Yesterday we had some pretty high winds here on the island, and our power went out. This left me unable to work on the computer, fire my kilns, or do just about everything else productive I do during the day. My sweetie set up our little car-battery generator, so I had one reading lamp, and after grumbling and pacing for a bit, I settled down with some art supplies and created this altered book spread. Remember my fave thrift store, where I found a fantastic set of 1940's kid's encylopaedia? Well, I was there again a few days ago, and found another amazing set of books, five volumes, beautifully bound in red leather and rich marbled paper, printed in Swedish (I think). As far as I can tell, it is a set of manly travel memoirs. There are some great photo plates, and charming line drawings adorn the margins. I decided to take one of the volumes and create an altered book. This piece is the first spread. I am also submitting it for Illustration Friday, whose theme this week (by coincidence) is adrift. Let me know what you think.
Inspired by the work of Rosemary Broton Boyle, I created this altered book shrine (and two more) in a weekend art binge last weekend. I grew up in a household where books were treated with great respect - books as physical objects were highly valued, and I saw the adults in my life treat these objects with more responsible tender care than they did their own health and bodies at times... interesting. A vivid early memory is of being roundly scolded for drawing inside a book. I clearly remember my fascination with the shapes the words made on the page (this was well before the age of literacy) and carefully using my pencil to follow the maze from the top of the page to the bottom - I also remember my mother's absolutely horrified expression when she discovered me defacing a book. I did grow up to be very literary, and a true bibliophile and collector of books. I do love books as objects - but it has been liberating to engage in the art of altering books ( I must admit that at first I found the idea horrifying.) This one was really a leap, however; in order to create this shrine, I had to absolutely gut this book. The book had been on my shelves for some 20 years, a nice hard cover, but not of any particular value, not antique, and I have another volume which is a better, more readable translation of the same texts. It is a volume of selections from Aristotle. Oh my. I really did feel like a bold iconoclast when I took a craft knife to this one. It was worth it. I'm absolutely infatuated with the result.
