Wednesday 23 July 2008

Being Entirely Different - An Altered Book ....

Coming to Blogland just a few weeks ago, I had absolutely no idea whatsoever how many very clever and talented people there are out there .... Making things for my own Blog and visiting other peoples' has become nothing short of an addiction - but I am having great fun.
While Blog hopping on Sunday night I came across Jean's Blog at Bluebird 1-2-3, where Jean hosts a monthly Challenge. This month the Challenge is "to alter a book and make it an art journal - no other rules. You can use any ideas you want to as long as you end up with a book that reflects you and your journey".
I do not consider myself an artist in any way, not just because I can't even draw a squiggly line but because I don't consider myself to be 'originally creative' but nothing ventured - so here goes ......

I bought a Book about the Grand Opera (with 495 pages - I don't do anything by halves - lol) in a charity shop ages ago, thinking I would make an Altered Book about music. I got as far as applying gesso to the cover and then it got put to one side (probably because, if the truth were known, I wasn't sure what to do next) ....
Since finding Jean's site the Book has been retrieved. I spent a happy hour and a half on Monday when I got home from work, sitting in the garden, with a pot of paper clips and a mug of coffee bundling up the pages into 'clumps'. Then I had great fun, ripping, tearing, cutting, glueing and otherwise generally cannabalising the inside pages of the Book.

I have almost finished this stage of the Book and I can already see a number of things that aren't quite right, but that's all part of the learning process and I am sure that these 'not so good elements' can be used to the Book's advantage.
I will post some more as the project progresses. Wish me luck with this won't you - the Challenge ends on July 31st - and you can guess what I will be doing at the weekend - lol ....

4 comments:

*jean* said...

Yea, Sue!!!!! That's what it's all about, having fun!!! Let that inner critic go bother someone else and have at it!!! I can't wait to see what you do next! I really enjoyed my journey yesterday and look forward to the next pages today! I didn't like some of the stuff on the first two pages but then yesterday it all seemed to come together.....I love what you said about "cannibalizing" the book.....funny!!

PS I began about the same way, I had NO IDEA what I was going to do with this book!!! I'm just doing a page or two and then painting gesso on the next set and leaving it till the next day....no need to finish it in one month, the challenge is really about beginning....

Juanita said...

Great job on trying something new. That is why I started blogging. To journal my progress (even if I was my only reader). I don't know if I have the guts to canabalize a book (pun, ha-ha)But I eagerly await the next installment from you on this adventure you have undertaken.

Unknown said...

You're off to an awesome start! I've just started mine today .... I have the same thing about cannibalizing a book :) .... I decided to start with a travel brochure :)

Minxy said...

Your book sounds like it has lots of potential, i cant wait to see more, i love altering old books, i need to do another one soon i think :O) xx