SerendipityArt

I’ve gotten several mini-books/zines. One of them is scrapbook/crafty, one is photocopy art …on is hand written and bound with staples, but they are all interesting…unique. My plan is to mix them up and send them out to each other...meaning Bev sent me one, I will send her the one I got from Seuss’s Cat and Seuss’s Cat will get someone elses…and so on and so on and so on. Everyone on the Swap Shop List will get my next mini zine. I’m looking forward to printing and binding them this weekend so I can mail them before I leave. (I’ll be on the road for the next two weeks.)

By the way….I totally get how the concepts of zines and artists’ books get mixed up! When you get my next mini, be sure to check out the pages about Artists’ Books.

In the meantime, I’m finishing the artists’ book I was working on over the last few days of Quincy’s life. He was hurting too much to move around, so he pretty much stayed upstairs with me in the studio all day. I am a dog talker, meaning it doesn’t matter that they don’t talk back…I talk to them anyway and believe there’s a discussion going on. Q and I talked about layout and color and this is what came out of it.

The pages are made from paper bags. They are sturdy and took color well. I also added some dyed paper, purposefully selected thesaurus pages and several lines I cut out of a book I bought for my sister Catherine (she snarked about how "mainstream" the book was and how she doesn’t read "that type of thing" so I am cannibalizing it for the sake of art…and there’s no more book buying for Catherine!). I added some dimension with shaped paper clips because I didn’t want to glue the text to the artwork, and used a glassine envelope so I could include a few art calls.

I am hoping to do a few more books tonight…or at least get started. I’ve noticed Artists’ Books take me a long time even though they feel so simple…basic…when I’m working on them. I’m working with about 3 sheets of paper for pages and a cover, and I prefer a small format. I like intricate backgrounds, limited text and at least a few multidimensional items. I also find that even if the book doesn’t start with a theme, it ends up with one anyway…and the theme is often driven by color. Whatever colorscape I chose leads me down an undeniable path.

The pages I just cut for my next book have been painted green and are drying on my desk right now. As I write this I’m thinking about what kinds of papers I want to use in my backgrounds. I’m thinking about some interesting marbled sheet music I bought several months back…along with some old advertising postcards I brought back from Paris a couple of years ago. I have already clipped some text, but I’m getting terribly ahead of myself.

For me, text is the last thing to add…after I have the flavor of the artwork. I hate my handwrwiting and am prone to mind wanderings, so writing directly on my artwork is out of the question, but there are lots of ways to add text. Rub-on words or letters are my favorite right now…though stencils and stickers are acceptable to me if they work with the over all project. Stickers can make a project look "crafty" in a minute…and I don’t usually want that…but every now and then, it’s exactly what I need.

On a side note, I have to post this picture. This is Kelly’s dog Murray. She sent me two pictures of her babies (as I requested) and when I opened this photo I laughed out loud. Something about him…the look on his face…he looks like he’s just about to say something profound and mind-numbing! I sooooo needed this pic…as a matter of fact, Murray is my screensaver for the weekend! Thanks Kelly…he’s wonderful and I really appreciate you sharing your dogs with me  Sophie is cute as a button as well!!