Seth Apter: The Pulse of Mixed Media

Art by Seth Apter



One of the distinct benefits of having a blog is getting to know fellow artists through their comments on your blog.  You check out their blog and sometimes the casual link becomes a bond between two kindred souls. That's what happened to me with Seth Apter, despite the fact that I am one of the world's worst when it comes to looking at and commenting on other's blogs. (Susan speaks: Not to mention responding to comments on his own blog. Just remember, I'm the Blog Wrangler, not the Boss-of-Him, no matter how hard I try.) 

It's really great if you are lucky enough to meet them in person. But it gets frightening when they ask you to contribute something for a book they are writing. What will I say? Who cares what I have to say? My art? Is it good enough? Not! Who, ME???? ME in a book? Arghhhh! The pressure! Could I possibly say "No, but thank you?"

Not a chance. Not one person could ever say No to one of the most prolific bloggers supporting mixed-media artists. Not one person could ever say No to one of the most talented mixed-media artists out there -- an artist who spends most of his time promoting everyone but himself.  He is one of the nicest guys around  and proof of that is in these two pictures of us showing Seth patiently listening while I expound on the frailities of mankind and other dubious subjects of which I have no useful knowledge.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Seth Apter and his amazing new book:

Not only does Seth have a great book out, he included me in it! In case you didn't notice, that's unabashed self-promotion on my part. For your part, take a look at the book.  Then take a look at Seth's blog, The Altered Page.

Seth Apter, Artist and Author, tell me:

You have a day job, you jog in Central Park, you blog,

you email, you look at my blog and lots of other blogs,

 you comment on a multitude of blogs, you Facebook,

you Twitter, you take workshops, you teach workshops,
you create art, you write articles and books, and you give interviews.

So.... do you ever sleep?

Seth made me answer a lot of questions for his book so I was going to ask him this question, post his answer here, and ask for feedback from everyone. Instead, I went back and looked at some of the old emails we had exchanged and found his response to a comment I made about how organized his studio was compared to mine:

" I realized as I was preparing this post just how 'organized' the board was. I seem to be learning a little bit about myself from this one!
Best, Seth."

Here's what I have figured out:
Seth doesn't sleep because that's the time he uses to keep his studio organized. It isn't something he's always done, it's something he's learned to do and is how he has time to do everything in the world and still look calm.  The proof is in these blog entries, where you'll see the gradual change in his Inspiration Board from Normal Messy to Mr. Tidy to Mr. Neat to Mr. Totally and Disgustingly Organized.

Take a hard look at this last post of his studio:

Books on shelf arranged in height order.

All the brushes in the can are brush-end up.

The lids are on all the tubes and jars.

The drawers with papers in them could actually be closed
 without stuff sticking out.

And, best/worst of all, the pictures on his inspiration board all
line up neatly with no overlapping.

I might be able to clean up my studio and have it look as good as Seth's but every time that thought surfaces I decide to take a nap.

Finally, continuing on through the end of the month Seth will be featuring one artist every day.

I've been looking at each of my fellow artists and WOW! I am totally and completely humbled. It is frightening to consider the fact that I am included among the other artists I look to for inspiration, information and support. Artists who write books I buy and use for instruction and for eye-candy viewing. Real artists! I'd go beat my head against the wall in frustration, jealousy and envy except for the fact that I'm too busy looking at their blogs.

Final Note:  Seth's GIVEAWAY!!

If you go to Seth Apter's blog, The Altered Page, and leave a comment, your name will be put into a drawing for a free copy of his book, The Pulse of Mixed Media. He is giving away 3 copies and you can leave a comment every day for the month of March. Plus you will get to see his posts on 31 artists who are featured in the book.