My Muse Bonita

Hmmm, this looks rather different for my type of art.  And yet, yes indeed, this is my art.  That's a bit surprising, even to me.  Because this was made five years ago, and just months after my jump into altering books.  I think that part amazes me the most, that I created this just months into knowing anything about altered art and altered books.  I've never posted this on my blog, so I thought now would be a good time to do so.  Because this is one of my favorite AB spreads that I had mostly forgotten about.  And to be honest, also because I have no new art to post, and yet I want to make a post on my blog today.  

Long story short, I've been in an extended "dry period",  "art slump",  or whatever one calls it.  Which I'm not pleased about, but it is what it is and I'm trying to work through it.  However, there is still the issue of my blog, which is very important to me.  And it's been too long since I posted some art.  I'd much prefer to post some new, recent art, but that ain't happening right now, so I think posting some art, even though it's not new, is better than not posting at all.  Regarding how "old" art might be received, I have no idea.

When I first got into altered art, back in the spring of 2004, I was very into altered books.  So this is a spread in an AB, a still unfinished AB, a work in progress.  At least that's what I keep telling myself, but it hasn't progressed much in several years.  And I'm not even sure I'll ever finish it, but I figure hey, at least I got a great start on it.

Regarding this spread, I love the color purple, and wanted to express how I pictured my muse, so I think I went no holds barred.  I like that about this spread....and gee, just wish I could approach my art that same way all the time.  I won't go into detail about how I made this, except to hit on a few things.  The image of Bonita was from a rubbing plate.  The background under the image is sequined fabric.  The headdress and earrings are real, costume jewelry glued down.  I also used game pieces and some of the stamps were hand made with a wood burning tool on erasers.  I used an embroidery chain stitch around the edge of the right page.  I used a lot of technics and embellishments on this spread.  I hope you like it. 

Using paper casts in art

This is a spread I did in my first Altered Book, back in the spring of 2004. The main reason I'm posting it now is because I'm entering a blog give-away on GPP Network Street Team, having to do with paper casts in art, and so I need to post this piece on my blog. And also because I haven't been making much new art lately, due to increased work days and hours. I did create a spread in the AB of a friend from my local book arts group this week, but I haven't taken a digital picture of it yet, so I can't post that. And I haven't been posting much on my blog lately, so I figure at least posting something is better than not posting at all.

Thank you, Michelle Ward, for your great tutorial on paper casts on your blog, and for the give-away you are having. You have a great blog! I didn't know about it until recently, when an art friend pointed me to it. I'm so glad she did.

Okay, so now a bit about this particular piece. I was a total "newbie" to altered books and altered art, when I made this. However, I like it -- although my art today is different and not what it was four years ago. And that's a good thing, because hopefully, as artists, we are constantly learning and growing, right?

On this piece, I used a sheet of my handmade paper that I made on the left page. I used purple copy paper and coffee filters for this handmade paper. I made the paper pulp in a blender, and didn't blend it very long, so the white coffee filters would show up in the paper sheet. I used the border of a woven table place mat, and yarn unraveled from a sweater, on that page also, along with a button and some flowers cut from a necklace.

On the right page, the main background is a piece of sheer fabric from a fabric sample book, and of course the painted strips of corrugated cardboard. Those are more buttons at the bottom of the page. The women's faces are the paper casts, painted with metallic purple paint. I lucked out and found the plaster mold for these at a thrift store. I've never seen another mold like it, and I really like these faces.

So that's how I made this piece, a conglomeration of "things" I had on hand. I still have the plaster mold, as well as two others I bought that day, and I'm thinking maybe I should get busy and make some more paper casts. I have lots of different molds, some I've never used. Most are the plastic candy molds, but I also have some flexible molds for polymer clay, and some terra cotta cookie molds. And I have lots of unmounted stamps that would work for paper casting, as shown on the blog mentioned above.

I wouldn't say this piece ranks in the best art I've ever done, I know it doesn't, but I think it's not bad for when I was a total newbie to altered art. And it does speak well to using what I had on hand when I made this piece. And lately, I've been thinking about using paper pulp in my art, or at least experimenting with that. I haven't made handmade paper in years, mostly because I still have piles of it left over from several major marathon paper-making sessions I did years ago. I haven't used my handmade paper much in my art, and I think I need to do that too.

So in closing, if this post encourages any of you to make handmade paper or paper casts, that's great. I hope it does. I know it has caused me to reconsider using them more in my own art. Whether or not that actually happens, I'll let you know.

Slideshow of my Melange Book