Altered Books

I love altered books. Long before they were the in thing I had been taking old books and transforming them into mini artworks. Granted, I didn't really think I was creating art. It was just a wicked cool thing to do. I know a lot of other people of "my generation" altered books too. Again, with no intent to create art just a cool activity, rather rebellious and annoying to those who believed we were a group of juveniles defiling books!

These days we have so many techniques, resources and supplies available that altering a book can be far more creative than it was back in the dark ages. When the dinosaurs roamed all we had was junk mail, some low quality paints, a handful of rather mundane stickers and a few ink pads stolen from the office supply closet! But we still managed to create some pretty amazing stuff.

The supplies available today are amazing and a bit overwhelming. Most of them I can live without, but there are some I consider must-haves. Like the decorative tapes used in the journal page shown above. There are so many uses for it and it can really pull a layout together. If I had a pile of money I'd stockpile decorative tape. And Sharpie poster paint markers. And gel pens, and.......

A New Beginning

The last 6 months of 2008 were painful ones. Both physically and emotionally. Naturally, the majority of the art I made in that time reflects this. Dark images, vivid splashes of color that signify anger, grief, disbelief, frustration and all the other "dark time of the soul" adjectives you can think of were there in abundance. A group of work that is raw and full of deep emotion ,these pieces helped me to release the darkness so that I could return to the light.

Many people are afraid to let their darkness in for fear that it will take over their lives. I'm not one of them. I know that each one of us is made up of many facets of dark and light. That we all need those times of darkness in order to appreciate the gifts life has to offer. In order to renew our Spirituality and become whole again.

However, the art and journaling I've done for the past few months will remain private for now. Even though I've returned to the light I'm not ready to share the dark parts with the world. With friends and family, yes. With strangers, no. That's just the way I am. I'm definitely not one to expose my wounds to the world at large so they can be examined, poked at or analyzed.

Luckily my brief sojourn through the dark valley of the soul has given me renewed energy. In the past few weeks I've spent many hours working on my art journals, on mixed media paintings and creative pursuits in general. My creativity hasn't been confined to the studio, but has expanded into every room of the house. Sitting on the back porch watching the snow fall while doodling in a journal, curled up on the couch with scissors, glue and an altered book or painting pages in the kitchen while making a pot of soup are some of the creative moments I've enjoyed lately.

My life is FILLED with art. Every aspect of it is being touch by the creative spirit and I feel as if this is a new beginning. A new chapter in my life unfolds as I journey through each day. A desire to blog again, laugh again or share time with friends is what the Yuletide season brought me. I hope the end of the old year and the start of the new was just as good to you.

Six Altered Book Spreads

These six altered book spreads are from two different books I'm currently working in. Each spread has been recently completed. Sometimes I find myself redoing pages previously completed and a few of these fall into that category.