Looking for something to do with yourself now that the year is almost over?  Here’s a great project that will showcase all of your favorite correspondence from the year:
Does anyone write letters anymore? Of course they do! Even if your love letters arrived via email, this great little tutorial will show you how to make a special album to collect and cherish them. Thanks to artist Di Hickman for the brilliant idea, which you could also use to collect up your favorite holiday cards!

For Photography in Book Arts, the subject matter is open and the medium is the artist book. For The Book in Photography, the medium is 2-dimensional photography with a book theme. The theme may be broad to include the book, seeking knowledge, literacy, reading and writing, communication, language.
Deadline for entries to be received: January 23, 2008.
Sponsored by the James Madison University School of Art and Art History, and will show from March 24 through April 25, 2008. For more info and all details, see the pdf entry form on their website.

Although there are certainly plenty of books that cover the great art of book making, perhaps you’d like to try a simple version first before investing in more detailed directions. Dawn Vinson at Daydreaming on Paper has generously made instructions available, using both diagrams and photos to illustrate the most basic process of binding your own!

Technique Tuesday!
Like all altered book projects, there are really no rules that must be followed. However, there are a few things that will make your life easier if you want to make one of these!

Step by step instructions

Make Art Monday!

I recently got intrigued with the idea of using the covers of older books, especially those covered in cloth, as picture frames. There are obviously a few challenges inherent in doing this, and tomorrow for Technique Tuesday, I’m going to share a few tips with you in case you want to try it. But mostly, it was really just fun! I liked picking a title that related somewhat to the picture that I wanted to share. The picture is a non-standard size, so I printed it out myself on glossy photo paper. The other elements that you see …read more

Central New York Book Arts is an exhibition that features book works created by regional book artists, including students at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y., and the printmaking course in the School of Art and Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts, at Syracuse University. The 22 works in the exhibition illustrate a wide range of book structures, including sewn books, accordions, and sculptural works using such materials as clay, cloth, paper, leather, and parchment. Techniques used for text and imagery include letterpress printing, woodcuts, silk-screen, laser/inkjet, calligraphic, and combinations of these techniques.
The exhibition, which is being held in the …read more

Richard Minsky is the founder and the current chairman of the Center for Book Arts in New York City. The center has presented over 140 exhibitions since the opening, and has been prominent in establishing the artist book movement. Minsky’s book art is extraordinary, and as a master teacher, he has inspired his students to think about the materials and structure of the book as metaphors.
Out of so many brilliant books that you can see on his website, here’s one of my favorites:

The Geography of Hunger

I’d definitely suggest that if you’re a fan of handmade paper and books, you should visit and subscribe to CaiLun. The work shown there is exquisite, and the techniques are inspiring!

March Journal Quilt
Artist: Angie Platten
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Website & Blog:
Artvisionz picturetrail album
Artvisionz blog
Artvisionz Etsy shop

The Offering
How do you describe your work, Angie? There seem to be themes that run through it no matter what your medium.
I love to do such a wide variety of art that it’s difficult to describe it over all. I do mixed media collage, jewelry, art quilting and other fiber art, watercolor, book making, altered books and other altered art, and well, you get the idea.. just about everything! But I think an over all description for my work is simple and balanced. I think I …read more

The Book Arts Web, home of one of the best email lists for book artists, has the newest issue of the e-journal The Bonefolder available online for downloading. Among other things, it includes a behind-the-scenes look at the show One Book, Many Interpretations .