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!

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Love letters book

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.

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Call for entries: Photography in Book Arts & The Book in Photography

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!

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Simple instructions for making your own journal

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

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A few tips for making altered book cover frames

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 on the example above are strips of cloth that I bought when we visited my son in Guatemala this past January. The image is an early morning boater on Lake Atitlan, right across the road from where we were staying.

Below is another cover that I’ve started, but I haven’t yet found the perfect images for it!

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Altered book cover frames

The exhibition, which is being held in the Syracuse University Library from June 1 through August 17, can also be viewed online. Here is just one brilliant example, this one created by Beverly B Hettig:

Change is a Function of Existence

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Central New York Book Arts exhibition

Out of so many brilliant books that you can see on his website, here’s one of my favorites:

The Geography of Hunger

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Richard Minsky, book artist

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CaiLun: a beautiful paper and bookmaking blog

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 have an eye for balance and even if my work consists of many elements, it always seems to have a clean, simple look to it.

What is your creative process like?
I LOVE silence! I am a mom to two young boys that are very noisy, so I thrive on silence, especially when I work. I don’t like distractions. I am hearing impaired and I usually take my hearing aids off too! I very rarely will sketch an idea out on paper. When I do, it’s usually because I have two or more ideas about the same project and I need to see which will look more balanced. Sketches are very, very simple and rough with no detail at all. I find that I usually start with a few main elements that I know I want to incorporate into a piece but the details seem to work out as I go. Because I usually make things up as I go, I don’t get too frustrated when I have to change course in the middle because something isn’t working.

Problem solving seems to go hand-in-hand with the process. I fell into collage mostly because of my time constraints. It is an art form that can be done in small increments of time. However, I try to plan at least one day a week that I can have an entire morning to work while my kids are in school. Other times, I have to grab the time here and there when I can get it. I have to say though, that some of my best ideas are birthed in the middle of the night. I often wake in the middle of the night processing an idea, problem solving with it, etc…. I have finally learned to stop fighting it and embrace the middle of the night awakenings and trust God to give me the rest that I need since it’s usually Him wanting to talk to me in the middle of the night! After all, it is when everything is the most quiet and I’m still!

Postcard

What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
I have always loved art as long as I can remember. It was my favorite class in high school too. I am still in touch with my high school art teacher in another state! However, I became a hairdresser right out of high school and loved working in that field for 15 years until I gave birth to my first son. Up to that time, I had only done drawings in charcoal, or just did every craft I could lay my hands on. I always wanted to learn to paint but had always been afraid of the whole idea of college. However, one of my clients worked at a local community college and she encouraged me to take classes. So, I took a refresher drawing class for a semester and then took two semesters of watercolor. Once my son was born, that ended those classes! A few years ago, I discovered that Art Unraveled was held here in Phoenix every year so I took my first class and this year will be my 4th year attending. I’ve taken a few book binding classes locally as well. I like to take classes to learn techniques but do NOT like taking a class where my work comes out of the class looking like the instructors! I want my work to look like mine. So I try to learn techniques and incorporate them into my own “look”.

Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
My hands are my favorite tool… I love getting messy! But truthfully, my sewing machine, digital camera, and Golden’s paint products are must haves.

What inspires you to create?
I get my inspiration from numerous places. Through books, magazines, and the internet, I am inspired looking at work done by other artists. I’m very inspired by nature and words. I love being able to see a picture or image just by reading a word, poem, song lyric, Bible scripture, or anything else written! And, my greatest inspiration comes from God. My most favorite piece of work are those that I have actually collaborated with God where I literally hear Him talking to me, giving me instruction, and problem solving with me. (Usually I have the problem and He gives me the solution.) Those pieces, I feel, are the most powerful and are closest to my heart.

What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?
Truthfully, often I keep going when it’s frustrating or tough just to get it done so I don’t have to think about it any more! And sometimes anger will cause me to persevere. I get angry and get determined to overcome keeping my eyes on the end result in my mind’s eye. Sometimes, I just have to take a break and walk away and come back. But, with my temperament, I know I can’t walk away for days or I will often just never go back and finish. And I hate UFO’s! They burden me.

Madeline’s book

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
I can only speak from my own experience. I am no expert but, for me, it has been a couple of significant things that have made a difference for me. First, stop comparing. Comparing yourself or your art is like comparing apples and oranges. There is no way to compare. It’s all different just as we all as humans are completely different and unique. God made us this way and it’s also how we create. Find your own voice and be true to yourself. Do art for YOU! Secondly, stop trying to be perfect! There is great beauty even in imperfection. God is the only perfect One and in striving to be perfect, in essence, we are trying to be God. Not a good thing to strive for! I am always aware of my imperfection and inabilities. That is when I turn them over to God and just do what He made me to do and be who He made me be. For me, just being in process and living out of who God made me to be, my life can be an act of worship to God.

What takes up the majority of your time besides your art?
Definitely my kids. They are 5 and 7 and keep me very busy. Keeping my house in some sort of livable order allows my mind to be free to create so that takes up time, although I do not strive for a Martha Steward home! I’m also very active in my church. Starting in the fall, I will be teaching a class for a weekly Women’s Bible study that will run from September through April on “Doing art with God”. I will be working all summer to create this class.

Mom P’s birthday quilt

What’s your favorite comfort food?
Well, as much as I hate it, the fact is I love sweets. I love cookies or chocolate covered raisins. I can’t keep this stuff in my house all the time because I will literally start eating it as soon as I get up in the morning. I LOVE coffee and reading and I do both every day! And one of my most favorite things to do in the whole world is get together with my best friend and fellow artist, Fran Saperstein, whom I met at Art Unraveled last year. We try to get together and do art play dates several times a month. If I go a week without being with her, I go through withdrawals!

Beach glass bracelet set

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Artist Profile: Angie Platten

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 .

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The spring issue of the Bonefolder is online