A Scene of Tranquility Cover Artist Jim Seitz
photos: CANDRA GEORGE mycreativereality.com
by Maggie Bokobza
12
Inside Northside
WHEN YOU FIRST ENCOUNTER a piece by Jim Seitz, you are immediately struck by the luminous quality of the work. At least I was. When I was growing up, one of his unique and remarkable landscapes hung above the fireplace in our living room. Just staring at it, you could lose yourself in the serene setting, hints of the gold leaf reflecting the flickering light of the fire. Today, one of his works hangs in the living room of my apartment in Paris, reminding me of home, while at the same time echoing the promise of the future in its silver tones and the slight glimpse of a river you can make out in the distance between the trees of the scene. The luminosity is thanks to Seitz’s application of gold and silver leaf in the foreground of his work. This technique, which has taken years
to develop and master, allows him to achieve his unique landscapes. Prepping a canvas for a piece can take weeks. Seitz generally likes to work with hand-stretched canvases, which arrive white and bare. “I apply molding paste to provide texture to the canvas,” he explains, which provides heft to the look of the acrylic paint. He will spend days applying coats of primer, modeling paste and sanding down areas for the application of the gold or silver leaf. Following the application of the metal leaf, Seitz uses as many as 20 thin layers of acrylic, blending the colors directly on the canvas rather than utilizing a pallet. This technique of blending creates a soft, almost ethereal, quality to the final image. “It’s like the canvas starts talking to me,” he says, of starting out on a new work. >>
