Altered Books :: Karen's Whimsy

Back to My Altered Books

2006-07-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

In the two months since my previous entry, I lost my wonderful mother, Sandie, to complications from Alzheimer's, and my sweet little dog Angel, to blood clots in the lungs. Until just about two weeks ago, when we scattered my mom's ashes, I had been walking around in a haze, unable to even think about making art. Slowly, I've begun to peel back the sadness and have restarted my artful journey... [Continued on Artful Journey]

Open Studios in Benicia

2006-05-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today was the second and final day of Open Studios in Benicia. The weather was great, so I hopped on my scooter and rode down to the Benicia Art Gallery. On the way there, I stopped in my first studio. The artist's name was Joe Martino, and he had created a series of 100 sketches with a Sharpie on used coffee cups that he had unpeeled and opened up. Every morning, after his ritual coffee, he went somewhere and sketched a scene...[Continued on Artful Journey]

A Space for Creating Art

2006-03-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

In response to my post What Inspires Me, Heather wrote this:

. . . how do you just get started. I don’t mean the mechanics, I mean how do you just do it?

My husband and I bought a home three years ago and I have done very little creatively since then b/c I don’t have the space. I know that may sound like a huge copout, and I suppose it is…but nevertheless it stops me in my tracks.

Where do you “do” your work?

Heather-- I wouldn't consider your space limitations a cop-out. They appear to be very real for you. I am very fortunate in that I have a spare bedroom in my house and that's where I work. . . [Continued on Artful Journey]

The Art of Happiness :: Altered Book, Continued

2006-03-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

I just finished this altered book page for The Art of Happiness. I wanted to counteract the darkness of the text with something rich and colorful . . . [Continued in Artful Journey]

Looking for Happiness

2006-03-20T22:20:00.000-08:00

Now that the third quarter of the school year is behind me, I'm finding a bit of relief from the non-stop essay grading that was consuming all of my evening and weekend time. The 3rd quarter is when I relentlessly try to prepare my seventh graders for the Califonia STAR Writing Assessment, which is, in many ways a mockery of everything I try to teach my students about writing. . . [Continued in Artful Journey]

No Time for Altered Books

2006-02-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

Fear

How does one continue to create art when a big part of your life is unraveling? I know some people find that art helps them work through their grief, but I can't seem to make it work that way for me.

As many of you who read my blog know, my mother has Alzheimer's. Two weeks ago, she took a dramatic turn for the worse, refusing to eat or drink for four days...[Continued on Artful Journey]

Art for Altered Books

2006-01-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

I try, about every other month, to post pictures on my Public Domain Images page with scans of pictures that people can use in their altered books and other art. . .[Continued on Artful Journey]

The Spirit of My Cat

2006-01-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

Almost exactly a year ago, my cat died. Here's what I wrote about it at the time:

1/11/05
We buried our cat today. She was fifteen years old and had been ill for a while-- frail and fragile and not eating very well. I knew she was dying. I thought I was ready for the day, but when she didn’t come home yesterday, and then last night, with the rain coming down in torrents, my heart prepared for the worst.

I thought about her all day at work . . . [Continued on Artful Journey]

Altered Book :: The Children's War

2006-01-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

The Children's War

Since I have submitted three altered books to this year's show, I decided that I needed to do some volunteering to help get the show ready, so today I spent about four hours working with my new artist friend, Phil, at Arts Benicia hanging this year's Arts of the Community Show. I learned so much today. I was partnered up with Phil since he is the pro and I'm a newbie, and he did most of the work while I held the paintings and tried to keep up with all the mathematical calculations.

The idea is to keep the center of a pair of vertically hung paintings at 56" from the floor. . .[Continued on Artful-Journey]

My Mom Doesn't Know Me Today

2006-01-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

From my journal dated 7/3/05

Mom doesn’t know me at all today. She’s tolerating me like a house guest . . . barely. When she got dressed this morning, she put on long johns and underwear. When I suggested that she put on some pants or shorts, she asked me, “Why? What difference does it make?” [Continued on Artful-Journey]

What Inspires Me

2006-01-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

I recently visited Sheila’s blog DelineationDotOrg and left a message for a post she’d written about her Crisis in Art. I could relate to much of what she was talking about and left a message of my own. The next day she sent me the following email: You and I need to have a long talk… Especially about those lovely reliquaries. I’ve been wanting to make one, but I haven’t a CLUE where to start. ~Sheila

I’ve been thinking long and hard about what advice I could give her about where to start . . . [Continued on Artful-Journey]

New Year's Day - No Resolutions for Me!

2006-01-01T09:35:00.001-08:00

I finished a new altered book yesterday. It’s a little darker than my usual style. I’m not ready to photograph and post it just yet . . . maybe tomorrow.

I am doing my best not to make any new year’s resolutions. What’s the point? I never keep them. If I were to make one resolution (which I am NOT going to do), I would set a goal to make myself more organized. Is that even possible? I think I have a bad gene, which I fear I’m passing it on to at least one of my sons.

My studio/office is a tiny bedroom that is filled wall-to-wall with so much stuff that I can barely walk through the door. . . [Continued on Artful Journey]

An Altered Book :: The Gift

2005-11-23T23:16:00.000-08:00

I just finished creating an altered book that reflects on my connection with my mom and the decline of her health due to Alzheimers. You can read the background of the book at my new blog Artful Journey and you can read about how I created the altered book at Found Object Assemblage on my main web site.

Altered Book Covers

2005-11-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

I recently received the following email from an aspiring altered book artist: How do you prepare the hard cover itself to receive what is to be glued onto it?

First of all, I suggest leaving the cover for last. The reason is that if you plan on doing a lot of work in your altered book over a period of time, you don’t want to have to worry about damaging the artwork on the cover while you’re working on the inside of the book. Plus, if you put any three dimensional items onto the cover, it will be difficult to work inside the book if you need it to lie flat. [Continued on Artful Journey]

Book + Art = ?

2005-10-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, in a post titled Rejected!, I wrote about my attempt to get some of my altered books into a book arts show. It was my first time trying to get accepted into a juried show, and of course, I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t accepted. Apparently they had a lot of entries. [Continued on Artful Journey]

New Adventure! Altered Books! Artful Journeys!

2005-10-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

I am nearing the end of an exiting adventure: creating a new blog using WordPress. This has been a wonderful learning experience for me. Don't you just love it when your mind churns with new concepts and all your hard-work at learning the curve finally works out?

Many thanks to the kind, patient, and talented Cricket Bailey of
GNC Web Creations for her hours of hand-holding and guidance throughout the past (almost) year.

Also, a shout-out to Andy Skeltoac and Catsudon for their terrific tutorials on transferring my blogspot files to my new blog, Artful Journey.

In addition, thank you to Joni Mueller for the Iris theme which I drastically modified but which is based on her original design, and to Squid Fingers who makes the most beautiful background patterns, and finally to Lady K. for the Typogenerator which helped me create my banner.

Hope to see you all at Artful Journey!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

2005-10-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I woke up at 6:30 a.m., which is what time I usually wake up during my work week. I don't like to sleep late on the weekends because I use my precious Saturdays and Sundays to cram in all those things that I'm too busy to do during the week days. My perfect daily schedule would be to wake up early, stay up late, and take a nap in the middle of the day when my batteries start to run low.

So I woke up early, had some coffee, and started cleaning. Saturday was laundry-dishes-floors-pay bills-general straighten-up the house day, all in preparation for SUNDAY!, the day that I'm determined to dedicate to working on one or more of the dozen altered book and collage ideas that are pressing on my brain... [Continued on Artful Journey]

Altered Books Take a Journey

2005-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

I mailed out three altered books today. It was sad to see them go. I shipped two books to the show in San Luis Obispo, and Anatomy of Paradise to a new home in San Jose. I am hoping the kind woman who purchased the book enjoys it as much as I have... [Continued on Artful Journey]

Accepted! and Rejected!

2005-09-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm batting one for three so far. During August I had submitted entries to three juried shows. First I got rejected for the Book Arts show in Oregon. I was disappointed, of course. But then, about two weeks later, I got a call saying that two of my pieces.... [Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Handmade Paper Sculpture :: Anatomy of Paradise

2005-09-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

I have finally added three more book sculptures to my Wall Hangings Gallery. I am particulary proud of the one on this page: Handmade Paper Sculpture :: Anatomy of Paradise. I started it right after school got out last June .... [Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Eye of the Storm

2005-09-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Like others around the world, I have been transfixed, appalled, and saddened by what I have seen happening to the people in the Gulf states in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I have been following one blog in particular Dancing with Katrina where two journalists who stayed holed up throughout the storm have been updating us daily with conditions, news, pictures, and their personal experiencesI started it right after school got out last June ....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

The Art of Happiness Turns Sad

2005-08-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

You know how some things conspire to make you feel sad? Can you see the despair in this picture from my altered book The Art of Happiness? That's not exactly how I was feeling, but a brew of meloncholy was created when I ....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Altered Book Technique :: Avoiding Yucky Board Book Gutters

2005-08-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

I recently received this question from a fellow altered book artist:

...how do you have such neat gutters? i am doing my first board book using your info to guide me...my gutters are the worst...i thought i read something in your pages about some kind of tape for them, but i am not sure...could you let me know when you have time...

Here are some techniques I use to avoid having yucky gutters in my board books....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Altered Book :: The Art of Happiness

2005-08-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a year, but I finally did some more pages in my altered book The Art of Happiness. The original text is by John Cowper Powys, copyright 1935. I found it at a barn sale in Sacramento over a year ago. The title was perfect; I knew immediately that I wanted to use this book to play with color and create spontaneous art that would make me happy. I wanted to try different color schemes than I would normally use ....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Rejected!

2005-08-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

I got my very first official rejection to a juried art show today. Here's a snippet from the letter:

"I am sorry to say that your work was not selected for inclusion. We received over 140 entries from 51 artists from all around the United States, and 50 artworks were juried into the exhibition."

I wrote about the entry process in my blog Paper Art :: Rising to the Occasion. I had every confidence that my altered books would be selected. So when I got my rejection form letter I was surprised and disappointed....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

On the Verge of Weeping in the Hallmark Store

2005-08-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

My oldest son, CJ, is turning 20 tomorrow. Today I went to the Hallmark store to try to find him a birthday card. Am I the only one who abhores picking out greeting cards? I must have read almost every single card there was. Nothing seemed to fit. I wanted to find something funny and encouraging-- but couldn't find a thing. I originally by-passed the section with the cards that have deep colors and swirly fonts on the front. You know the ones with SON written in huge sweeping letters. Finally, out of desperation, I picked up a few of the sentimental types and almost burst into tears....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Dia de los Muertos Altered Books

2005-08-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished my three books for Dia de los Muertos - The Day of the Dead. You can see more pictures of them on my web site at Dia de los Muertos :: Dia de los Muertos Altered Books. I started creating these books because I wanted to enter a juried exhibition for art related to the Day of the Dead, but I found out about it too late. I foolishly thought I could complete the books before the deadline, but I wasn't able to. I'm hoping to enter them in a more local art show. The deadline for that one is August 27, so I might be able to get all the entry stuff done by then....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Paper Art :: Rising to the Occasion

2005-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

I have just completed everything I needed to do to enter my first juried exhibition. And I'm even ahead of the deadline! What a surprise. There were a lot of guidelines to follow. I had to read and re-read, underline, take notes, and I'm still paranoid that I missed something and will be summarily rejected. This exhibition is specifically for the Book Arts, so I have decided to enter four of my Wall Hangings. I figure that it is likely that most of the book arts submissions for others will need to be on tables or pedestals; I hope that that will leave plenty of wall space for my four entries....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Wall Sculpture :: For the Roses

2005-06-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Wall Sculpture :: For the Roses was the second wall sculpture that I made. I had picked up that book for some reason before the concept of hanging altered books entered my mind. When I was looking for books to work with, the title immediately made me think of roses blooming on the page. I cut the center sections out and then painted the back sides of the pages in darkening degrees of pink. I cut out little star shapes and folded them back, which created the the roses. My sister says they look like stars, but I see roses....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Making Altered Books :: Art in a Child's Hand

2005-06-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Wow! How fast time passes. I didn't realize that I had let so much time slip away since my last post. I've been busily updating my web site; I haven't even had time to do any art. Egads!

One of the pages I recently updated was a description of the techniques I used for one of my first altered books. In Making Altered Books :: Art in a Child's Hand I talk about this board book I made for ISABA [International Society of Altered Book Artists] for a display they were doing.

One of my favorite things about this book is the quote by Picasso. It says "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." Isnt' that lovely?....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Contemporary Wall Decor :: Stone Heart

2005-05-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

I just added Contemporary Wall Decor :: Stone Heart to my Wall Hangings Gallery. It's very dark-- makes me think of broken love or wearing your heart outside on your sleeve or looking inside a chest that's been cracked open during surgery. Two very shiny paper hearts are suspended inside dark and silver niches....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Wall Hangings Added to My Web Site

2005-05-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today I finally finished adding the new Wall Hangings Gallery to Karen's Whimsy. I started making these book sculptures almost a year ago, and showed them for the first time at the Bay Area Book Arts Jam last October. I sold my first one there; it's still one of my favorites. It was called Earth Source and was made from an old Reader's Digest book. It was a gold green color and had all these paper strips spilling out from it. I was so excited when it sold because it validated my own feelings for that book, reassuring me that I wasn't crazy, that it was something special. I never even got a chance to photograph it, but it's still clear in my mind, and I hope to make another one like it soon.....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

How to Make Altered Books :: The Motor Girls on Crystal Bay

2005-05-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

When I first started to make altered books, I had no idea how to do it. The Altered Books Yahoo Group was a big help, as were certain individual artists who shared their work online.

When I first decided to learn how to make an altered book, the first one I created was The Motor Girls on Crystal Bay.

In order to remember what I had done, after finishing a page, I would record the process and post it on my web site. This was before blogging became popular. I was really talking to other people who were interested in trying this art form. I shared my successes, and flub-ups, and all the things I learned along the way....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

First Open Studios Today

2005-04-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

I participated in my first Open Studios today for Arts Benicia, here in Benicia, California. I didn't show any of my collage art. I only had my altered books which worked out just fine because my space was limited.

Since my "studio" is a spare bedroom about the size of a postage stamp, my husband's boss, who owns a contemporary furniture store, was nice enough to allow me to show my books in the store. It was perfect place for displaying my books because there are so many surfaces to place them on: coffee and end tables, dining room tables, etc. I even mangaged to get my hanging books on the walls, using nails and screws that were already in place....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Altered Book Pages

2005-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

I recently updated my Altered Book Pages for A Cup of Sky.

I really love this book a lot. I have gotten so many wonderful responses from people who have read it that I have often wondered how I could publish it into its own little book....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Stuck

2005-04-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here I am, working on another reliquary. This will be my fourteenth. [You can see my other reliquaries at Reliquaries at my web site Karen's Whimsy], so you'd think I'd have the hang of it by now. But noooo . . . I've been sitting here for an hour and a half surrounded by paints and papers and trims wondering how to coordinate everything for this book. My mind is a muddle. Maybe it's the daylight savings time thing. I'm feeling just a little off and very indecisive....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

A Cup of Sky

2005-04-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

I guess it was almost two years ago now that I finished my altered book A Cup of Sky. Here are two poems that I like from the book.

Water
drops fall
in the sweet sweeping rush
of the rain
into the sea
in to
the cup of its shining waters.
Or
down
to a tranquil,
brown-eyed little river
or the brook
that plunged
over the edge of the cliff
and froze to a stalactite of crystal
it
became
my waterfall.

....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]

Listening to Anne Lamott

2005-04-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite books about writing is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. She writes in such an engaging way, making everyday struggles seem sweet and sublime.

When I saw that she was going to be speaking in Berkeley, near my home, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear her. She spoke for about an hour, mixing her wry humor with simple truths about her life as a mother, daughter, and writer. You can read my reflections on the evening in my essay Anne Lamott :: Tender Words.

The Tatooed Girl

2005-03-31T23:17:00.000-08:00

I'm in love with the tatooed girl.
She stands in front of me,
waiting for coffee.
From beneath the neck
of her faded t-shirt
yellow bellflowers bloom.
The petals of a pink cornflower
peak from under her collar.
She reaches for her coffee
and reveals
a giant bumblebee sipping nectar
off her shoulder blade.
She's small and unassuming.
I believe she cuts her own hair.
She has the delicate features of a child
but the impatient look of someone
wanting to be somewhere else.
She doesn't smile at all,
not even a secretive glint
to hint at the garden
that grows on her back.

Welcome to Karen's Whimsy Web Log

2005-03-31T00:39:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to get on the "blog bandwagon" for some time now, but there always seems to be something else to do. The past few times when I came here for a visit I couldn't figure out how to post anything. Turns out, since I was using Safari with my mac, all of the editing features were disabled. No wonder I couldnt' tell what the heck was going on! Ah . . . we long suffering mac addicts sure have it rough some times. ....[Continued on Artful Journey, my new blog.]