"Heaven Flowers"

(unavailable....5" x 5".....Mixed Media....Mounted on a 1.50 depth Clayboard)

"Flowers were birthed in heaven and scattered upon the earth." Flowers possess all of the perfect elements of design...so of course they came from heaven!

This small mixed media piece is another experiment and practice session in laying down text pages that look like they're embedded in rice paper. By allowing the edges of all of the layers to be visible, a sense of depth is achieved. 

It also helps to have text pages with red or gold on the edges to define them and use that element of line to be a more dominant part of the piece. I haven't tried this yet, but it might be fun to paint the edges of the book pages before tearing them out to make a more creative statement. Since I haven't tried that, it might not work, but I expect that it would help to have the book closed tightly with perhaps a rock on top to make sure paint didn't seep between the pages. It would help to have the paint thick enough to not be "runny" and cause bleeding.

My mind goes wild thinking about this because there are other beautiful colors as well as other metallics that could add that bit of sparkle and line work that is so appealing. So if you haven't already purchased your stash of books, you might want to get to the antique stores very soon because these old books are becoming a "hot commodity"!

Of course, I already have enough to last me a lifetime, but I still keep looking. Poetry books and old Bibles are especially good. However, my friend Sue seems to be enthralled with numbers and odd books with architectural or mathematical type drawings. It's up to you. There's plenty to choose from. And unbeknownst to me, some of the Half Price Book stores have an old section that is promising.

As technology sweeps us off our feet, actual books that you can hold in your hand may become obsolete. And this is all the more reason I have personally gravitated to anything having to do with books. They make wonderful additions to artwork and provide a visual history of all types of books. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.