Sunday, January 22, 2006

Finding a little free time


Finding a little free time to write about what I am working on is easier said than done.

I am currently working on a red, white, and blue patriotic themed altered book with twenty eight spreads not including the inside front and back covers. It is an old garden book with leaflets attached to small plastic pins. After removing over half the pages and gluing the remaining pages together I was ready to begin. All was well until the pages on spread five and six split and pulled away from the pin holding it to the book. The good thing about an altered book is that you just add a little more glue, paper, and tape and it is as good as new, so to speak. My crisis was over and I could move onto the next page.

Finding the images for an altered book is sometimes the simple part. After I decide on a theme for my book based on images, paper, paint, and embellishments, I write original poetry to connect the pages and pictures together.

I don’t mass-produce my work for a quick dollar and my books are not simple glue books with random pictures. I don’t always choose easy books to work with either. My first book was one of those with little pull tabs that change pictures. So cute until I had to change that first picture and figure out how to do it. I am constantly searching for new techniques and materials that will enhance my art and make it enjoyable to those who view it. Sometimes taking a class and having an instructor show you how to do things is better than winging it on your own. Other times, it just seems that jumping in and doing it is the right way to go--and that is how I feel about altered books. There is no wrong way or right way, just your way or my way.

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