A New Dream

My new dream is to take a class at the Penland School of Crafts.
It is located in the Appalachian Mountains in Western North Carolina. Bookbinding and papermaking are among the most consistently popular classes there and are taught by master practitioners. I bought The Penland Book of Handmade Books just before Christmas, and have been captivated ever since. The chapters of the book were written by 10 book artists, each of them presenting a different technique. There are demonstration photos and lots of gallery samples of their work. I seemed to be pulled more and more into text/alpha art and the Penland School seems like heaven!


I made this collage over the weekend. I glued the edges of layered vintage magazine pages onto an 8inch square melamine board and then cut into the layers and folded the pages over in different shapes. I have used this technique in altered books but wanted to see what it would look like on a flat surface. I liked the black and white palette and will probably do some more of these.


Here is a detail of the collage. I cut three sides of a square and then folded the paper into gradiated triangles.

I really like using the melamine board and have been buying small square pieces at a paint supply store for $2 each & above depending on size. Last week my husband took me to Home Depot where we purchased a fourth of a sheet for $4.50 and had it cut into 13 8 and 10 inch squares for no extra charge! What a deal. I also found some large cul sheets (leftover cuts) for 53 cents each. AND a large can of ginger colored MinWAx stain in the clearance bin for one dollar!!! (I use the stain to "age" paper.) I will probably start trailing along to the Depot more often.