Pop Art!

I just love creating a new altered book to swap with artsy friends. I love the process of choosing a theme, the perfect book, and creating the intro and a few pages and especially the cover. But I think getting my book back home is the best part of all. Then it is tumbling full of creative pages designed by swap partners.
My local altered book group meets monthly at the nova studio in Point Richmond, CA. The group has evolved over the years and currently consists of 6 dynamic women who welcome the opportunity to be creative. I created this book, titled Pop Art, as a departure from my typical sepia toned-vintage-victorian collage. It is full of bright colours and clean lines. The inspiration was a package of sponge letter stamps my friend Mary gave me last year for my birthday. They literally POP off the bull's eye cover. I selected a slim art book to alter, so that after 4 other people worked in it - it would be nearly done.
These warhol marilyns are paper bobble heads, where the mole on her face provides a pivot point for a shaped brad. Vintage barbie doll bodies and funky cowboy boots complete the look .










Yesterday I got Pop Art back. It has some incredibly creative spreads all inspired by the pop art of the 60's. I was showing the book to my husband Jim, who just didn't get it. (even though I have been doing this for about 5 years!)

"This is MY book. I worked in Shelley's book." I suppose I picked a bad time to show him, considering he was hepped up on double dose of playoff football.

"Guys would never do this", he said. "We'd be sitting around drinking beer trying to remember whose book was whose until some guy says "let's go shoot some gophers." I thought that was hysterical.