Seth Apter Workshops at Small Studio

Wow! What can I say. I had a fabulous time this past weekend attending two mixed media workshops taught by Seth Apter at Ginny Smallenburg's Small Studio in Westlake, OH. Seth is a fun and engaging instructor and his projects are creatively inspiring. I needed this push to get back into my artwork. I am so excited to continue with the techniques and ideas that were shared in this class.

The first project we did was 52 Card Pickup. The premise is to create a deck of cards to be used as a weekly journal that you can fill out over the course of a year. I love this idea but after making my cards I can't bring myself to write over the textures and patterns on the back:) I think I'll make copies to journal with. I'm having fun rearranging them and seeing what develops. I think I'll also scan them in larger and play with the art that way as well. And my last idea for repurposing is to send the images to MOO to make 4x5 postcards that I can cut out to make a second deck. SO MUCH FUN!!! If you get a chance to take this workshop you will not be disappointed;)

Here's the front of my deck. The text was taken from a journal I had started a while ago. I love collecting random phrases and I wasn't accessing them bound in journal form. I was going to add collage images but I'm relishing the eye candy in their current state:)

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Now for the nummy backs:)

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We started with an ordinary deck of playing cards, painted both sides with black gesso (which really beefed up the richness in the colors) then continued by adding one layer after another to give the artwork depth. Seth explained you keep adding layers even if you don't like what's happening visually and always keep in mind that you are only...

 

Thanks Seth and a huge thanks to Ginny for bringing him to town. I'm still working on the covers for the deck and also the second project which was a bound journal. I'll post as soon as I can!