Altered Book Workshop with Mimi Shapiro
Thursday June 21, 2012 from 6 to 8pm
Donna Brice, Library Director - 717-354-0525
Eastern Lancaster County Library
Program Registration
11 Chestnut Dr, New Holland, PA 17557
1. The International Society of Altered Books defines an altered book as…. “It is any
book, old or new, that has been recycled by creative means into a work of art. They can
be rebound, painted, cut, burned, folded, added to, collaged in, gold-leafed, rubber
stamped, drilled or otherwise adorned…and yes…it is legal!”
An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that changes a book from its original
form into something else.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that changes a book from its original
form into a different form, altering its meaning.
An altered book artist takes a book (old, new, recycled or multiple) and cuts, tears,
glues, burns, folds, paints, adds to, collages, rebinds, gold-leafs, creates pop-ups,
rubber-stamps, drills, bolts, and/or be-ribbons it. The artist may add pockets and niches
to hold tags, rocks, ephemera, or other three-dimensional objects. Some change the
shape of the book, or use multiple books in the creation of the finished piece of art.
Antique or Victorian art is frequently used, probably because it is easier to avoid
copyright issues. Altered books are shown and sold in art galleries and on the Internet.
2. 15 ways to alter a book.
The following cues are to help you expand your creative thinking skills:
• Do you want your book to convey a message, capture a mood or past experience or memory.
• Is your book going to have a function or will it be art?
• Picture your book in various scenarios at home, work, on vacation, while shopping, etc.
• Think of someone you would like to give this book to.
• How would you alter it to match that person’s personality or taste preferences?
• What are the different ways you could alter just the cover…just the pages.
• Imagine the book hanging.
• What would it do?
• How would it look?
• How could you make a book look different sitting on a table or shelf?
• How would you use 2 or 3 or more books together?
• How would you connect them all together?
• What are the different ways you could attach things to a book?
3. Show examples of altered books. I have a bunch and think! Looking is a great way
of learning and thinking.
4. Students select book(s) to alter. The fun part – do you chose by title / cover / overall
look of the book / color…this is a thinking process and the most fun!
5. How to begin techniques and pitfalls to avoid. Remember that thee are no rules,
you are just tapping into your own creative self. Gluing pages; tearing out pages, adding
new pages, stitching and painting, folding the pages of the book, do you collage on the
pages. How to avoid bulk,- carefully cut out about 1/3 of the pages and this depends on
what your adding – sometimes I like the book to be open and splay out. Preparing pages
for paint, collage – you can have a theme, or just follow your instincts; you can cover the
pages with a light coat of gesso so the original text shows through; add a coat of paint to
all the pages, thin paint like water color or heavier application with acrylics, how to create
a niche in book; mark the edges with a ruler, place a cutting mat inside, and cut with a
craft knife – I like an exacto with a #11 blade – but this is a personal preference you may
have to go over and over in the same groove so that you can cut the section out –
especially if it is the cover or a large block of text pages. – be patient! Clean up the
edges with sand paper or a new knife blade.
Collage – apply glue to the back of the image, place the image on the page and smooth
it out with your hands to remove wrinkles and bubbles. Create texture with paint or saran
wrap or even bubble wrap…keep on experimenting until you find your style. It may be
good to keep a special notebook of things that you have tried to remember how they
work, its something that painters do with new techniques.
If you choose to take on this mission!!
Hope you will work on creating your own book and enter the Altered Book Contest
• How are you going to alter your book?
• What are the preliminary things you need to do to go onto the next step? Be inventive –
this book could just be a place to assemble all the recipes you have gathered – do you
have crayons at home? You do not need any special tools or materials. Just be careful –
do not use kitchen knives for cutting since they are not sharp enough – craft sticks,
toothpicks, sponges, rags…
What glue should you use! Modge podge works, so does Elmers it’s a bit thin for my
liking, I personally like gel medium, and heavy gel medium and to attach heavy things
E-6000, but be careful its very sticky and hard to remove.
Book Arts Links on the web – there is a wealth of information!
http://www.philobiblon.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alteredbooks/
International Society of Altered Book Artists
http://www.alteredbookartists.com/
http://karenswhimsy.com/altered-books/
I have a small copy of this ‘The Humument”…it is very wonderful! It took Tom Phillips
over 7 years to complete this book! I will bring it to the class….!!
http://www.humument.com/