[-tutorial, process, art-]
In the spirit of transformation, using an existing book as your ‘canvas’ for art, assemblage and found poetry is an art form that holds unlimited possibilities. Artist Karen Hatzigeorgiou of Karen’s Whimsy allows us to take a glimpse at a few of her beautiful altered books. Her website is filled with tips and techniques about how she makes books into her own art. Here is the link to her Altered Books Gallery. You can also click on any of the images to find out more. All words are Karen’s.
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words and creations by Karen Hatzigeorgiou
One of my favorite altered book techniques is to use the text from a hard cover book as the base for developing poetry and related imagery.
When I choose a book to alter, I am most often guided by the title of the book. I pull the book off the shelf and look more closely at a few things. I look to see if the binding is stitched securely and if the pages are heavy enough to stand up to some gluing, painting, stitching or whatever else I might try to do to them.
“dreams and delights” - copyright © 2004-07 karen hatzigeorgiou
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She swam away
on another wave of dream
and floated up to the surface
of the pale morning gold.
She knew she had dreamed,
for a sense of something lost
haunted her all day,
and she rememberd its beauty,
as any woman can do
who consorts with two worlds.
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When I’m ready to start, I scan the first few pages of the book, looking for words and phrases that speak to me of a poem waiting to be found. I discovered these words of gold on page 9: “. . . swam away on another wave of dream. . .” This phrase appeared on the ninth line of text, so I looked above it for a pronoun to start the poem. There was the word “she” on the very first line. Perfect.
From there, I look at each line of text, trying to find ways to connect words and phrases to create my found poem. I search for imagery and word combinations that I like. I write the poem down on paper as I go along, referencing the paragraph and line numbers so that I can find the phrases again later.
Creating found poetry this way is an exciting process for me. Of course, I am relying on the original author’s ability to use descriptive language in his or her writing. A lot of the prose written in the earlier part of the 20th century was very flowery and overdone, compared to much of what is written today. These works are wonderful for found poetry because I can pare down the dense text and create something new, spare, and sometimes beautiful. But just as playing with the text on the page can yield exciting results, it can be the source of frustration as well. Many times I’ve gotten into the rhythm of a poem that seemed to be turning out nicely, only to come to a dead end with no text left on the page to create a satisfying conclusion. Sometimes I can wriggle my way out of it; other times I have to turn the page to make a new start. That’s the beauty and the challenge of creating poetry in an altered book.
“sunlight” from the altered book “A Cup of Sky” © 04 - 07 karen hatzigeorgiou
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Sunlight
a ball
of pure heavenly fire
pours out unceasing light
like a celestial alchemy
the sun descends to earth.
a free
and liberating energy.
bombarded
captured
and drained
But have no fear
sun will rise up
bright in our heavens
and tread blue skies
in the green world
it wheels silent
in the vast wasting space.
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When I’m happy with the poem, my next step is to mask the text out so that I can create artwork around the poem without obliterating it; this is one of my favorite altered book techniques. I use liquid Masquepen for this. It’s a little bottle of blue liquid that feels like rubber cement when it dries. It’s rather expensive, but a little bit goes a long way….Once the masque has dried, I create the art for the page.
“water” from the altered book “A Cup of Sky” © 04 - 07 karen hatzigeorgiou
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Water
drops fall
in the sweet sweeping rush
of the rain
into the sea
in to
the cup of its shining waters.
Or
down
to a tranquil,
brown-eyed little river
or the brook
that plunged
over the edge of the cliff
and froze to a stalactite of crystal
it
became
my waterfall.
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Here, Karen shares with us the most personal kind of altered book. A tribute to and remembrance of her mother, in a book called, The Gift.
My mother has Alzheimers, and I am watching the woman I knew vanish before my eyes. This altered book is about what that feels like to me. I use a bird’s nest and eggs that she threw away along with images of her as a child and young woman to create one of my Found Object Assemblages :: The Gift.
This found object assemblage was created using a very fat children’s board book that I got at Half Price books for a few bucks. The fact that it was so thick and that it had a window in the lower half of the cover made it perfect for this altered book project.
cover of “The Gift” - copyright © 2004-07 karen hatzigeorgiou
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The Gift
There was a time
When she took my hand
And drew me near to see
A nest of delicate jewels.
I held my breath
As if my voice
Could break the fragile shells.
Then we stepped back
To let the mother in.
Now I am reminded
Of a life, a mind unraveling.
The nest, she tossed away;
The eggs adrift, untended.
I scoop them up in secret
And spirit them away.
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I went through my usual preparations for altering a board book. I sanded the pages that I knew I would be working on and put down two coats of gesso to cover up the original text and illustrations. I used my monster Exacto to cut down about an inch into the book to make a niche for the nest and eggs. Then I glued that block of pages together. I don’t glue the top page until the very end. That makes it easier for me to work on and to wrap papers around to the back side of it.
The nest and eggs were glued into place after I had completed the cover and finished every other part of the book. The nest and eggs are extremely fragile. I sprayed the nest with matte fixative, hoping to keep it from unraveling, but little flecks of it continue to fall off. I had seven eggs when I started, but broke three while making the book. I suppose that was fate, since four eggs in the nest makes perfect sense–one for each of my mother’s daughters–me and my three sisters.
Check out the Practically Mperfect article that Karen did for The PCQ -
You, Me and Leonardo da Vinci
Other related PCQ articles:
Found Poetry
Other kinds of altered books
Nancy’s first [and perhaps, last 
] attempt at making an altered book
Altered photographs:
- Maureen Shaughnessy - thread of winter-quiet
- Baywhale - how to make a photosandwich
- Angela Petsis - Polaroid transfers
about the artist/writer:
Karen Hatzigeorgiou is a wife, mother, seventh grade English teacher, an artist and a writer. You can email her at karen@karenswhimsy.com. Karen has carefully chronicled her altered book process on her webpages, Altered Books Gallery. Her website is karenswhimsy.com.
Do yourself a favor, go there and spend some time with Karen and her creations. Thank you, Karen, for sharing your work with us here.
Originally published by permission of the artist/author in the January 2006 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: alterations
