to it. I knew Somerset Studio readers would really enjoy having insight into the creative processes of some of their favorite artists." A million thanks Christen!

The book has also been included in a post on Create Mixed Media entitled "Gifts for Artists/Creativity Jump-Starts." This post is the first in a series on the site that will highlight categories of gifts for the artist (and non-artist alike). Also check out "Gifts for Artists/Art Journaling", the second post in the series.

I still get a thrill when I wander through a book store and see my book on the shelf. And it still brings a smile on my face when I come across my book unexpectedly online, like the other say when I saw that Dick Blick has added it to their online store and even featured it on their landing page for books.

One of my workshop DVDs is also indirectly "in the news", but by way of full disclosure, that is because I put it there. I have just added "Head Start" to the shelves of my Etsy shop.

This is one of the mixed-media artworks that I created during the filming of my workshop DVD Easy Mixed Media Surface Techniques. You can see the creation of the piece, from start to finish, on the DVD. While I haven't run across any recent online mention of my other DVD, Easy Mixed Media Techniques for the Art Journal,  I am including it here so that it doesn't feel left out.

Point Taken

In 2010 a series of survey questions were posted on my blog as a means of ‘taking the pulse’ of the online art community. More than 40 questions were posed and the results of the survey were presented as sidebars in my book The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed. The survey tapped into a range of issues, both practical and psychological, related to being an artist today.

In Pulse Points, my newest series continuing today on Create Mixed Media, select survey questions from the book were presented to several different groups of artists working in mixed media and beyond. 

Today's rockstar panel includes: Quinn McDonald, Carla Sonheim, Sue Bleiweiss, Christine Mason Miller, and Jill K. Berry.

Today's questions and original survey results from The Pulse of Mixed Media:

How do you feel if you don't tap into your creative ability regularly?

Guilty…8%

Cranky…28%

Frustrated...49%

Doesn't affect me at all...3%

N/A - I always tap into my creativity...12%

Do you think of art as therapeutic?

Yes, art is my form of therapy…45%

Sometimes art can be therapeutic for me…49%

No, art is just art…6%

And a taste of what our panel members had to say:

Jill K. Berry: "If I go days without being in my studio I feel like I am neglecting one of my senses."

Carla Sonheim: "When feeling good, expressing myself creatively is where I go first." 

Sue Bleiweiss: "Tapping into my creative energy is just as important to my well being as eating and sleeping."

Quinn McDonald: "Creativity is the sharpened point of the pencil, rather than the eraser."

Christine Mason Miller: "I have used art to process, work through and express all kinds of emotions, struggles and issues in my life."

Head on over to Create Mixed Media to hear much more of what the panel has to say about these issues. You can also read the first two posts in the series if you missed them. And if you would like, please share your own thoughts in the comment sections here or at CMM.

Seth and the City

I hope to meet up with any and all of you who happen to be close to New York City in the coming days, weeks and months...

November 28, 2012

I am excited to be spending the day at The Ink Pad in NYC on Wednesday, November 28th and am inviting you to join me. Is if for a workshop? No. A talk. Nuh-uh. You will find me stocking, selling, and going on some coffee runs. That is because I will be an unofficial, official employee for the day.

I love The Ink Pad and the people who run it so much that I recently, half-jokingly, said I would love to work there for a day. Well...you know where this story is going. They said yes. So I have joined the mixed media union and will be brushing up (pun intended) on my SKUs.

Oh yeah....and I will be demoing some of the great Spellbinders products that the Ink Pad carries and showing/selling my own art as well.

Please stop by if you are in the neighborhood. The Ink Pad is located at 37 Seventh Avenue, corner of 13th Street. The hours are 11am-7pm. I will be there for my shift at 2pm...and I won't be late so that I am not fired on my first (and last) day. My demo will run from 5-7pm. Hope to see you there.

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December 6, 2012 - January 6, 2013

I will be part of the 8th Annual Small Works Show at the 440 Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, December 6th from 6-9pm and the exhibition runs through January 6th. 440 Gallery is an artist-run collective in the Park Slope neighborhood

You can see all the art that will be a part of the show on their Facebook page here. If you are so inclined, you can also "like" your favorites, as your vote will determine which piece will receive the People's Choice Award.

Center of Gravity

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January 6, 2013

I will be teaching my 52 Card Pickup workshop at the Little Bird Creations Studio on January 6th and registration is now open. In this workshop, we will start with a standard deck of cards and create a one-of-a-kind, year-long weekly journal. Techniques using gesso, acrylic paint, acrylic glazes and collage will be highlighted. 2 spots are open at the time of this posting.

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March 9 & 10, 2013

I will be back at Little Bird Studios for a 2-day collaborative workshop that I will be teaching along with Roxanne Evans Stout and Elizabeth Wix. In The Need to Tell Stories, we will all be making a handbound artist book, filled with art and the written word. There will be a few surprises too. Only 4 seats remain at the time of this posting. 

5x5: Chapter 4

I may be the author of The Pulse of Mixed Media but the true, creative force behind my book is the group of artists who generously shared their secrets and passions and, of course, their art. It was important to me that this book be representative of our entire artistic community, but the total number of contributors I could include was limited by the number of pages in the book. Not wanting to be contained by page numbers, I decided that the Internet was the perfect vehicle to extend the book and be able to include more of the community. With this in mind, the 5x5 Pulse Project was born.

The Pulse of Mixed Media presented the results of a survey in which contributing artists were asked questions that they had to answer with words or provided with prompts that they had to respond to by creating art. These ideas were combined in the 5x5 Pulse Project. I put out an open call for artists to submit artwork created in response to one or more of the following questions that were part of the original book:

1. If your artwork could talk, what would it say?

2. Who has had the most impact on your creative life?

3. What is one thing you have never shared with the creative community?

Submitting artists could chose 1, 2, or all 3 of the questions and respond to each by creating artwork in any medium in the form of a 5" x 5" square. They were asked to include words as a part of their artwork as well. There was a tremendous response to this call and I will be posting each submission every Sunday throughout the months of November and December. 

The 5x5 project is also being featured in a ten-page spread in the November/December 2012 issue of Somerset Studio, now available in stores and online here.

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If your artwork could talk, what would it say?

Joanna Bennett

"She's growing"

Carolyne Morrison

"As a collage artist I use many different materials in my work...the old and the new, the precious with the rusty street finds, the unexpected...creating work that is whimsical and at the same time filled with reverie and discovery and that is so intensely personal to who I am. If my art could speak, it would express the joy it experiences at becoming a visual image of my being...of my soul."

Holly Dean

"Lose yourself in my fantastical world."

Cindy Jones Lantier

"Chill out! Play more! Don't take me -- or yourself -- so seriously!"

Darlene Wilkinson

"there are times. it brightens everything up. mixed media. strongest footprint. grunge. magical tales. dreams. celebrate. and found objects. fun and playful. layering. humor. arty. textures. really fun. inner journey. it's different when the words are coming through you. invoked miracles. organic art. embracing. you. search for meaning in our lives. play. a mirror for personal experience and breaking boundaries. the world in which we exist."

Susie Bass

"It would ask for more glitter and a frill of lace."
(this 5x5 also answers the other two questions)

Norma Conway

"Love yourself"
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What is the one thing you have never shared with the creative community?

Beth Bynum

"My fantasy name is Chloe. I have a fantasy identity."

Sarah Fishburn

"Once, when we lived in Tucson, an irate husband with a gun chased our dad home. My brothers and I were locked in a back bedroom for safety."

Wanda Hickman

"I really don't like getting messy!"

Laurel Englehardt

"I have never shared my fear of not being a real artist."

Jody Carlson Cain

"No one will hit me again."

Jann Sage

"My art. After a lot of personal drama, I lost nearly a decade in finding my way back to life again and art saved me through all of that. So now I'm finally showing up and sharing the art. As a late-bloomer this link is to my very first blog and it's a brand new baby just learning to walk. It's all part of an artistic journey and late to the party or not, here I come!"
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The next edition of 5x5 will be posted on Sunday, December 2nd.

Breaking Boundaries

On several occasions I have been asked to share my pet peeves when it comes to art and the art community. My answer is always the same: exclusivity and snobbery. I get my knickers in a twist whenever I am confronted by or hear a story about people in the art community who maintain that art and creativity belong only to a select group. A trained artist who denies the validity of those who are self taught. A fine artist looking down on a mixed media artist. A mixed media artist who dismisses a scrapbooker. And don't even get me started on the debate between art and craft.

It is my strong feeling that creativity belongs to everybody - at every skill level and in any domain. There are probably as many definitions of the word artist as there are artists in the world. I personally believe that anybody who feels comfortable with the term can rightfully call themselves an artist. And while I respect the fact that not everybody agrees with that...I don't have to like it. We are all so often confronted with judgmental and divisive attitudes in our lives and in the world. Why would anybody want to bring that into the world of creativity?

I have always tried to be inclusive in all the projects and collaborations I have developed. On my blog, well known career artists share space with hobbyists who may not yet have a following. And there are definitely times when I favor the work of the latter. It may be naive, but I believe that we can all learn from each other and benefit from the blend.

To that end, I am embarking on an adventure that I hope will shine a bit of light on this subject and perhaps even break down some boundaries. As of today, I am an official member of the Blog Team at Spellbinders Paper Arts. You can read their announcement here. Spellbinders is a company traditionally connected with the scrapbooking and card making communities. They are known for many products but perhaps are best known for their incredible and innovative die cutting and embossing machines and tools, items not traditionally used by many mixed media artists.

As part of my tenure on the Blog Team, beginning in January I will be creating and presenting a project using their products (along with many others) on my blog every Wednesday. It is my hope that I can introduce a host of new supplies, tools and techniques to my mixed media people that will serve to increase their arsenal. And it is equally my hope that perhaps a bit of my mixed media style will rub off on to the scrapbookers and card makers who can then add new techniques to their tool boxes as well.

Having had the pleasure of spending time with the Spellbinders team, I know the quality and creativity that comes along with all their ideas and products. They are truly a visionary company and I am thrilled to now be a part of their family. They had me at "you can make photo transfers with this machine." I am truly thrilled to get this party started and equally excited to have you join me on this adventure as we explore beyond.

For Your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only

An Artists' Book

Parallax

This past weekend I exhibited at the Parallax Art Fair in NYC.

The show was held at the Prince George Ballroom in NYC, which was a gorgeous venue as can be evidenced by this shot of the ceiling and one of the many pillars.

Set up went smoothly.

Opening night was fun and well attended.

Take a walk with me through the fair...

I exhibited 7 mixed media pieces from my 2012 series Passages.

Passages - Sold

Headstrong - Available

Charlotte - Sold

Passare - Sold

Take Flight - Sold

Momento - Sold

Keeper - Sold

Please email me for more information if you are interested in purchasing any of the available pieces.