Altered Book {Intern Edition}: Work in Progress Preview 1

Back in August while perusing 6 Degrees of Creativity (or one of their affiliates) and their creative antics I noticed the use of childrens books for altered books, and I was floored! WHY hadn't I thought of that! I hit-up a thrift store and sought out a childrens' book immediately. The next few posts will show the progress/process.

Since I am still working on it I do not have a title for this book yet. I do have a theme/topic I am pursuing. The book will be a compilation of advice and wise words for future interns. Something to inspire them to think outside the box (ie. the book will have various techniques)...and so on I'm sure more ideas will present themselves as I trudge onward...

Below are some basic considerations when starting your very own Altered Book using a sturdy children's book.

Book selection is not to be taken lightly! Choose a book, not just any book, pick one with nice thick pages...even if there are few of them. My book only has 12 pages.

Observe it closely. My book had very glossy pages which resisted being painted (I didn't think about sanding until it was all painted). It took 2-3 coats of gesso before it was workable. It may help to lightly sand the pages before the gesso to give the pages more grain for the paint to adhere to.

Think: LAYERS! Dyes, translucency, washes, etc... After the thick gesso layers dried I added washes of craft acrylics and while wet used a sponge to "stain" & "remove" the paint on all the pages. This took a while as each set of pages had to dry before moving onto the next. *Hint: Too much water will warp the pages.

Next post I'll show some themed entries.

While you wait for the next post here's some more book-lovin posts:

Stress Relief Recipe Book - April 2014

Technique Book #1 - July 2014

July/Travel Journal - July 2014

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Capturing a Moment: Gelatin Printing

Lets just get right down to it, you've either tried it and loved it or you're currently wondering what I'm talking about. Gelatin prints that's what. A few years ago a student introduced me to the wonders of using homemade gelatin as a printing plate (sugar free kind). As it turns out it is a very versatile work surface that brings an element of intrigue and play into the work space. When my clients first hear I'll be bringing in gelatin, they seek out napkins and forks and eagerly away the obviously tasty snack. The sound of dreams shattering as I pull-out the gelatin plates is audible (if only short lived). Soon everyone is poking and wiggling the gelatin and wondering what we'll be doing with it. Play is an important aspect of what I do. So is creativity and genuine interest. These things are however harder to come-by in adults than their younger counterparts (who jump-into explorer mode instinctively). Sometimes I have to coerce these attr

Stress Relief Recipe Book

Found some time this weekend to de-stress and what better way than delving into one of those “for later” piles. This particular pile consisted of a menagerie of brown paper bags (and the envelopes they were mailed-in). They were accompanied by notes, quotes, dyed papers, hand made paper, ribbons, and on and on, etc. These bits of mail have been coming-in at wonderfully random intervals for maybe 2 months. Now it is time to bind the collection into the Stress Relief Recipe Book it was meant for. To the bag full of bits of mail I also added: ruler, pencil, x-acto blade (and scissors), ice-pic, elmers (and other glues), thick string, wax candle (used it to wax the string), thick-blunt needle, and cardboard. *for anyone trying this out for the first time - go ahead and make your life simpler by having the inserts all be the same measurements (or close to it). First there was extensive Pinterest and Google searches for DIY paper bag books, but those mostly consisted

May 2014: Cuban Art Therapist (who would have thought it!)...

[I've had this entry on draft mode since the night I read the call for papers on the last AATA journal. In essence: How art therapists grapple with cultural/diversity/identity. ] To be quite honest, I am still naive (but getting better every day). I didn't think much about diversity or culture growing-up. I don't think most of us do. Until it happened, I stepped out of the nurturing pockets I’d grown-up in. Quite possibly there had been some hints at it, but I was unable to recognize them for what they were. Everyone else was quite like my family...then again I did not expect to be isolated because of my career choices either. Singled-out on another front for not fitting the preexisting categories. Not a teacher of children. Not a "starving" artist. Not a psychologist nor a medical doctor (didn't marry one of those either). Yes. All that is my last name...that part too. No you can't just shove some of it as a middle name. I don’t have one

Symbolic Projections

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