Altered Book, Altered Mind

I know these aren't the best photos but it gives you an idea of what I've been up to. Having just finished a series of paintings - you saw a few of them on here recently - I've been a little stuck on the next group of paintings. I needed something different to clear my head so I started rummaging around the craft stores, book stores and Goodwill. For a while now I've wanted to play with the idea of altered books. I've always loved books and the thought of turning an old one into a work of art appealed to me. These are a couple of pages out of my first attempt, the book isn't done yet and I won't post the finished product on here either because it's actually a surprise for someone but I can give you a glimpse of it.

I found the book at Goodwill, it's great to find old children's books. They're sturdy and sometimes even have illustrations or words that can be used in the finished product. I don't know if you can see it but above the gator head it asks "what's the biggest living reptile?" Elements I included in the pages are photos that I took, fabric, oriental papers, tissue paper, acrylic paint, stencil and a feather. I used acrylic medium for glue. Turning each 2 page spread into a work of art is a lot of work, not to mention what it does to my studio, but I think it also clears my mind and is getting me ready for the next series of paintings. Sometimes we need to regroup and work on something totally different so we can be refreshed and ready for the next vision.

Kelli and I are also getting ready for the new year. We're planning some workshops and we'll keep you posted on dates and locations as they come up. The first one we're doing is for the Citrus County Art League. We're doing a demo on Feb 14th and a workshop on Feb 16th. Then in May we're heading to Rising Sun Indiana to teach a 2 day workshop based on our book Creative Colored Pencil Workshop. We'll do the same workshop in Ocala in June, then in July I head for Seattle to teach at the CPSA convention. There's more after that - we're even doing a workshop on printmaking without a press - I'm really looking forward to playing with monoprints again. It's such a fun process! Ok, one thing at a time...... back to the altered book.

Peace,
Carlynne