If you've been a member of my nest for very long, you know that I am a jewelry artist that likes to take elements from other art arenas and mix it in with my creations. I may create a small collage from paper, ink up some polymer clay, stamp or paint some fabric...but a canvas girl, I am not. Don't get me wrong, I love mixed media, it's just that I had no idea where to even begin with a canvas or sheet of paper! Not to mention the plethora of paint types and brushes and paint additives! Wtf does one do with glazing medium, gesso, or matte fluid medium anyway? Now take all of this, combined with the fact that even my stick people look like they have a few chromosomes missing, and you can see where this is going. So when my very talented painter/mixed media friend, Patti, suggested we go to a three day workshop with Seth Apter, how could I refuse?! I've never backed down from a challenge yet, so why start now, right? So supply list in hand and over fifty phone consultations later (Patti finally started saying "don't worry I have that too...") we packed up our stashes and headed to Saluda!
And that's when the magic started...
First let me say that Seth is a wonderful teacher! He discussed all of the different products and explained how they are made and how they react with each other. I now know what to do with glazing medium, and girrrl...well, you're just gonna have to find out for yourself! Then he walked us through his techniques and gave us some great tips on how to create textures within our pieces. And most importantly he showed this non-canvas girl that she could create a real, honest to goodness piece of art that she would want to hang on her wall!
The first workshop was called Shredded Silhouette and this is the piece that I made.
I won't go into the multiple steps it took to create the whole piece, but you can go HERE to check out his workshop schedule and gather some goodness for yourself! Now riding home on the high that one gets while away from home communing with other creatives, and not to mention all the wonderful things the good doctor says about you and your artwork (which by the way is another added benefit, and he says really nice things about all of his students) I decided to take my new found knowledge and apply it to making jewelry! The finished brooch measures 2" across.
Shredded Impressionism
Tiny masterpieces
Half baked
Wearable Mixed Media!
So thanks to Random Arts, Seth Apter, Patti Edmon, and the other wildly talented artists there too, I now understand the excitement of Golden and can't wait to try fiber paste and glass beads (and no I'm not talking about lampwork!) And if you are reading this and have no clue what I'm talking about then let me encourage you try something new!
Until next time...Leave Your Nest!
