Altered Book: Coming Into Bloom

March 11, 2011

This particular book started out as a sample for the altered book class I taught a few weeks ago. It’s a very different book than what I’ve used previously because it’s a children’s storybook with colour illustrations and very large print.

Each page was folded, tucked back into the centre of the book and glued into place. It then became a very clunky form I’m not entirely happy with, and the shape felt difficult to work with as well. So I decided this needed flowers and more colour.

I started making flowers using a cherry blossom punch with red paper and attached each one with a straight pin. The different coloured balls in the centre of each flower are the pearlized heads of the pins, and they seem to increase the whimsy of the piece. With so much red between the flowers and end pages I decided it was a bit overkill and toned it down the addition of white flowers.

I did a similar process last year at this time – punching tiny flowers from paper in an effort to call forth the real thing and kick off spring. Between the flowers, end pages, and the illustrations in the book this is the most eye-blasting altered book I’ve created yet. Happy Spring!

Materials used: book, paper, rubber stamp & ink, straight pins, and gel medium.

Altered Book: The Beginnings of a New Series

March 10, 2011

I’m just starting to work on a new series of altered books in preparation of a group show later this year. The theme of said show is Fairy Tales, which thankfully will prove to be a rich source of inspiration for all those involved.

My initial thoughts around the work I plan to create is to combine altered books with my figurative photography. On Tuesday I sat down in the studio to explore some of the ideas I have about bringing these two mediums together.

I want to combine photo-based figures with found objects within a book. I plan to shoot new material (read: models) to use in these fairy tale themed books, and first steps involved figuring out how best to photograph the models for what I need. The book pictured here was an exploration of materials because I wasn’t sure what format the final output of the photo-based figure should take. I played around with an inkjet print on plain paper and then pulled out a photographic print to work with.

The photo I used in this was a self portrait I shot down at Kits beach two years ago. I purposely did not worry too much about composition or selection of materials with this mixing of media because I just wanted to explore the idea. My biggest concern was finding a print material for the photo-figure that would not be difficult to cut out, and it looks like photo paper works just fine.

I’m excited by this new work and can’t wait to see where this series will go.

Materials used: book, tissue paper, small stones, small shells, photograph, wood tiles, and gel medium.

Butterflies, Paper & Leaves Collage

February 24, 2011

This is the last of the old heat transfer experiments recycled into art that I started working on last week. I ended up completely covering up the original image printed on this cradle frame because it didn’t work well in the collage.

I don’t feel I do this random style of composition well, so I was finding it tricky to know when to stop layering things. It’s just on the edge of having too many things going on and becoming a mess. But I love the papers overlapping and the colours are fun.

As with the previous collage pieces, this is available for purchase through my Etsy shop or in person.

Recycling Art Experiments into Collage

February 22, 2011

If you’re an artist like me who loves to experiment with different ideas and processes, you may have a whole bunch of unsuccessful pieces of not-so-great art taking up space in your studio. Last week I pulled out three of these, all on wooden cradle frames I wanted to reuse. Two of the pieces had heat transfer images printed on the surface, and one was a collage I never felt was “quite right”.

This one is my favorite of the three because I was able to retain some of the previous work with simple additions of Japanese paper and leaves. The face is a statue I photographed in the Egyptian museum in Berlin combined with a photo of lily pads. It’s a style of digital collage I haven’t done in ages (and no longer like).

With this second collage I decided to give it a simple tweak by adding clouds made from book pages and security envelopes. I’ve always like some part of this collage but felt it was more of an experiment than something representative of my “style”. Now I like it much better.

It also ties in nicely with the larger collage I made a few weeks ago with airships (which is sold now, by the way).

The collages are made on wooden cradle frames ready to hang, and are both available for sale through Etsy (and in person).

Collage: The Butterfly Chase

February 11, 2011

I really wish I had more than just two of these circle cut pieces of wood because they were terrific to work with and now I’ve used both. The first collage featured airships and this one has butterflies. It’s a theme of flying things.

I continued using the same materials in this one because I’ve been enjoying figuring out different ways to mix the book page scraps and security envelopes. This time I cut the paper into leaf shapes and placed them around part of the circle in a messy swirl as if they’re blowing in the wind.

I found this particular type of thread difficult to glue down because it kept sticking to the brush of gel medium instead of the paper. I decided to use it in the composition as a flight path for the butterflies to follow.

Materials used: wood, sewing pattern paper, acetate butterflies, cotton thread, book page scraps, security envelopes, and gel medium.

As always this collage is listed for sale in both my Etsy and Cargoh shops.

Karen’s Room at the Waldorf Hotel

January 30, 2011

Paul Wong has put together a site-specific installation/performance work in room 103 of the Waldorf Hotel. The room is covered floor to ceiling, windows, furniture, bathroom and all, in bedsheets collected for charities by an activist named Karen.

Karen is back at The Hotel from her most-recent goodwill missions around the globe. Karen will be back at it collecting and recycling the hotel sheets and linens and repurposing them for worthy causes. A well-meaning activist, Karen has contributed our used bedding to numerous charities in Vancouver and around the world, including the homeless, the destitute in the Downtown Eastside and Surrey, and to victims of natural disasters in Haiti and Pakistan.

Boris and I visited the site on Friday before (delicious) dinner downstairs at Nuba. I’d been curious to see this installation but after seeing it in person I’m not really sure how I feel about it.

I liked the aesthetics of the installation, with every surface of the room taken over by the sheets it became this wonderful cocooned space away from the noise of the rest of the hotel. The part I didn’t like was the video projection on the back wall showing the character of Karen going about her work and talking with visitors from what I guess was a previous performance. I felt it took away from the experience to watch her secondhand instead of interacting with Karen in person. But I guess it’s not possible for her to be on site all the time.

Go see it for yourself if you get the chance. Karen’s Room is open 5 to 9 pm, seven days a week, and will be on site at the Waldorf Hotel until Feb. 11, 2011.

Collage: Birds and threads

January 26, 2011

There are a few things I’m trying to do at the moment in terms of new work:
1. Make time for experimentation with new ideas and materials
2. Create lower priced inventory
3. Repurpose leftover materials or objects from other projects.

These three goals came together with the collage I finished yesterday.

I started out wanting to make a collage using scraps of pages leftover from completed altered books and it evolved into a lovely finished piece with 3D objects, repurposed security envelopes, and part of a book cover cut from this altered book. I used the inside of a shallow wooden box as both canvas and frame.

Quite a few of these materials were items given to me by friends who no longer had a use for them. I’m really glad I could repurpose them into art.

Materials used: wooden box, partial book cover, scraps of book pages, security envelopes, wooden bobbins, silk thread, two paper birds, gesso, glue, and gel medium.

If you’re interested in this piece I’ve already listed it for sale in my Etsy shop. I’ve priced it in a slightly different way than the altered books because I view this as an experiment and want to keep this in an affordable price range.

Collage: Birds of a Feather

December 19, 2010

This particular cradle frame panel has been hanging around unfinished or half-started (depending on your perspective) for a couple of years. I did a gel medium transfer of an ink jet print of one of my photos and overlay this with a semi-transparent spiral patterned Japanese paper. That’s as far as I got with the thing two years ago. I found the long dimensions of 12″ x 24″ challenging to work with at the time.

I picked it up again this week and decided to follow the same theme of birds, book pages, and thread from the previous two collages. I broke up the background image with pieces of book pages and tried to treat both as texture. The thread and bits of scrap paper add a bit more colour and give the collage some flow from one bird to another.

This is the largest collage I’ve ever created. It’s challenging to work larger and I think I prefer making smaller pieces because most of the materials I have to work with are small scale.

Materials used: scrap book pages, red thread, paper birds, rubber stamp & ink, origami paper, and gel medium.

Collage: Fueling the Creative Fires

December 8, 20102 Comments

I haven’t had any time in over a month to devote to creating new work so yesterday I made a point of setting aside the entire day for this. I focused on making simple collage on wooden cradle frames. The idea is to have artwork I can sell at a lower price point than my altered books. I completed two 8″ x 8″ pieces yesterday, and each took less than two hours to make.

I followed a similar theme in both collages, using paper birds, pages from books, scraps from the same yellow paper, and red thread.

It felt so good to make these. I always get a bit antsy when I go too long without making something and I love how easily these two compositions flowed out of me. I definitely want to make more soon.

Materials used: book pages, sheet music, red thread, paper birds, rubber stamp & ink, Japanese paper, Japanese maple leaf, and gel medium.

Highlighting (Other) Artists in the Eastside Culture Crawl

November 25, 2010

One of the downsides of taking part in the Eastside Culture Crawl as an artist is that I’ll be tied to my venue all weekend long and won’t get to see everyone else’s work. (Insert sadface here).The Crawl is an event I look forward to attending every year and now I get to experience it on the other side.

I thought I’d highlight some of the other artists I would go visit if I could. Some of these recommendations are people I’ve visited in previous years and love their work, and others are artists I’ve had the pleasure of meeting since becoming a member of The Crawl. Every single one of them creates amazing work.

Siobhan Humston. Painting & mixed media.
Alley Pad Studio – back lane entrance, 1774 East Hastings Street