[process, inspiration]

Book box

Originally uploaded by cramzy.

A Good Sunday Morning in May to you all!

The photo to the right is one from The Practically Creative Group on flickr. It’s posted by ‘cramzy,’ a wonderful fibre artist whose work has impressed me continually.

Cramzy, also known as Emmy Schoonbeek, does all kinds of fanciful, beautiful and colourful stitchery, constructions and embellishments. This one caught my eye because of its cross-pollination effect. It’s so many things and includes so many things all at once.

It’s fibre art. It’s collage. It’s construction. It’s functional. It’s art. It’s a box. It’s a book. It’s got words, music, textile, paper, beads and probably lots more that we can’t see. Do click the image to see it in larger form.

I believe that this process of cross-pollination is one of the best ways to be freshly inspired and motivated.

It’s easy to utilize various skills and interests in our work when we’re already FEELING inspired and creative. That’s part of what makes it fun when one good idea or impulse bounces off another to create something new and unique. But it also can work for us when we can’t find that FEELING.

If you are in the doldrums with painting, try writing in your journal. Brainstorm. Do calligraphy until it turns into something else. Play with letters until they are abstract shapes.

If you can’t get started writing, do a quick symbolic collage of your main character. Or put on music that you love but don’t often listen to.

Another trick is to use these alternate parts of ourselves to be creative while taking a break from whatever has depleted our motivation. For example, when I’ve written myself into a corner, I find cooking to be a wonderful activity to immerse myself in. It’s creative and involves the senses but it doesn’t require a lot of mental concentration. This flow of activity allows my mind time to wander in a relaxed way. Without forcing it, I often find a way out of that corner and come back to the writing inspired and motivated—with a good meal under my belt!

Thanks, Emmy, for your inspiration this morning. Be sure to visit cramzy on flickr and at her blog.

[-process, journaling, found poetry-]

by Nancy Shepard Metzger Waldman

In the course of researching Altered Books for the January 2006 issue of The PCQ, I couldn’t resist tackling my first altered book. Here is the journal and some photos I made of the process and progress so far.

Take heart other beginners, from the lumpy pages and [way]less than professional results.
It’s a beginning!

ALTERED BOOK PROJECT

First Question—How can I mess with a book?
Tomes are SACRED, aren’t they?

So, I found a book in a give-away bag…Country Walks in Connecticut.

Since I live in Nova Scotia now, I’m unlikely to use it ever again. Plus, it’s well-used already. Dog-earred and warped, it also has a very ugly stain on the cover and through the first 7 pages or so.

It’ll do. It has some lovely maps and black and white photos.

MAKING IT MANAGEABLE

1st step - glue pages together … eeek… it’s not easy for me to get over the feeling that I shouldn’t be doing this. I have to think of it as recycling, renewing, making art out of what has become a book no one wants.

It takes me a couple of hours to glue the pages. I used white craft glue diluted with water. It’s lumpy … but it worked!

NOW WHAT?

Since the book is about trails through the woods, I decide to make the art about a trail through the book….

I jot down words from the page that I like or that seem to relate to each other. The last word on the page is “connects.” This makes me smile!

JASPER JOHNS: “Do something…. do something to that…”

I color the words I want to HIGHLIGHT in CRAYON (goldenrod)… I try covering up the words I don’t want. First I use some brown ink that I’ve had forever. I like that I’m using what’s here … it looks nice on the page but the print shows through. ENTER: “Acrylic Colored Gesso, Unbleached Titanium” That should cover up anything…

I took digital photos of the book so far… then began modifying the photo of the photo on the righthand page. Put in loads of color - played with Hue & Saturation, Brightness & Contrast, Tone Adjustments, and Negative.

Tried to print out on TRANSPARENCIES but my printer objected. Had to make do with card stock.
NEXT I …

until …. VOILA! here are the first two pages:

The found poem on the right hand page is:

It was fun but I haven’t gotten back to it since. I love looking at other artist’s altered books but it may just not be ‘my thing.’ How about you?

Have fun!

Here’s lots more articles on artistic Alterations.

Originally published in the January 2006 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: alterations