At Goodwill I search for the right book. My first consideration is good quality paper, so I flip open many books to feel the thickness of the paper between my fingers. I look over all the books for one of good size, not too large and not too small. I consider the text and pictures in the books, wanting just the right context for my memories. And it must have a hard cover. When I finally find the perfect one, The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Little Mermaid, I know this is the book I will alter.
Next I go through old boxes to gather mementos, papers, photos, greeting cards, and letters. I also look through my art supplies for decorative papers, fabric scraps, bits of lace, beads, handmade paper, magazine clippings, and post cards. I begin to place together items of similar colors and schemes. Lastly I get glue, tubes of bright acrylic paints, watercolors, colored pencils, and acrylic medium to use as adhesive and give shine to the paper.
Opening my book, I flip to the first page appropriate for the title page. I make a cutout several inches long in the middle of the page to serve as a pull-down flap. I glue several pages together to stiffen them and give support to the artwork that will be adhered to the surface. With peach metallic paint, my daughter's favorite color, I lay down a vivid background on the paper. After cutting letters from shiny black cardboard, I glue the word "Reflections" on the pull-down flap. Inside the flap, I repeat the word "Reflections," and place another below upside-down. Voila, a reflection! Finally, I decorate the edges with gold glitter, torn pieces of metallic gold paper, and a repeated black rubber-stamped rectangle. Okay!
I plan my first double-page spread. Again I glue several pages together to stiffen the paper surface. I want to depict the time before my daughter was born, when my husband and I were living in North Carolina and were planning for our baby. I find photos of me, her dad, and of the town and the house we lived in. I use torn paper to augment the color scheme, blue and beige for the beach where we often walked. I lay items together as I work on the piece's composition, keeping in mind some of the dramatic collages I've admired. When it's just right, I glue everything in place.
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