Open Book

I appologize for the lack of activity on this blog.

The project is done, so there’s not much more to update on. This blog was made to document my senior project process, and while I’m ever so grateful for all the attention it’s received, there just isn’t any more content to post. I’ve been considering some new book projects, however they most likely wouldn’t go up here. I’ve obtained a new url for the purpose of housing all my art from here on out, but there’s nothing up there yet. If you don’t mind holding out a bit longer, I should have it up and running by the end of the week, and if you’d like you can watch the new blog and get this one out of your hair. I’ll make a new post when everything is set.

Thank you so much for all the support this project has gotten. It means more than any of you could possibly know.

orb-unhinge-us asked: As an an art student who enjoys working with words and abstraction, I'm really inspired by your work and enjoyed my trip through your blog. Best of luck with your show tomorrow. If I were in the area, even remotely, I would drop by and see it. Thank you for sharing your journey and I hope that after your show is over, you'll show finished photos of the work.

Pardon me for taking so long to answer this. I was being a little selfish and enjoying the message too much to release it from the inbox. Thank you so much, it really means way more to me than you know, and I can’t express my gratitude enough! Pictures most definitely coming soon.

It’s Done.

Anonymous asked: What's the process of creating these art pieces from words from books, and what type of canvas are you gluing them on to?

Thanks for the question!

All Quiet started way back in October 2011, when I bought the books. Quite simply, I just started cutting out the words one page at a time. I had one book where I did the even pages, and another for the odds, marking the back side with a marker so you can tell the difference as you’re looking at the word. I finished cutting the first week in January, that’s when I started sorting out the words. The first pass was just for first letter, so that I had all the words that started with A separate from everything else, and so on an so forth. That lasted until beginning of March. I might have a picture somewhere of all my 26 baggies full with words. Then it started getting more specific, sorting out each letter group down to individual words and getting a list to paste up. I’m using simple Elmer’s School Glue because it’s easy to get out of brushes and washable. It holds the paper well, and dries clear allowing the beauty of the paper to shine through. I did A and B and to took nearly two weeks. Up to this point I’d been working alone and I realized I’d need some help. I’ve gotten most of my family and friends in on sorting out the rest, usually only getting two or three letters done, then going back to gluing them up. It’s kinda hard to get too far ahead in the sorting because of sheer space each tray takes up, my studio space isn’t that big, so we do what we can.

Little House is infinitely easier by comparison. For that one, I just cut out the words in the same way, but then cut the margins as well as they’re what I’ve been using a lot more of. I laid down a loose sketch, then just went to town, translating the image as best as I could.

The canvases are just cotton duck that are unstretched, pinned up with thumb tacks, and one coat of gesso. I tried gluing on the raw canvas itself, but it didn’t accept the glue very well. It roughs the surface up enough so that the glue has something to hold on to. 

If I had it to do over, I think I would have tried sorting when I was cutting them from the pages, but hindsight is 20-20 of course.

Hope that answered your question! Thanks again for the ask!

If anyone else has anything they’d like to know, feel free to send me your questions. Answering them is a nice break from sorting words. ;)