The Pulse

I am really excited to share that I was invited to be a featured artist in Seth Apter's new book The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed which is now available in bookstores and online. My excitement doesn't come just from the fact that my work is in it, but that I have been witness to Seth's growth as an artist and the creative genius of this thing called The Pulse. I am so happy for him and cannot wait to see the book.

He started The Pulse back in 2008 on his blog, The Altered Page and he had invited me to be a part of the Pulse then......who knew that it would have blossomed into an actual book. I have participated in all the Pulse editions except for one. I think I was busy having a baby at the time or moving across the country! All I know is I was really swamped, otherwise I would have participated. It really is just so wonderful to see someone that I respect as an artist and as a fellow human to have created something like this. I think of Seth as a facilitator,a collaborator, a person who shares and who inspires others to step out and show their creative selves to the world. We have known each other since 2007 through our blogs and then worked on a collaboration together on artist books that spanned 2 years. We finally met in person about a little over a year ago in Chicago and it was like meeting up with an old friend. We could have talked for hours! And well, actually we did. It was fun.

In trying to remember my experience with The Pulse, I actually found the original email Seth sent out in 2008:

To me, the blogging community is as much about connection and communication as it is about exhibiting art. To that end, I thought it might be interesting to take the pulse of this community by asking a number of artists a few questions that I think might inspire my readers.

Well, I guess it was interesting because now there is a book out! As one of the 31 artists who are spotlighted for the book, we had to answer some funny, some tough and some probing questions about our inspiration, our creative process, and our work. We also had to create two pieces specifically for the book. One was a self portrait and the other was a response to a creative prompt he challenged each of us with.

This is one of the pieces that I made for the book. I am showing just a part of it here:



This is an artist book called "Spirits" that I made out of encaustic, plaster, paper and thread. Since I created it for Seth's book it has been hanging from one of the rafters in my studio. But now that The Pulse is out, I have brought it out of my studio and it is now hanging in my show that opens this weekend.

The other piece I made is an encaustic sculpture that is a self portrait...but I'm going to keep that underwraps for a little bit longer. But here is a sneak peak:




As I mentioned, Seth has a talent for encouraging us to spill our creative guts online and in his book, but he, however, is mysteriously silent....hmmmmm....perhaps he just wants to be an even more enigmatic figure for us to wonder about. Hmmmm. Just teasing Seth! Anyway, we thought it would be fun to turn the tables on him.



1. Why artist books? Of all formats and media, why do you choose this one? As a fellow book artist, I would love to know!

2. Do people look at you funny to see you picking up rusted objects and scraps of paper off the streets? Do you come up with some funny story if they ask?

3. What is the one tool you cannot live without?


And as Michelle Ward did on her blog yesterday, I invite anyone who is reading this to answer the questions that I posed for Seth as well!