Ressurecting Old Books.

I spent most of Saturday at an altered books workshop with my art department and Lelainia Lloyd our instructor. Before this workshop I didn't know much about altered books. After 5 hours with Lelainia and a dynamic hands on workshop I was jazzed to get into it.

Basically, an altered book is built on the concept of taking an old hard cover book and converting into a piece of artwork. This is done through various image development techniques ranging from collage, embossing, weaving, painting, text manipulation and countless other approaches.

I recommend altered books to anyone who has a hankering to get creative visually but might not have the confidence to do painting or drawing. That's the beauty of mixed media arts. They are much less intimidating and put more demand on image placement and manipulation than on mastering a paintbrush or pencil. With the festive season just around the corner I think these could make great gifts too!

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