altered book fun!

OK, ok... so I'm a bit late to catch the altered book bug... but, hey, what else is new? I'm late for everything!

The thing is, it was very hard for me to actually alter an existing book. I've altered some blank books ~ but they just aren't the same as altering a preprinted, published book. I had a hard time getting myself to do it. It's not that I didn't have the books... I had purchased several at thrift stores and at the library rummage sale (where I got a bag full of books for 2 bucks!), but, I just couldn't get myself to actually alter the book...

Why? Well, I guess I can blame my inner voices... the voices from the past, the voices of school librarians, teachers, principals, and even my father... telling me that books are to be respected and mustn't be hurt or damaged in any way. You shouldn't even bend back a corner of a page to mark your place... you should use a bookmark and be gentle and careful with books. Never write in books. Take care to never even tear a page.

And now, here I am doing the exact opposite of everything to which I had been conditioned to conform... those voices of authority figures of my past were haunting me, and it was a difficult thing to overcome.

But I'm glad I overcame it!

Because there are few things more liberating than the alteration of a book! Woo hoo!

I am in an altered book round robin, and my own book, I sent off with a couple of pages altered, but, I was still feeling a bit timid. It wasn't until I received Teresa's book that I started to feel a sense of relief from the confines that I had struggled with for so long.

I did two (2 page) spreads in Teresa's Bird Altered Book... These are the first 2 pages. The top page, I was inspired by the existing book, which has some really nice black and white images of former president's homes. As you can see, I used one of the images in my drawing, and incorporated it as part of the trunk of the tree.

The second 2 page spread, I created a very long collage using layers upon layers of ephemera & patterened paper, gesso, paint, and ink. The collage is actually a bit shiny, because I used some metallic paints. I am really happy with the result

Now Available on Etsy!

Hello Everyone:

Well, it appears that I've finally worked out the kinks in my camera program as I'm finally able to upload photos!

And now that I'm able to use my camera again, I have listed a piece on Etsy...


It's an original collage on a gallery wrapped 4x4 canvas. Wallpaper, Images, Vintage Ephemera, Paint, Ink, Gesso, Australian Crystals and a watercolor painted paper primrose were used to create the piece. I wrapped the sides of the canvas with a tea-stained (stained it myself!) polyester ribbon and a chocolate colored silk ribbon -- so you don't need to frame it! The piece is backed in soft wool felt.

Please Visit my Etsy Store!

~Anne

Pears, Pears Everywhere!

I love drawing and painting pears. It's one of the few things that I feel confident enough to draw. Sure, it's just a basic shape, but, when it comes to drawing (anything) I don't really have a lot of confidence in my artistic skill. I guess I could delve in deep and recognize that this is because I have not applied enough time to practice and hone my skills. But let's not go there right now.

Anyway, I've been drawing some pears lately... mostly because one of my contacts on Flickr mentioned that she liked my pears that I made previously, and she creates beautiful Asian influenced ATCs... so we entered into a trade. Since I rarely look for 1 on 1 trades, I don't have a stash of my own ATCs so I needed to make some more pears!

Which created a new problem for me, because, well, some of the materials I used to create those previous pears were stashed away in boxes (I've been trying to clean up the garage for well over a year now!) so I needed to improvise. I like what I came up with though...







I call these three my "Infinite Pear" series.

~Anne

Laura's Deco

I just finished Laura's deco this afternoon. Her deco theme was an open theme, however, her cover was a beautiful bird print fabric, so I decided to go with the wing/bird theme for my spread...


I hope Laura likes it!

~Anne

Pam's Deco

yay! I've been deco-ing again! I love to work in decos!

Pam's theme for her deco was "Art" -- which could be interpreted so many ways. This is how I chose to interpret it -- and I'll tell you why after I've shown you the pictures...
















I hope that this displays right!

Anyways, I've had this picture sort of creating itself in my mind for many months now... Every time I think about going in to my studio to create, this image sort of popping up in my mind... as if my brain was asking "what should I do?" and my muse was saying "let's do this!" Finally, I decided to give in and do a sailboat collage. I hope that Pam enjoys it as much as my muse did to finally have the inspiration materialize.

~Anne