Nature Inspires Art

Altered Book by Alex

I have had this book on display for about a month in my high school library.  Some students are horrified at first that someone "damaged a book".   Other immediately start to talk about how cool this book is and ask who the artist is.

I tell the students that this is called an altered book. It is  a form of  artwork that changes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its appearance and meaning.  I point out that one of our seniors Alex took an old book and recycled it. He put cuts and created pop-ups of three-dimensional trees. He used multiple books in the creation of the finished piece of art. He did this in art class.   I am so happy that I have been able to display it this month.   It has inspired many conversations.  Thanks Alex for sharing your art and thank you Colleen for inspiring our students.

Nine Patch Quilt

I first learned about altered books from a mixed media artist Sandy who happens to be a member of my family.  I am always amazed by her work. This is a book that she created by taking some of her photography and transferring it onto cloth.  She then made  a "nine patch quilt" out of those pictures and created a cloth book.  When looking at the left side of her book, you can see nature was the inspiration.