Questions and answers ~ but more in an art vein ...

Lots of art journaling books with multiple contributors ask questions of the artists, but this is a book I’ve really enjoyed over the years, not just for the art inside, or the artists Seth Apter chose to interview, but I’ve found asking myself the questions he asks have been useful to me, to help me get more to the heart of what I’m creating and why. 

Seth Apter does a lot of products now ~ stencils, paints, embossing powders and rubber stamps ~ but I’ve been following him a long time and I still think of him as a connector of people, ideas and purposes, as he did so well on his blog The Altered Page, now gone quiet, but if you scroll down to the archives I guarantee you’ll be busy and creatively informed for a lifetime. Here's a good start. The lovely thing about his blog is following all those links ... endless inspiration! 

In Seth's book, he asks his artists an amazing array of questions, which you can also ask yourself, such as: 

• If your artwork could talk what would it say about you?
• What three words DO NOT describe your artistic style?
• How many projects or pieces do you work on at the same time?
• Is it important to you that others like your artwork?
• Are you comfortable sharing your art techniques with others?
• What shows up in your art from time to time that surprises you?
• Do you see art as a compulsion or an addiction?
• What art material have you been hesitant about trying?
• What do you think is the one secret ingredient that makes your artwork uniquely yours?
• Do you deliberately hide messages in your artwork?
• Do you ever worry about running out of ideas?
• What is your current art obsession?
• When do you do your best work?
• What’s the one material you couldn’t live without?
• Who has had the most impact on your creative life?
• How do you express passion in your artwork?
• What would boost your creativity the most?
• Do you consider digital art to be equal to hand-done art?
• Is there an emotion that shows up in your work more frequently than others?
• What obstacle has stopped you from achieving an art goal?
• How do you express anger in your artwork?
• Have you ever been jealous of another artist’s skills?
• How do you express vulnerability in your artwork?
• Do you enjoy working more intuitively or by carefully thinking through your process?
• Do you prefer your workspace to be neat and tidy, messy and spread out or somewhere in between?
• Do you think creative types are moodier than those with less artistic inclinations?
• Have you ever lost a friendship over art?
• How do you take “being green” into account in your creative field?
• What is one current trend you wish would go away?
• Do you consider graffiti a legitimate art form?
• Do you think a person needs formal training to be an artist?
• What expresses the innermost you?
• Do you create art to work through inner issues, or is studio time more of a distraction to keep you from facing your problems?
• Do you integrate photography into your artwork?
• Do you think it’s wrong to alter a book?
• How has the internet changed your artistic practice?
• What is your biggest fear?
• Other than making art, what is your favourite art-related activity?
• Have you ever been involved in a collaborative artistic project?
• What do you think your art says about your personality?

As well as all the wonderful answers, there is some amazing artwork from the artists included.

Sometimes I find the perfect image and it just needs a few little rows of eyes at the bottom
and a few bits of text and washi tape to bring it all together.