Eric Saeter

I actually started writing about Eric Saeter yesterday but, gave up in disgust because its just not fair how some people have everything. And when I mean everything, I mean talent. Loads of it. Eric SaeterHe's pretty dang easy on the eyes, too... being the model that he is when he is not painting, photographing, sculpting clay, melting precious metals and making the most.... sincere jewlery you ever laid eyes on.

He began toying with the jewlery making process last year, carving miniature works of art out of green wax and then slowly working his way into casting them with silver. I got to watch all of this unfold on his well kept Flickr page as I made my way to New York and let me tell ya- there is something really magical about watching someone's creative process unfold. Some of my favorite photos are of people working. The shots you don't get to see, usually. The mess or order of someone's workspace, a piece of jewlery or photoshoot in mid process. The painter at his easel. The musician on his front porch. Documenting the creative process is what allows other people to become a part of it, drawing the looker into a personal space and connecting in with the artistic work as it is happening. Art is personal, afterall. Anywho, Saeter does an excellent job at conveying his personal relationship with his art via his photography.

L'Âge d'Or is the name of his line of sometimes custom made jewlery. Most times, however, the pieces are designed from the natural figures of crystals, flowers, and the figures of his imagination. All are extremely wearable and give off the aura of a carefully crafted appreciation for the aesthetics of one's personal space.

"My inspiration comes from my desire to gather all of the special little things I notice about life and implement them physically in metal. Instead of holding the shapes and tones and timbres of an environment captive within the rich collection of the mind, I wish to slide them onto my fingers in precious metals to be reflected back at the world that suggested them to me in the first place. Sometimes, though, design is design and it’s not at all emotional. Either way, extending yourself, your hands, with wearable art feels so right." -Eric Saeter

All the amazing bling aside, his illustrations, water colors, and photography simply cannot be overlooked or underrated. Granted, his subjects tend to be blindingly gorgeous young women which never hurt a work of art... still, the illustrations are abstract, emotional, and undeniably appealing in every way. And if I am not mistaken, he also did an illustration of Seattle musician J.Tillman.

Saeter's latest creations include ceramic tableware, a psychedelic quilt, and... the beginnings of custom blended fragrances? Oh, yes! Of his many talents, the thing I admire most about Eric Saeter... is his ability and desire to do it all. Having the courage to try in the first place and nurturing the interests driving him to branch out into areas that he may not have previous experience in. He is not limited by one or two genres of art because his creative impulses are pervasive and by nature, seek new forms of expression. He is not afraid to discover, to seek. That is what I love best. The magical part is, he just so happens to be extremely good and whatever he puts his mind to.

I am really looking forward to returning to Seattle later on this fall and when I do- I would love to see his work all in one place. *hint hint Someone throw this guy an art show party! Get his water colors and photographs on the walls, his ceramic tableware and jewlery strewn across tables in the middle of the room, and his quilts and fragrances in every corner! He is like five different artists all rolled into one and can hold down a show entirely on his own. Perhaps the Ghost Gallery  will manifest an all Eric Saeter show or holiday art bazaar? Please? It would be a smorgasboard of homegrown Seattle indie art genius and a textile feast for the senses.

ericsaeter.com