Faerie Enchantment

Art Doll Chronicles, Altered Book Workshop, March 15, 2009
Okay what is better then working on a project in your studio???? Working with good friends and new ones in a large studio right smack in the middle of NJ, that's what.. At least I think so...Nothing can beat a day dedicated to artful magic, when a group of talents together for a workshop and share their vision with each other, its pure MAGIC.

On Sunday March 15, I hosted a artful workshop at the Summit Visual Arts Center called: Art Doll Chronicles, Altered Book Workshop from 10am-4pm, in Summit, NJ. For those ever wanting to take a class there from NYC, the arts center is near the train.

In this class you will learn the many properties of recycling and seeing a variety of objects in a new light. The base this project is an old thick hard cover book, where the dust jacket is removed to reveal the fabric and embossed title. For this project it doesn't matter the topic or format, as long as it has a thick spine/binding of at least 4 inches wide, then the book is divided into 5 sections, each section is then held into place with paper clamps.

Next you seal these sections closed, let dry. Once the sections have been sealed, you are left with 5 thick pages inside the book, now with a ruler measure out a rectangular box, in each of the 5 sections, with an exacto knife cut into the measured box, until you have what appears to be a shadow box depth, 1/2 thick, repeat in all the sections. I pre-made all the books for each student to allow extra time for altering the books.

I did a demo of this stage of the books, then informed the class of the various paper layering techniques to build their books with, followed by quick tutorials on paper folding, piercing, collage, layering and the many uses for all kinds of crepe paper from discarded book pages to packaging paper, crepe paper, etc.

Its all in the perception, how do you see a piece, to me a scrubby dollar store steel dish brush can imitate German Bouillion, Paper bags can become paper doll clothing and well old books can become theaters in many shapes and sizes, they can become doll houses, or specimen boxes, the possibilities are endless. Each Student created their version of a storybook/doll opera, with each page being a different scene in their own doll opera.Here is a photograph of the amazing and beyond talented Kecia Deveney of Lemoncholy's Studio http://lemoncholys.blogspot.com/ whose work is over the top amazing, she creates so much artful magic, it was an honor to have her in the class, Kecia is wonderful, please check out her amazing works,and visit her blog to see another post of this fabulous workshop! In this next photo is the gorgeous ATC she made, It came wrapped so pretty, I didn't want to open it, glad I did, because this is what I feasted my eyes upon, this wonderful ATC, its currently sitting in my studio sending loads of magic my way.

In the next photo is my beautiful mother who is probably my biggest fan, always coming out to support me and show her dedication, I give her an A+++++++ and more. In this photo she is beginning to layer her paper to build her pages. The next is a photo of the 2 of us in the gallery, outside the workshop room.

My Mom is also an artist whose works can be seen in some magazines, my zines and on flickr, her work can be purchased on etsy http://auroratique.etsy.com/
Here is a picture of Kecia paper layering her book!
In the next picture, Michal, Lynne and Julie can be seen working on their books at the hot glue station. In this specific workshop I had set up several stations around the room:
1. Hot Glue Station
2. Paint Station
3. Doll Station
4. Glitter and Glue Station
5. Beeswax Station
6. Heat Tools, Rubber Stamping and Embossing Station
7. Paper Station
8. Ribbons and Trims
I found this makes a workshop go smoother by pre-doing somethings, demo the main, and set up various workstations, since everyone will be at different stages during the course of the class.

Here I am in the gallery by myself and then again with my buddy, the ever so talented: Linda Hahola, I love this woman, we met awhile back at Ranger U and became instant friends, I'll be heading over to her house with my other Ranger pals this saturday, I can't wait.

In the next few photos you will see some of the amazing books that were being created during the class, the first one is Linda's with a wizard of oz and distressed theme on the cover, complete with paper layering, beeswax and gold gilding with this new faux gold leaf ink pad and emboss powder I picked up for the class.Next is the first page of Kecia's book its pure amazement, looks like its illuminating off the page.The next book was created by the talented Lynne, who is just incredibly sweet and talented. I met Lynne over a year ago at one of my workshops at the Newark Museum and we just clicked, been friends ever since. Lynne creates beautiful pieces and moves fast too. Her book was almost fully done when she left. This is a photo of it. In the next picture is the amazing Julie's book, look at these pages, aren't they filled with magic. I'm all about the pink, which is why I just adore her book, pink colors, fairies, its fairy chic'.The next picture is Julie at the beeswax station, applying some beeswax from the melting pot to her book.Here is Linda working on her book at the table, notice the bevy of colorful and fun supplies. When ever I teach a workshop/class I must arrive on site with a quarter of my studio, LOL, I shop for extra supplies for the class, preparing for weeks, making sure I have a variety of supplies which can appeal to all art palettes. I normally make kits for my classes, but for this one, I made half kits and set up 8 work stations with the tools and supplies they would each need to complete their books, then they can leave with extras to finish their pieces, along with some of my molded doll heads, which I made with Model Magic, which was the perfect clay for the dolls in this book project. Model Magic dries fast, and light weight, like puffed foam.
Here is Lynne working on her book!
Followed by Michal working on her book. This was a fun day for all of us, the time went so fast, by 4pm, I was still thinking it was noon, thats what happens when a great group of people come together, like the saying goes: "Time flies when you are having fun"., that is absolutely true!

Thank You Everyone for sharing in on our day!
Magic and Joy!
Lisa!