More from the Altered Book Collaboration - "While You Were Sleeping"

The Altered Book Collaboration is rolling along - in fact there's only one more to work on before "Journeys" comes home!



This fun one is titled "While You Were Sleeping" and belongs to Jacqueline Ware. Lots of fun to work in, but, as always, my initial feeling after drinking in the wonderful work already done by the other artists in the collaboration was one of overwhelm and under confidence! Does this happen to you too? That moment of panic that I'm not really any good at this? Fortunately, we learn to push past that (at least I hope I'm not alone in this, and when I say we there is in fact company with me here!) and just lay down some paint and get going...once it's started, those gremlins seem to slip away to terrorise some other poor doubting soul!



There are lots of layers of translucent paint, and old text and tissue here, topped with collaged papers, some stamping and handwriting. I was hoping to capture that dream state...where things seem real, but bizarre. The most memorable of these is the organ grinders monkey complete with little red felt hat and machine guns in the lush gardens of a tropical resort! (Our breakfast table is frequently the scene of recounted dreams - mostly mine - with my family shaking their heads at the garbage my subconscious is capable of producing!)



The next book due in my mailbox is Fractured Fairytales and is the baby of Tamara Allen. Apparently quite a small format, which will be quite different to work in. That will be the last before my own book comes home to me, after being in the talented hands of eleven artists over the past year. For a look at some more of the titles in the collaboration, have a look at the Altered Book Collaboration blog, and be inspired to get involved in a collaboration of your own. You're guaranteed to discover you can achieve things you didn't know you could do, and try things you may never had tried - it's a wonderful way to stretch and learn!