Books Undone

I am honored to be part of the juried exhibition Books Undone: the art of altered books

This show, being held at The Gallery at Penn Collage in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, opens on January 11 and runs through February 28. 58 book works from 27 artists will be on exhibit. There is an opening reception on Thursday, January 18 from 4:30-6:30. I would love for you to stop by at some point during the exhibition but if you are unable to, you can see the full exhibition catalog here.

My artist statement for the show:

For me, books are the most intimate of artwork. As a book is held and pages are turned, the reader and the book become one. There is a symbiosis occurring each and every time. There are secrets that lie waiting inside every pair of closed covers, and a book must be touched - no, demands to be touched - in order for its mystery and story to be revealed. My books reveal fragments of a life. Bits and pieces of meaningful, and some not so meaningful, elements that tell my story. They beckon you inside, waiting for you to turn the pages, open the flaps, find hidden treasures inside pockets, and life the veil obscuring the flotsam and jetsam of my world.

I am thrilled to have three books on exhibit and that the gallery allows visitors to touch and look through the books (with gloves provided).

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

DESCRIPTIO

DISPATCH

Also excited (and a bit anxious) to be offering two of these books (Descriptio and Dispatch) for sale. This is an unusual opportunity, as this is the first time since an exhibition in 2011 that I have placed any of my books on sale. Email me at shap97@gmail if you are interested in details.

Book Binding Tutorial

In the September/October issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, I share a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a book from scratch so that you can bind single sheets of paper (rather than folded signatures).

The theme of the issue is Books with a Purpose and the sample I created is a compendium of mixed media techniques. 

The article describes and illustrates, step-by-step, how to put together the structure of this book.

Index/Rubber Stamping

Stenciling/Embossing

Texting/Collage

Gesso Resist/Die Cutting

White Space/Altered Photo

Textiling/Metallics

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If you are unable to get a copy of the magazine or prefer video, this is the same technique that is featured on my video The Altered Book from Interweave. It is available as an immediate download or DVD.

An Artist Book in Progress: part 1

Bookmaking is absolutely one of my most favorite art activities. I started many years ago making blank books using traditional binding methods and took classes at the Center for Book Arts in NYC. Over time, I have shifted my focus onto making artist books with pages filled with mixed media art. My bindings have become more wonky and non-traditional too. In other words...less precise and more fun.

I have recently started creating a new artist book and wanted to share my process and progress in a series of blog posts. Today, I bring you post #1.

The pages in this book are made from 90lb watercolor paper. Glued to both sides of each piece is a vintage French-English dictionary page. The text from the dictionary is used as a design element and I will be saving some of the images as well. Once dry, the pages were painted with layers of gesso, acrylic paint, and acrylic glazes.

For some of the pages, my next step was to add a variety of die cuts created from my stash of hand painted papers. For this book, I decided to use some of the newest dies from Spellbinders. They are so new that right now they are available for pre-order, with shipping beginning in October. To begin, I chose a group of dies that were highly graphic and modern.

Although I have been blogging about the die cutting process for nearly two years, artist friends still ask me about the process. So simply put, for those of you unfamiliar with die cutting, dies are metal templates with blades that allow you to cut, emboss, and stencil when run through a die cutting machine.

Cascade Dots

Chevron Border

 

The leftover pieces from the Chevron Border die

Glass Effects

Contemporary Strip

Each of these die cuts were matched with a book page and adhered.

Stay tuned for post #2...

Libellus

I recently posted about a new book from artist Lesley Riley called Creative Image Transfer - Any Artist, Any Style, Any Surface: 16 New Mixed-Media Projects Using TAP Transfer Artist Paper. I am pleased to have been a contributor to her book and have had an opportunity to use a product she developed called Transfer Artist Paper to TAP. This miraculous material enables you to transfer any image to nearly every surface simply with an iron. 

My contribution is Libellus. Briefly, this book was made by gutting and rebinding a vintage book. I used TAP in several different ways. It was used to transfer both the background text to the book cover and the main cover image within the frame. The image is my own photograph taken on the Charles Bridge in Prague. The frame and other embellishments on the cover were made using Spellbinders dies. Additional metal elements were included and the book was further altered to add an aged feel to the cover. Full step-by step instructions are provided in Lesley's book.

That is my project on the bottom left hand corner of the cover 

Creative Image Transfer

Artist Lesley Riley has a newly released book called Creative Image Transfer - Any Artist, Any Style, Any Surface: 16 New Mixed-Media Projects Using TAP Transfer Artist Paper. In this book, Lesley shares techniques and projects which use Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) -- a product that she created herself which allows you to transfer any image to nearly every surface simply with an iron. If you have never used this product, you must try it out. This book is a good resource on the many uses of TAP. In addition to the basic instructions, this book includes 16 creative projects with full tutorials. Contributing artists include Pam Carriker, Joanne Sharpe, Lynn Krawczyk, Paula Bogdan, and many more.

I was happy when Lesley asked me to be a contributor to the book and thrilled when I first saw that my artwork was actually chosen to be part of the cover art. I will be highlighting the piece that I contributed in an upcoming blog post.

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GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the new release, all week long Lesley is generously giving away copies of her book along with a packages of Transfer Artist Paper. Head over to her blog daily between now and August 10th for your chances to win.

Gold Digger

Time for a treasure hunt! This post is my own contribution to the annual, online Buried Treasure project. You can find the links to each and every participating artist in the previous post on my blog.

This is the 6th annual version of Buried Treasure and this collaboration has been held on my blog since 2009. You can click on the following links to see what I have "dug up" in prior years:

2009

Revolution

2010

Handbook

2011

As Night Falls

2012

Billboard

2013

Contexture

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2014

For this year's post, I have wanderlust on my mind. I have been traveling all over the United States teaching workshops for several years. I was fortunate to also teach in Mexico just a few months ago. And in August, one of my dreams will come true when I teach in Australia as part of the first ever Art Is You Australia Mixed Media Road Show retreat. I have already begun to think about the travel journal I will make to fill with memories.

With that in mind, I bring you a re-post (edited) from 2011

Whenever I travel, I like to create a visual journal that acts as a repository for all my memories;  a book that I can flip through at any time and be brought right back into the thick of the adventure. I try to journal at some point on each day of all my trips, while the experience is fresh in my mind.

A few of my travel journals, filled with memories...

Greece (click to see the inside pages)

Italy  (click to see the inside pages)

New Mexico  (click to see the inside pages)

And my newest journal, which itself went on a journey from here...

to here...

London and Prague

A glimpse of what is inside...

You can read more about my journal-making process on Bridgette Guerzon Mills' wonderful site amanobooks in this interview from 2009.

My Library

I just reorganized my work bench -- the bench under the large window in my studio that I have always used to display finished art and works in progress. I decided to switch things around and now it is filled with a selection of my handmade books, including artist books, travel journals, workshop samples, and collaborative projects. 

I am also reorganizing my blog and have added another tab [ARTIST BOOKS] to the space just below my banner. This will take you to a new post that highlights, page-by-page, some of my own, handmade books.