Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Time Will Tell


This piece and today's tutorial was inspired by the concept of passing time. We are in the middle of hot and sticky days in NYC -- and it is still only June. It always strikes me as funny how in the hot NYC summers people are often complaining about the heat and wishing it were winter. And equally in the freezing days of January, people are often wishing for a hot August day. Some recent experiences have showed me that we would all do better to be in the present and make the most of what we have at any one moment. 

That being said, icy colors and imagery rules the roost in this time piece.

I started out with a 4" x 4" cradled wood panel.

To this I added a coat of black gesso and some silver ice details care of a favorite clear stamp and my silver Encore ink pad from Tsukineko -- which I have to say is by far the best metallic ink I have ever used.

My winter wonderland continued with a slice of Precious Metal foil from Spellbinders and their Crackle texture plate, which reminds me of cracked surface of a frozen lake.

Look at the deep emboss that this texture plate makes in the foil...

...made even more icy by lightly sanding the raised surface with a sanding block.

Time for the details. It all started with this vintage watch face, which I paired with a die cut silver foil shape.

I dug into my stash of Spellbinders dies to find more circular shapes, applied to different foils and card stock -- and graded in size.

I couldn't leave out a bit of metal and rubber sourced from the hardware store -- definitely one of my most favorite places to find mixed media supplies.

To complete the piece, I adhered the Crackle foil to the surface of the panel and started stacking - from large to small diameter. In time, my ode to the cold weather came together. 







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Supply List

Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:

GC-001 SpellbindersTM Grand Caibur® Machine
MT1-004 SpellbindersTM Media Mixage Texture Plates Crackle
F-012 SpellbindersTM  Precious Metals Premium Craft Foils Assortment 
S4-390 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities® Imperial Gold Majestic Elements Gold Circles One
S4-302 SpellbindersTM Nestabilities®  Decorative Elements Crown Circles
S5-048 SpellbindersTM Shapeabilities® Sprightly Sprockets 

Preferred Promotional Partners: Tsukineko Encore Ink Pad

Other: cradled wood panel, gesso, paint brush, clear stamp and mount, card stock, hardware, sanding block, adhesive, vintage clock face 

18 comments:

Sue Seibert said...

I absolutely love this piece!!!

Rebeca Trevino said...

beautiful piece, Seth, really.

Sue Marrazzo Fine Art said...

LOVE IT!

Raylee said...

must agree with your wise words about the present......& this timepiece is "cool".

Brian Kasstle said...

Summer is always my favorite time of year. Especially after growing up in Montana. I know cold weather.

I agree, I LOVE this piece!!!

elle said...

Yes,we spend too much time fussing about what isn't. Hmm, time to apply that to my art! ;(

bcap61 said...

As usual, a Seth Apter masterpiece!

Anonymous said...

Very cool, Mr. Apter. Very cool indeed!

Jo Murray said...

Thanks for the look at your process Seth.

Lost Aussie said...

Very cool indeed!

Anonymous said...

Very beautiful, love the colors!!

Kathryn Dyche said...

I love the embossed foil and how it came to life with some light sanding. I love where your creativity takes you.

Angi in hana said...

thank-you sooooo much for sharing and inspiring! i sit here in my little shack in the jungle (for that alone and my view of the beautiful blue ocean i see, i should be humbled) just stumped , as to what i am going to do, so for many months now i go to your blog, and i do get inspired and i have made some great connections following your lead! so all the way from this island i send you tons of aloha! and i am going to get some of that silver ink, i have been looking for a while for a good silver ink! aloha, angi in hana

Caterina Giglio said...

isn't that so true? B here Now ... hot and cold... we humans have a small comfort zone... and we forget the seasons extremes...

Parabolic Muse said...

Holy Moly, Seth!


and I need that metallic ink.

Cheryl said...

This is fantastic, Seth. Encore makes the best pigment inks. I'm curious as to what your favourite stamp is that you mentioned.

Bill said...

You're pushing me over the edge with all of your wonderful art. I need to figure out how to get some of this stuff without it costing a fortune. Maybe I need to apply for a job at JoAnn Fabrics. I wonder if they hire old people?

Renee said...

Love this, Seth! Isn't that the truth, very few are content to live in the moment.