Here are some images of the altered books I have been working on. I am practicing up for teaching a workshop in February/March for Teens and Adults.
I began with a book I treasure, Anne Morrow Lindbergh's GIFT FROM THE SEA. I had a portion of this book read (by my gifted public speaker sister, Lisa Frazeur) at my 1991 wedding to hubby, Don Fick.
Here you see the altered cover - I have bleached and sanded a sepia toned photograph I took of our daughter, Lauren, when she was 3 - she is wearing an antique family heirloom of a muslin slip/petticoat and a floppy white sun hat . . . I caught her in a moment of discovery as she let sand sprinkle through her open fingers at Crystal Beach, FL.
Here is an opening page from the altered book - I have added my husband's and my initials from antique oak-tag and doodled on and around them, then inserted our wedding date.
One of the main goals in altered books is to collaborate with what is already there - by eliminating words, you enhance the ones that are left . . . by altering and joining any illustrations with your own theme/artwork - you make them become your own, without stepping on any 'copyright' issues.
Here I have altered an image of a shell. By adding a glint to the eye (using watercolor pencils) and creating an eye (using gray tone prismacolor markers) I transformed the literal image into a surreal visual.
Other aspects of altered books include: use of old photographs, collage from illustrations, distressing with inks and paints, aging with an emery board or sandpaper, gluing, tearing, sewing . . .
These following images are from a drawing book "Abstract Art" by Bernard Gollwitzer from the 50's - his illustrations are on the right hand side, on the left page I painted out the printed images with gesso, then cut out a female dress template from card stock, painted with acrylic then wiped off with a paper towel, using an embroidery needle/thread I stitched around the pattern, glued on a button with YES glue and voila, a finished page!
Altering books for me has become a very meditative event - I get to reminisce, create, journal, paste and glue, sew, a little bit of all all favorite things - and I get to use text and visual imagery together - I can be as sentimental as I want to be.
Hope you can pick up a discarded book and transform it with some of these techniques - even if you only are a few pages at a time . . . you will enjoy the process as much as the resulting artwork!
Read MoreIntegrating the Liberal Arts, Education, and Human Potential (Part III)
By representing oneself and one's creative outlet, it can be learned to respect others and their forms of expression. Abuses against others, including animals and children, would be eradicated in general. In addition, by each individual's ability to self-nurture and self-respect, instances of physical ailments and emotional neuroses will also diminish. These physical and emotional ailments can be directly related to repression and denials which can be expressed and embraced through practicing the arts. Science has proved through the study of psycho-neuroimmunology that the mind and body are unequivocally connected. Thosed emotional concerns, which are not dealt with and settled in the spirit, will adversely effect the physical health of the individual. Conversely, if one is taught ways in which to EXpress them as opposed to REpress, we know that physical health and wellbing will be established and maintained. Your body is an instrument that sends messages to your mind, illnesses are to be considered wake-up signs and warning signals of underlying emotional concerns.
Friedrich Nietzche reminds us that "[t]he role or purpose of art is to enhance life . . . to increase . . . the concentration and force of the vital spirit" (Barzun 123). By nurturing our creative consciousness, more meaningful and long-lasting solutions will be found for the world's ills. "Through the arts we learn to see our environment more clearly; to sense its color, song, and dance; and to preserve its life and quality (Panel 3-4). Our "pursuit of happiness" needs to include our relationships with others and the world in which we live. The world does not revolve around any human individual; indeed, we evolve within our world.
Through the integration of arts in our everyday lives, the world can be changed to one in which full human potential may be achieved. A world in which every species has an equal opportunity to reach and fulfill their intrinsic purpose of being. The arts are one form in which humans may be utilized as healers and teachers of the universe.
Copyright 1999 by Sher Fick, all rights reserved.
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WORKS CITED AND REFERENCED
Ackerman, Diane. "Why We Need to Play", Parade, Daily News 25 April 1999:12-13.
Barzun, Jacques. The Use and Abuse of Art, (The A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, 1973), Princeton University Press, 1974.
Carbonetti, Jeanne. The Tao of Watercolor, A Revolutionary Approach to the Practice of Painting, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, NY, 1998.
Frida Kahlo. Dir(s) E. Herson, R. Guerra and W. Von Bonin, RM Arts, 1983.
Gaines, Susan. "The Art of Living", Better Homes and Gardens, March 1999: 58-62.
The Getty Center for Education in the Arts. Arts for Life, videocassette copyright 1990, J. Paul Getty Trust.
Mellencamp, John and Green, George M. Your Life is Now, Compact Disc "John Mellencamp", Little B. Publishing/EMI April Music Incl, 1998.
Offner, Rose. Journal to the Soul, The Art of Sacred Journal Keeping, Gibbs-Smith Publisher, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1996.
Otto Dix: The Painter is the Eyes of the World. Dir. Reiner E. Moritz. Poorhouse Productions, 1989.
Panel, The Arts, Education and Americans. Coming to Our Senses, The Significance of the Arts for American Eduction, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977.
Williamson, Marianne. A Return to Love, Reflections on The Principles of A Course in Miracles, Haper Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1994.
http://vh1.com/insidevh1/savethemus/ . . . 4/19/1999. Website of VH1 Registered.
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