Thursday, January 29, 2009

Roughcast Revisited


Those who have followed my blog for awhile might have noticed that I tend to work on multiple projects at the same time. Many projects. Too many projects? I find that I work best when I have more then one piece at a time going. Moving back and forth between pieces keeps my creative juices flowing. The downside is that sometimes projects end up incomplete and unfinished. I have recently revisited a piece that I have not worked on since the end of 2007. It was meant to be a mixed media book called Roughcast. Some of you may remember some of the pages that I posted on this blog in 2007. I had big plans for this book, expecting to create additional pages and having dreamed up a complicated binding technique that never came to life. I recently decided to simplify things, forego the book structure completely, and keep the pages as individual pieces. And now, Roughcast is complete.

ROUGHCAST 1
Sold. Thank you!





ROUGHCAST 4





The flip-side of every page is made from altered paper, each of which is numbered.



The pieces measure 9 1/4" x 4 1/4" each. Several have fold outs attached. Ingredients include a wide variety of materials such as watercolor paper, altered paper, handmade paper, bookboard, photographs, found ephemera, acrylic paint, wax pastels, rub on letters, image transfers, varnish, found metal objects, leaf, pigment ink, dye ink, colored pencil, masking tape, brads, linen thread, gesso, etc. Click images to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

25 comments:

Jeane Myers said...

the evolution of a piece - isn't it grand when the resolution of a work comes to be even when it isn't in the original concept or form? love it and really like these works!

nina said...

seth, your work - as always - is wonderful, original, and yours. x

Karin Bartimole said...

really rich! I love the textures, colors, and patina - the 'roughcast' quality of these pages and their contrast to the cleaner simplicity of the flip sides, which compliment them beautifully, but give the eye a kind of resting place before it feasts again!

laurel said...

I absolutely love #1. I want to be able to create art with such wonderful colors and texture when I grow up. Course it might help if I played with it more often.

Shayla said...

Love roughcast 4. It's dynamic and exudes confidence.

Mary Helen-Art Saves Lives said...

Roughcast is a beautiful sacred mark that is totally complete in itself. I was laid off from my beloved gallery and have been reorganizing my messy nest in my upstairs home studio. Revisiting unfinished pieces is refreshing in so many levels and now I can work without time constraints. I am grieving my loss of a job with my artists but I am reaching out and inside my soul's vision to explore the possibilities of tomorrow. You are my silent muse that I am positive is totally unaware of how your mark making is so powerful to me. Thank you Seth, Imagine and live in Peace, Mary Helen

Lynn Cohen said...

simply wonderful...
i like the words by emerson as well.

Unknown said...

Beautiful ... will they all miss each other if they go to separate homes? I know I would hate to finally sell them and secretly hope to keep them for myself if I were you ....

femminismo said...

This is terrific! These are terrific! I like working on several things at once and think you're right about juices flowing. Time for all of us to revisit some work, I think. Your work is just wonderful - the colors - ooh la la! jeanne

Angela Wales Rockett said...

This is great, Seth. Such wonderful textures. And the numbering on the back of each page. And going back and completing an unfinished project! Usually when I do that I just gesso over it and start again.

Anonymous said...

Here's the Hoffman Philosophy:
"It's finished when I SAY it's finished"

I'm with the Amazing Miz Nina: you're an original.

3rdEyeMuse said...

I am convinced you are the Dean Koontz of the Altered Page! (in terms of prolific output) :)

azirca said...

I wish I was able to work on multiple projects at once. In the past I have tried and the whole process just doesn't seem to work well for me, I end up in a right mess. I really admire those artists who are able to create back and forth between pieces.
'Roughcast' is full of your trademark textural layering, I like the numbering on the backs of the individual pieces too.
Fantastic work!

donna joy said...

looks like a textural dream! way cool! and like you, tend to work on several things-not just one.

eb said...

whoa Seth - what a mover and a shaker you are - these are dense, juicy and - yes I agree - all yours - always inspiring...

xox - eb.

Barb Smith said...

YUM, Seth. I feel like I can almost feel the texture of your pieces, just by looking at them.
Peace & Love,
♥ Barb ♥

lynne h said...

oh, lordy, seth... LOVE these... so much texture and color and *presence* here.

Unknown said...

Stunning. Thanks for your inspirational work. Ax

mansuetude said...

Emerson is really a root inside me, his writing, and it looks like he & Robert Frost have been reading each other's minds--

Love the textures.

jo horswill said...

The words "if only" come to mind! If only I could hold these pages in my hands!
Yes, I like your decision to leave these beautiful pages unbound.

*jean* said...

wow these are just wonderful!

Chris said...

okay, who got Roughcast 4 and what is their address?

Gwen Buchanan said...

Seth,
This is absolutely Thrilling!!!!

a map of the world..
a map of the mind...
a map of time...

Thank you!

Kim Logan said...

very lovely work, the colours are all so beautiful.x

Jo Bradford said...

Seth, this is great, fantastic textures and colours!! I have re-instated the blogroll feature on my blog and you are on it!!