The successful artist finds a way to mine their inner emotions and reveal these through their art in a way that is compelling. I believe the force behind this process is passion.
Seth Apter

The Pulse of Mixed Media The Pulse of Mixed Media – secrets and passions of 100 artists revealed, a book by Seth Apter. I bet youve seen this around everywhere with a quote or a picture or a Im in it statement? At least if you read any mixed media blogs from the US you will have noticed this book cover, Im sure. Its because the curator Seth Apter has invited everyone and their aunt to be in this book. Its evident in the tiny images on the cover and many, many names inside the book.

I dont think I wouldve bought this book, because I dont feel a huge need of owning it Its not easily categorized either. That said, I have gotten a review copy of it and now read through it. It has quite a lot of text, but no tutorials or in-depth writing (I hope Seth gets to write another book on his own, because he is a great thinker/writer). Instead youre presented with many different answers to quite a few questions.

Im all about asking questions (Im a journalist after all), and then listening to the answers. When this many artists answer the same questions you are given many different perspectives and food for thought. I find myself reading some of the answers with great interest, but often times I find the bland answers boring or even irritating. Boring is bad, but irritating is good because it tells me that my opinion differs with that of the artists in question. A few of the answers are beautiful and quotable, but not that many.

I actually saw the call for art and answers to questions to go into this book, but wasnt called to answer any of them at the time. The book include questions like Is there a color that rarely shows up in your artwork?, Who has had the most impact on your creative life?, How do you express anger in your artwork? and What expresses the innermost you? (great questions to answer in a journal writing session or blog post!)

Because of the nature of this book I think it can be viewed as a kind of magazine rather than a bookish book to cherish for years in the bookshelf. At least thats my opinion. Its not a keeper for me, and I will give it 3 out of 5 stars. 3 means its okay and a nice book. 4 is a keeper and 5 means I love it to the stars and dont want to ever loose it. I dont write about 2:s or 1:s if I ever see them, because those books are not worth our time! ;-)

Further inspiration

Indulge me, please (because I love questions) by asking some too… What questions would you like to ask an artist? What specific artist would you like to interview? Or what would you want to ask me? Let me know in the comments!