Making Art From Old Books
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| Artist C. Dianne Zweig "doodles" on a book page |
Collectors of old books, stay calm, I am about to tell you how I "de-constructed an old book" while attending a weekend art workshop at the
Farmington Valley Arts Center, Avon by New York artist Lynn Gall. The two day workshop conducted at FVAC was titled "Inside Out Book Collages". I'm not sure exactly what I had in my mind when I considered taking this class, but by the end of the workshop, I had explored this topic not only "inside/out" but from every angle, perspective and medium one could work in.
Mixed Media Art And Old Books
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| Artist C. Dianne Zweig reconstructs an old book |
Book collectors will probably snarl at the idea of pulling apart a lovely old book to re-purpose into a work of art, but mixed media enthusiasts operate like surgeons with precision and skill. o.k., let me back up a bit.....skill? O.k. maybe skill is not the key word. I would substitute enthusiasm for ripping things apart. By the way...in case "Mixed Media" is not a term you are familiar with, think collage, paints, inks, embellishments etc. In other words...mixed media is working with the kitsch n sink!
Armed With A Sharpie Pen
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| Class participants during a critique session. |
So back to the workshop at hand. No pun intended. We had a nice group of gals who participated in Lynn's workshop. Each one of us working in our own unique style. For me, a doodler at heart, I approached this challenge armed with my Sharpie pen I brought along with me to the workshop, I began doodling on the pages of this old book at the very beginning of the class while I was listening to Lynn talk abut the various approaches to deconstructing books.
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| Artist Candace Abbott |
Using Painted Papers In Mixed Media
Other attending this weekend workshop, brought along hand painted papers they had made previously or images that they cut out from other books . The idea was to pull apart the pages of an old book and re-use the components of the book such as the pages, illustrations, book cover, book board etc.
Reconstructing Old Books Into Collage Art
After the book was taken apart, the pages and parts are reassembled in a collage like style as a new piece of work. Lynn Gall is an accomplished Mixed Media artist who resides in Manhattan and comes to the Farmington Valley Arts Center several times a year to conduct wonderful Mixed Media
classes and workshops.
About The Farmington Valley Arts Center
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| Bunny Milan busy at work |
The campus of the Farmington Valley Arts Center is in a park like setting right off Route 44 in Avon, CT. The center houses
artist studios, two galleries and offers year round classes for adults, teens and children. In the artist studios which are on two levels, you will find a lovely collection of landscapes, abstracts. Mixed Media, photography, textiles, pottery, illustrations, cartoons, paper cuttings, etchings, printmaking,
C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of
I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:
C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at
dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website,
CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists
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