Living With Art.

Are you familiar with the Altered Page?  The Altered Page is all about mixed media. Seth Apter, the genius behind this blog, is a mixed media artist, author and designer based in NYC. I had the pleasure of collaborating on a mixed media altered book collaboration with Seth (and four other very talented mixed media artists) a few years ago.

'Living With Art' begins this Thursday on the Altered Page. Seth is showcasing how people live with art and display art in real life settings. I sent my photo to Seth a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd elaborate a little more here.

As a professional working artist that lives and works in the same space, living with art is the norm. I have my paintings hanging on every wall and switch them up often. I finish the paintings, they go up on the wall, they go out to a gallery, the new ones take their spot and the cycle begins again.

It's important to me that the arrangements are pleasing so I try to hang them in a curated manner. I like to hang them in groupings of odd numbers, and I will often perch the smallest ones on a bookshelf. 

Go With the Flow.

When I need a break from painting but still want to keep my creative flow going I turn to journal pages. Many artists keep sketchbooks to jot down ideas, keep scraps of ephemera, tear sheets from magazines (old school Pinterest) to doodle or scrap book.  

I've started different journals and sketchbooks over the years but have found that I prefer to work on loose sheets. Sometimes I'll bind them into a book when I have a nice collection, or just keep them as is, or frame them and give them away as gifts.

It's a great way to experiment, play with mixed media and try new techniques. It's also quick as the pages aren't too large. I can work on many at one time and can usually finish quite a few in a day. Instant gratification. I find it to be quite meditative while working on these pages as I'm working intuitively and the ideas are flowing. Art journalling is something anyone can do even those that swear that 'they don't have an artistic bone in their bodies'. There are no mistakes and those 'happy accidents' can be very beautiful. 

The images shown are from pages I created for 'Inner Works' an altered book collaboration I worked on way back in 2010. You can read about it here.

Winter's Song

Winter's Song

Altered Book, part of Inner Works 

Mixed Media 2009

Things are getting back to normal here today. I need my studio space back. I need to start painting. As I pack away the decorations and wrapping and take down the tiny tree, I anticipate the year ahead. The next few days will be spent cleaning out the studio, getting supplies ready, making plans and setting goals. 

Do you make resolutions for the year ahead? 

Artist Highlight- Veronica Funk

It's been 5 years now since the inception of Inner Works, an altered book round robin collaborative of six artists. The original group consisted of Supria Karmakar, Seth Apter, Veronica Funk, Jill Zaheer, Roxanne Evans-Stout, and myself. It's very exciting to see how each artist has grown, and to follow their accomplishments in their fields. I thought it would be fun to highlight each artist here and I'm starting with Veronica.

I am so excited to see the direction that Veronica has gone in her painting. She just finished up a community arts project where she painted a utility box.

"Funk's newest undertaking will give Airdrie residents and visitors the opportunity to view her work.  On Sept. 4, Funk, who was one of the founders of the AIRdirondack project and a former Creative Airdrie board member, will begin painting the City-owned utility box on the corner of First Ave. and Main Street.  The piece will be painted in her colourful new style with animal and arrowheads depicted, as well as images referencing Nose Creek."

Veronica continues to exhibit in solo and group exhibitions and her work has been published in numerous magazines, books and publications. I've just given a very brief introduction to Veronica's beautiful art. Please visit her website to view all her beautiful work. You can also see her utility box transformation in full here on journal here.

Texture in Mixed Media and Altered Books.

It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since the altered book collaboration with Inner Works was completed. Working with Supria, Veronica, Roxanne, Seth, and Jill was a highpoint for me and has left me with a new love and appreciation for mixed media art.

Although most of my painting is done on stretched canvas, lately I've been adding more and more texture and including other mixed media techniques along with my painting.

It's all about texture these days and I've been adding it to my canvases with tissue paper and acrylic medium, acrylic modeling paste, magazine pages and natural papers, and even some unexpected items such as rocks, shells, feathers and bones. I'll be unveiling these new works shortly so stay tuned!

Meeting the other artists (virtually) involved with Inner Works was such a wonderful learning experience and I'm happy to say I still follow their blogs and keep in touch. Seth's blog, The Altered Page is a must read daily for me as it is a huge resource of anything and everything mixed media, and Seth's art speaks to my soul.

Revisit the Inner Works blog and you can see the transformation of the books and the different stages and takes on the themes by each of the artists involved.

The Altered Page, The Pulse and Studioscapes.

Anyone that's at all interested in mixed media art has to check out out the Altered Page, Seth Apter's blog. The Altered Page is a cornucopia of all things mixed media. It features not only the fabulous work of Seth himself but the work of so many other mixed media artists and the many collaborations that Seth has created and worked with. This Sunday Seth will present Studioscapes and I believe I am included in this chapter. I had the wonderful pleasure of working with Seth as part of Inner Works, a round robin altered book collaborative last year, and participated in the Pulse. There is so much to explore and read on the Altered Page that you better grab a coffee or beverage of your choice. I promise you'll be reading for awhile!

Staycation.

Exciting new original art coming to Red Banana's Etsy shop soon!

Secret Garden 12x24 mixed media on canvas.

Have a question about a purchase or commission? Email me.

A mixed media page I created in Seth Apter's altered book with the Inner Works Collaborative.

My old studio.

Good Monday afternoon. I hope you had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. It's Simcoe day here (long weekend for many) so it's a quiet in the city. I have decided to do the cleaning and washing today but I'm doing it in vacation mode. That means taking it easy and having little breaks between the loads of laundry and other cleaning. Reading on the balcony with lunch was a treat.

"Fresh" has closed at Arts on Queen and I mailed out a commission this past Friday. I'm bursting with ideas for new paintings, and new art for my Etsy shop. I'm amazed that August is upon us already-how fast did it come around?

So I just wanted to let you know that I'll be taking a week or two away from blogging but I'll be back soon with some exciting news. Stay tuned.

Roxanne Evans Stout, Her Art in My Book.

Roxanne Evans Stout is an artist and an art teacher. Visit her blog River Garden Studio to experience her art, writing and photography. Roxanne also did 2, 2page spreads in my book.

As the last page was the inside back cover she was kind enough to leave it blank for me. You see as this was the first round robin altered book collaborative that I worked on, I didn't realize that I probably should have finished the inside back cover before I sent it off to the other artists. It's still unfinished and waiting for me to complete it.

Roxanne also used texture, words, text, added elements and ephemera in her pages. I like the fact that she used neutrals and warmer tones and it compliments the blue pages nicely.

So now the postings of my altered book collaboration are complete. You've seen the pages contributed by each artist each artist. Supria, Jill, Roxanne, Seth, and Veronica. It's been a wonderful learning experience and I'm so thankful for the experience.

Supria Karmakar, the Creator of Inner Works.

Supria Karmakar was the mastermind behind Inner Works, a round robin altered book collaborative. It was her creative spark and organization that turned the whole project into a reality. At the onset it was supposed to be a 6-8 month collaboration but with artistic delays and travel time for the books, it turned into a full years effort. We had 3 artists in the United States, Seth, Roxanne and Jill, and 3 artists in Canada, Supria, Veronica, and myself in the group. If you don't already know Supria's work, or if you do and would like to see more, please visit her website, blog, and Etsy shop.

Supria did 2, 2 page spreads in my book and all her pages are so rich with visual imagery. Supria works mainly with encaustic and indeed there are many layers to her work.

Her colors are bold and there's plenty of texture and added elements and ephemera. Text, words, and beautiful images.

I really like this little pop up that Supria included. It adds a whole new dimension to the spread.

I'm afraid my images here don't really do Supria's work justice. I'm very lucky to have my finished book so I can look at her work in person and feel the texture and even smell the wax. Thank you Supria for including me in this wonderful project. I got to work with 5 very talented artists and I have a beautiful book to show for it.

Inner Works artist Veronica Funk.

Today's post presents the work of artist Veronica Funk. These are the pages Veronica did in my book "Gifts from the Sea" part of Inner Works, a round robin altered book collaboration.

Veronica is a wonderful artist, and a fellow Canadian. Her work is very colorful yet her interior scenes depict quiet places where one can curl up with a good book and read and relax for hours. Her landscapes are vivid and capture the Canadian landscape beautifully. And I really like her still lifes and animals. Please visit Veronica's website, Etsy shop, and blog and flickr.

In my book Veronica made use of cool watery colors and lots of words and text. She captured the essence of the author Anne Morrow Lindbergh and also the feeling of water. I really like the use of this fish image because it's been taken from the original book that I used, altered slightly and put back onto the page. Well done.

Watercolor is a medium that's particularly suited to my book's theme and Veronica has used it well, don't you think??

Thanks Veronica for the beautiful work that you added to my book. It was a great pleasure working with you and all the talented artists of the Inner Works group.

Altered Book Collaboration-Seth's Pages in My Book.

Today I'm showing you the pages that Seth did in my book Gifts From the Sea. This is part of the Inner Works altered book collaboration that I spent a year working on with five very talented mixed media artists. Supria Karmakar, Veronica Funk, Seth Apter, Jill Zaheer, and Roxanne Evans Stout.

Seth Apter is a fabulous mixed media artist and I discovered his blog the Altered Page early on in my blogging history. In fact, when I first read about Supria's idea for a book collaboration and I read in the comments that Seth was going to be involved, I knew I had to be a part of this group.

Seth is involved in numerous collaborations of all sorts, and is creator of The Pulse, an ongoing online project focusing on the art and blogging community. The Pulse is now in it's fourth edition. Seth also sells his mixed media creations in his Etsy shop right here.

The pages Seth created in my book are a wonderful addition and I just love how he's interpreted my theme.

And I enjoy looking at the pages and reading the words that he's included. Thanks Seth. I'm very proud to happy to have your original mixed media art included in my book.