altered books

I love the last day of a library book sale. That’s when I can get a big bag of old books for just a few dollars. These are books that nobody wants, so they are perfect for art projects.

So I approach the book sale and hunt with thoughts like these:

• Do judge a book by its cover
  • cloth or paper
  • color
  • size
  • embossed design
  • plain, words or illustration
• Inside pages are not about the story but –
  • strength of the page
  • color of the paper
  • how does it “feel”
  • what language, music or illustrations
• The Spine and the End Pages can be the most exciting parts
  • texture of the materials
  • personal notes and marks that record history

After you have played with taking a few books apart, then you might come up with a wish list for your next book sale.

My old book wish list:

1. Large cloth covered children’s book – for the cloth and book board
2. Hard covered books with yellow, orange or cream colored cloth – for the colors
3. Any book with embossed designs or text – for the rubbings

When I look at old books, I am thinking about design ideas like:

• color
• line
• texture

If you want to play with using old books in your art practice, then join us in the online class, Book as ART Materials. Class starts soon. READ all the detail on the workshop page.

The lessons include:

• black out poems
• large diptych and collage
• book forms