Altered Book Spread accepted for exhibit.

Good news! One of my altered book spreads created during this course was accepted for the 30th Annual Juried Fine Arts Exhibition at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey, MI. The spread is titled "Unbroken Silences of a Remote, Varied World." Now I just have to figure out the best way to present it for the exhibition.

sandra, everything book translation

The mini collages work well with the concept of studying forms from nature such as the bird nest and using cut paper scraps to create a loose collage as exhibited in these photos. Young children love to cut and tear paper. This would be a good exploratory that utilizes large motor skills (cutting and arranging paper) and an introduction to the concepts of geometry and composition.
Along with this exercise we would look at the work of Andy Goldsworthy and other artists such as Nils- Udo, who use the theme of nature in their work(see the book; Natural Architecture by Alessandro Rocca). Here I would introduce the concept of The Golden Mean. This would connect us to further lessons.

Altered States

And so it goes, the altered state produced by the of creation of book art. It's not as if I do not already have enough books in the studio to alter when I get home, yet I found an incredible old book in Micanopy yesterday about little girls and ballet a subject near and dear to my heart. I like to treat the two page spread as a painting. In the altered book I started this week (which remains nameless and at this point) there is only one page with text so far. I fear overdoing it with text although I have taken two sentences from the original book I may put back into it at some point soon. I plan to do my next altered book as an exercise in drawing only, whereas this one quickly became a series of paintings and collages.

Carolyn, Altered Book

Altered Book, Translation #1

I really loved this project. I found that altering a book was, in many ways more fun than creating a sketchbook. I have my beginning Studio Art students create an "art book" every semester as a final project, but we usually end up with some rushed and unimaginative magazine collages and computer collages of favorite rappers and/or movie stars. The process of altering a book completely with all original art would be so much more beneficial for my students. Now that I have done it myself and seen the work of my classmates I have a better idea of how to teach the assignment. I am sure I will get better results from my students if I can explain the concept better and show examples. I think the sketchbook examples I have from the UF library can translate into ways to alter an existing book as well.

Tammy, Everything Book

The one minute drawings were probably my favorite activities, as I was forced to just dive right in and create these drawings without judgment. I usually am my own worst critic and will sit and plan a drawing for forever before getting started, but by the time we had drawn so many of these, I was really enjoying it and think it would be fun to carry this exercise into every day life. I would love to sit in a park and sketch like this, though the gestures will not be quite so amusing!


Collage is always a fun activity and I love to work in color pencil and was luckily able to in a short time since the drawings were fairly small. It's rather therapeutic for me.



I actually really enjoyed the first part of the doughnut drawings when we had to draw with our left hand. Again, it made me free my mind of judgment on my drawing. I focused on the object and line and form rather than making it perfect.


The blindfold drawing was such a fun activity and a great ice breaker to the week. Not only did being blindfolded make me more aware of my other senses and think about the relationship between my pencil and sketchbook, but describing the scene made me focus on the details and visual elements in a scene. It was especially fun after being blindfolded and comparing the scene I drew to what was now in front of me.

sandra, project book translation

As we observe and draw inspiration from nature we acquire the basic principles of color, form function, geometry and symmetry.
For my project book I was inspired by kindergarten work circa 1900 and Pestalozzi's model "...pedagogical drawing techniques based upon simple geometry... One feature was the step-by-step progression from pure abstraction to drawing from nature that systematically exposed the youngest children to the least representational forms."(see; Inventing Kindergarten by Norman Brosterman).
As a lesson I have boxes filled with objects from nature. Shells that show form that help illustrate the concept of the golden mean and geometry. We start by observing the objects visually and manually. we dicuss then draw, then set to work cutting paper and arranging. We weave , fold and collage with paper. We do lessons in line with paper strips and with form again using cut paper tiles we will discuss color and form along the way.
We will look at the folded paper forms of Dr. David Huffman, Erik Demaine, Ronald Resch Joseph Albers and the work involving Jenna Fizel. This serves to introduce 3-d work.

Carolyn, Project Book, "Palms"

Project Book, Translation #2

Although I felt rushed to complete my project book, it came out as well as, or better than my altered book. I loved the idea of doing a smaller book on one theme. This would be a terrific assignment for an advanced art student. I teach digital photography and it might be a good project for one of my art III or IV students who have also had photography and could combine some of their images, like I did, with other art forms. I am going to teach the transfer techniques to my advanced students and they can incorporate some of those into this assignment. The assignment could be done from the beginning by creating the book. Then they could choose a theme, possibly combining the found drawing idea or using a shape like Kim did with her circles or like I did with a natural element and/or play on words. It would help them to pick something that was personally meaningful, even if they wanted to change that in some way, like Laura did with her corn book. They could choose 5 media to use so they wouldn't get carried away and have something that is similar on all the pages to provide unity. I think they could do a good job with two weeks to complete it.

sketchbook

The Altered Book project was so intense. When I took these images I felt like I was holding rich cloth. Every page tells it's own story and together they tell one. My book was " The Arabian Nights". I saved and altered some to the book's pictures and tried to stay with the theme of the book, hence the Persian flavor and water jars.

Found Drawings

Some people are restless, tossing and turning-type sleepers; others are still while they dream. I am fascinated by the idea that even in our sleep we can manipulate materials and create beautiful compositions. For my found drawings, I photographed the beds of three artists for whom sleep was a precious commodity due to the demands of a week-long sketchbook course. Their bedsheets, though, tell a tale of fitful, interrupted sleep -- I know I spent many a sleepless night considering ideas and images these last two weeks!

found drawings-water

I'm adding a second set of found drawings because I saw these and loved them. To me they look like they could make great abstract paintings.

translation x2

#1 The older students would enjoy making the Altered Book. I would use small children's "golden books" for the basic support, not too many spreads. Theme the books "When I grow up". They could use the transfer methods of tape and glue ,cut and paste and some painting. I try to encourage them to think big and into the future and envision all the things they want be and do.
#2 The mini project book.
Kids love to make books and this could be a easy book to make, cardboard and copy paper. I think 2nd or 3rd grades would be good targets for this project. FCAT includes measurment with a ruler and they could learn that while they cut and assemble the back/front and pages.
Make it with 4 spreads and have the kids find 4 objects in the classroom that have some kind of connection, which they have to discribe in the book in words. All images must be as large as the whole spread, so if it is a chair it will be the size of both pieces of paper, filling the picture with one item.

flag book

I almost missed posting the flag book. It appears to be a great assignment for teaching kids. Since my classes are mostly adult, I'm not sure it will benefit me but it was fun to make.

Altered Book, second look

Driving back to Nashville today, I had another "Ah Ha" moment with the altered book! In giving me this book, Lauren forced me to think "outside the box". Math and I don't get along and this book was totally about math. I was forced to make art from math! Working with these grids pushed me through blocks. The brilliance of the altered book project is to get the artist to see in different ways from their normal. I realized at the time that it pulled me out of my right brain, where I tend to stay, but I didn't realize just how profound that can be for any artist. I moved on to the project book with a more open mind and a different vision than what I came in with. In the future, altered books will become a regular project for me and my students.

Ricks project book additions to older post

here is my project book. I continued to work on the all my books after class got out, and here I am representing the work I did on the project book. Adding shading and details to the project book gave it more depth and contrast.

Natalie, Everything Book

These are my favorite spreads from my Everything Book. I find it funny I selected to post these drawings because…. after drawing doughnuts 50X, I really really started to hate the delicious treat and my work. However, as time when by and I revisited my work, I found my drawing interesting and enjoyable to look at. By the 27th doughnut, something happened. I was starting to draw symbols, fragments and abstract portions of the doughnut rather than still life drawing. I’m really happy with my results of this lesson and I plan to incorporate it into my AP drawing class.

Ricks found drawings

here are my found drawings.

Carolyn, Everything Book

Doughnut Drawings

One-Minute Sculptures

Mini-Collages

The everything book is a great concept for keeping up with class notes, short assignments and, well everything for class! I know where to go to find the things to which I want to refer for my class ideas and I have great examples to show my high school students. I don't have to hunt around. Thanks, Lauren.

Carolyn, Flag Book and Single Page Book

These two projects were great 1 day projects and could even be expanded to more if desired. I think high school students would love to create them.