alicia's final contributions to lisa s's book: labyrinth (part one)

i've finally finished miss lucky dip lisa's book, labyrinth. by the time you're done with this post though, you may hate me. ;)

front of my little bundle of pages, including a brass X i purchased from seth apter's etsy shop... i'm putting one in each of the five pulp books. (click the images to see enlarged versions.) what you're seeing is a little labyrinth book tied to the top of the bundle of pages:


here is the book all alone. if you would like to see the inside of the book and additional shots, you may do so on my blog HERE and HERE. in the spirit of labyrinths, i'm going to make viewing this a maze of potential fun (or probably annoyance).


once you open the top, you see this... a fabric/fiber collage with a paper collage, labyrinth and quote on top of it, and on the right, i just cheated. lisa mentioned that she liked a collage i recently did so i recreated a similar one for her book. maybe not a literal labyrinth, per se, but in my opinion nests are one of nature's many labyrinths.


detail of the quote/labyrinth page, stained and aged all purdy with hand made dyes (100% natural, of course) and coffee:


under the paper collage, a labyrinthy nesty bit (can you tell i went as nesty with her book as i did labyrinth?):

detail of the collage...


here is a peek at the back page...

if you want to see the rest, head on over to my blog: http://alteredbits.wordpress.com

(see, told you i was sending you through a maze...)

:)

Kim's contribution to Lisa J's book-Roots beneath the Layers

Hi all, well finally I have the piece for Lisa's fabulous book finished! There's lots going on here so let's take a look shall we?


Welcome to...

The Descendents of the Dragon!


This piece takes a small peek into some of the background that lies underneath modern Chinese culture and beliefs. The term descendents of the dragon is one in which chinese people have long used to refer to themselves. The culture of the world's oldest continuous civilisation is rather a large and impressive one. In researching chinese cultural history I wondered at what beliefs and practices had changed over thousands of years. In the end I had so much information I had to hone it down to something useable within a book confine and also consider the support material required to do justice to the concepts I wanted to depict. What eventuated here is just a small sample from a very large bag of possibilities.

To begin a set of doors.
I love the idea of opening a door and being transported to some place else.
The door design is taken from one in the forbidden city.
Under the door is a page describing the background behind the concepts of the piece.


We'll skip that and over we go and...

Meet Long, the chinese dragon.


The chinese dragon is symbolic of strength, power, and good luck. It is frequently depicted with a flaming pearl under its chin. The pearl represents wealth, good luck and prosperity. The five toed dragon here was used as a symbol reserved exclusively for the chinese emperor. The dragon is constructed from layers of fabric paper and sits on a piece of yellow satin. Much richer in person than it looks here (which is very washed out, trying to beat the glare from photography is difficult) yellow is regarded as the centre of all colour and was able to be worn only by the emperor. The flame is made using strands of silk fibres.

Opposite the dragon is the key book. The book is the depository of the remainder of the piece within the book structure.
Here it is attached to the structure.




and again free of the confines.



Constructed of small quilts which are sewn together to form pages of the book, the key book is made from a variety of fabrics including silks, satins, cotton, a few man made pieces and silk brocades. Each item used as an embellishment here and the colour of those items has been chosen to symbollically support the concepts of the page on which it sits. The beads used in the book are a combination of lapidolite, amethyst, coral, freshwater pearls, seeds, bone and wood. Each page also has a quote attached, chosen to support the concepts of the page, although those concepts may be a little obscure by western standards. The quotes, all except the last page are pieces of poetry. Poetry in chinese culture is regarded as the pinnacle of literature and none is more highly regarded than Tang dynasty poetry. Many of the pieces used here were written by Li Bai, a master of the art form from the Tang period. In an effort to also support the book concepts all the paper used here was sourced from China. Modern paper was developed in China in around 105AD and is considered one of the four great inventions of ancient China.

Onto the book .
The first page depicts the Jade Emperor. The picture is a transfer onto a piece of very fragile vintage silk. I admit to a few heart stopping moments during the transfer process, but yay it all worked in the end. Black and blue are the primary embellishment colours here, black representing the heavens whilst azure blue is considered to be the colour of the skies under heaven.



On the opposite page a representation of the bi disk. Bi are a circular disc with a central circular hole. Bi date back to the neolithic period of chinese history. Originally produced from stone, mostly jade, other examples have been found produced from agate, rock crystal, quartz and in subsequent periods glass. Bi produced in later periods were decorated with ornaments. The size, shape meaning and symbolism of Bi changed over millenia and was accorded different meanings and valuations under different dynasties. The original function and significance is unknown as it predates written history. Bi were frequently found buried with the dead and are considered a sky or heavenly symbol. In the Zhou dynasty (1045-256 BC) Bi discs of defeated forces were handed over to the victor as a sign of submission. In later dynastic periods bi discs have been used to indicate an individual of moral quality and have served as an important symbol of rank.

The disc used here is made from polished agate. The colours of yellow and brown are associated with the earth.

The next page shows a piece of silk brocade depicting the lotus. The lotus is one of the eight auspicious symbols of the buddhist religion and symbolises purity, beauty and perfection. The small round beads on th page are lotus seeds and are carved with the face of the Buddha. the larger bead shows a hand carved lotus flower and comes from Tibet.

On the opposite page, the Pan Chang knot. Chinese decorative knotting began as a form of folk art in the Tang dynasty. Popularised under the Ming and Qing dynasties it flourished until the end of imperial China where the art was almost completely lost. This was exaccerbated by the perishability of the materials used in the art. A resurgence of interest in the late 1970's ocurred when focus on preserving knotting artefacts of the Qing Dynasty became the focus of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. The piece displays a Pan Chang knot. Also known as the endless knot the Pan Chang is the eighth auspicious symbol of the Buddhist religion and signifies harmony, success and constancy. It is thus a token auguring long life, happiness, continuation of the family line, prosperity, abundant financial resources and friendship of deep and lasting affection. No wonder it is so well regaled in chinese culture. The page decoration colour here is red symbolising good luck and prosperity. The beads including the branch shaped piece are all made from coral with the exception of the bamboo piece inscribed with chinese characters pertaining to good luck and fortune.

The next page relates to the introduction of coinage in chinese society. Chinese coins were produced by casting rather than struck with dies as in most western currency. They are valued for their reflection on the rise and fall of the dynasties in which they were produced as well as for the beauty of their calligaphy and the patinas they produce. Although a number of types of materials have been used in Chinese culture as monetary exchange, the term coin usually refers to the round coin (qian), knife mooney (dao) and spade money (bu). The two coins here are of the round and spade types. The spade coin was produced during the era of Wang Mang (10-14 AD) in the Xin dynasty, while the round coin is from the Tang era produced under Li Yuan (reign title T'ang Kao Tsu 618-626 AD) The distinguishing colour used here is purple depicting metal. The beads are lepidolite and amethyst.



The last page represents silk painting and literature in chinese culture. Silk painting dates back to the Neolithic age approximately 6000 years ago and was developed long before the use of paper. Chinese painting is generally divided into several groups based on form, technique and subject. The material here depicting the image of five men is an ink and wash painting on silk and is a fragment from a long horizontal scroll which originally measured over three and a half metres in length. The scroll depicts the story of Shi Hu Zuan or the Water Margin. Also known as the Outlaws of the Marsh (there is some variance in translation), Shi Hu Zuan was written in the 13th century and is regarded as one of the four classic novels of chinese literature. The story relates the tale of Song Jian and the 108 outlaws who comprise his band of renegades who fight corruption and injustice. The renegades come from all levels of chinese society and eventually seek refuge at Mount Liang and the surrounding marshlands. The tales are supposed to have a basis in historical fact and indeed there is record of a Song Jian and his band recorded in the official histories relating to the Song Dynasty. The five men here depict five of the outlaws of Song Jian's band. Due to water damage (not caused by me!) the coloured wash has bled at some stage but the depiction of the figures in ink is still clear to see. The quote on this page is a translation from the chinese novel.

As you can see there is much symbolism attached to the items used in the book. In order for viewers of the piece to understand these elements I decided to create a scroll, made from linen, paper and silk, onto which I have put together the background of the piece and is designed to be read in conjunction with the viewing of the key book.

Reaching over two metres in length (although only approximately 15 cm high), the scroll was too large to place within the confines of Lisa's book structure and so I have made a bag of red silk and black satin to house the scroll. So now the book has it's own wee doggie baggie to carry around with it, LOL!
Here's a look at the finshed items. Lots of glare from the painted doors, silk and satin, sigh! A photography nightmare if you are camera challenged like me!

This was quite a fun piece to do.
I loved working on the piece and I hope Lisa likes it too. It's quite a bit different to the other work in the book so far, but different is good, Right?
Well now I'm off to package it all up and it will be winging it's way to Alicia in the next few days.
For now onto the next book!

Debrina's latest update....Roots Beneath the Layers....

Heavenly....

Reality...

Before the chains of the well lead to ....

Hell

(note - since this photo, a skull has been added to the lower blue panel)

Lifting the shroud....

The tree....finished...pages turn to reveal the pages shown above...

Layers and...

layers...

Ok, lots of lovely photos, but I better fill you in now on my thought processes to date.  Last time I posted about this book, I talked a little about the Anglo Saxon belief in Yggdrasil - the World Tree.  This mythological construct comprised of three parts: Asgard - the Upperworld (Heaven), Misgard or Middle Earth (our subconscious existence) and Hel (Underworld) see my last posting for more detail on this.

When Rome invaded Britain, it also brought with it Christianity.  Christianity by-passed the Anglo Saxons for some time, however.  Then, during the early Dark Ages, it slowly began to break down the resistance of the upper echelons of society and many conversions took place. Incredibly, and maybe somewhat surprisingly, the Saxon belief system was not lost during the conversions; instead, it was assimilated and in a sense preserved.  In my pages (the first three you see) - I have tried to illustrate this assimilation and evolution.

These last photos, below, show how I have begun to look at these Anglo Saxon constructs in more detail...

So, the shroud photo to the left of the tree will develop more to reflect this....

Love Debs

Round 3 - Debrina's Contribution to Lisa J's book

I've chosen to play with Lisa's title, "Roots Beneath the Layers" to explore the shamanistic beliefs of my European ancestors.  I've chosen Yggdrasil - the World Tree - as my focus for this round.  I first learned about this cosmological structure in Brian Bate's "The Real Middle Earth". 

My pages fold up into a nice neat signature of 12 pieces (see above illustration).  3 is a universally magic number and Yggdrasil comprises of 3 parts.  I want to concentrate on each part separately, so with some witchery stitchery, I have constructed a 3 part layout to my segment of pages.

The first part is the upperworld - Asgard - where light, elvish beings, the gods, goddesses and the deities reside.  If this sounds reminiscent of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, you'd be correct.  Tolkien was fascinated by Saxon mythology and drew his inspiration from their cosmological and mythological constructs.

The book unfolds to reveal the rest of the tree...the underworld (the lower part of the tree is hinted at with the quote above - this is not stuck down yet; nor are these white pages finished...much more layering to do...).

The middle part of Yggdrasil is revealed.  Midgard is the real middle earth, the spiritual world of living beings, such as animals, plants and human beings.  I will be using the pages to the left of the tree to illustrate these realms as I am describing them here.

Finally, Yggdrasil is revealed in its entirety - Niflheim (Hel) are the roots of the tree.  Here is the Underworld, where Nidhogg the dragon sleeps and the dead reside.  Hel (Christian root word for Hell- scuse the pun) is the powerhouse of the subconscious; inhabited by underworld entities that we may fear but where we may also obtain our greatest source of potency.

Alicia's Book: The Museum of Forgotten Things, almost ready!

i have made some new additions to my book and gotten new photos taken. i have a few more pages to complete (three of which are started) and may or may not post those later. one of them does not fit the "museum of forgotten things" theme, but rather is a tribute to us five ladies working on the book and it's flight around the world. i also have yet to finish the cover, but should be doing so tomorrow.

page one is finally complete: charlotte. her page has some things i'd gotten from lisa j. and debs. i wanted to incorporate as much of everyone as i could into my pages, even though you'll be doing your own pages too... just felt right.



the top waxy-charlotte part opens up so you can read the charlotte poem:

page two is also complete and one you've seen lots of already so likely isn't too exciting. also, i lost my real dude photo that is supposed to go into the frame so rather than sew the frame on now i kind of glued it in a more temporary fashion so i can replace him later. whoops! supposedly that's a real diamond that i glued onto the flower. i don't really care for diamonds but i liked the little sparkle it added (i can't believe i of all people wanted something "sparkly"!).


page three is barely started and i'm not finishing it until the book makes its way back to me next year (primarily due to the fact that there will be bones, and such), so i SHOULDN'T post it, but i am. i sewed the pages together to form a folder of sorts and it will be stuffed with goodies later. this is more of a personal page and probably doesn't seem "forgotten" to most, but the super succinct reasoning is that i always wanted to be a forensic chick. that's a real dental x-ray and there is really dna on the slide. this is a funny shot -- during my very last stitch on this page, my needle broke.

i have to add some fabric to the page behind this piece, and a hinge, but here is a better shot of page six:

the top piece opens up to reveal another image (then the bottom piece will be hinged to open another time, revealing something else, but i'll save that for later peeks too). recognize some of the fabric, lisa j?


11/16 update:

this is page 5 -- there are 5 of us playing -- the nest has five little crystals in it -- the book, like the bird, is flying around the world... just a little tribute page that doesn't fit with the theme, but i don't care. ;)


and a couple of peeks at the new page four (old page four is now page six) -- a glass tube and broken glass watchmaker vial from the late 1800s with fabulous little pieces of paper from debbie, and on amazing fabrics from lisa j:

this looks cooler in person -- a spider web i made and sewed onto fabric before rusting it.

this page makes me thankful that i don't often sew. i sustained numerous injuries including a self breast needle biopsy, a needle under a finger nail and a hole in my thigh (accidentally sewed something to my jeans). i should stick with paint and paper. ;)

alicia's book: the museum of forgotten things

11/05 UPDATE:

i added new, thick pages (foam core) so there will be more room to play in. that's what the above page is made out of. will send along the ribbony stuff for the sticks. here are some side shots, even though the twigs aren't all cut.



sorry again for the crap photos. i'll really replace them soon but i got a couple emails wanting peeks so... here are some bad ones. ;)

i will be cured by tomorrow and will work on finishing pages and taking great photos (with the camera on the proper setting and with the room light on this time, haha).

p.s. i've used some goodies i've gotten from lisa j and debs. it felt sooo right!

10/21 UPDATE:

i'm pretty behind on updates, i think! since my last post, i have added some things to my book. i lined the outer cover with black handmade banana leaf paper (which the top piece will be affixed to once i'm done) and the inside with red velvet... kind of like a museum exhibit.


the pocket will be sewn into the back at the end in case anyone wants to sew on any sort of little trinket while they have it. a note from each participating artist and or other goodies will be placed in the pocket.

i've nearly completed the second page (the bone page is first, but i have to do that afterward -- you'll see why when you get it). basically, it's a story about a lady and her life. the passing of her husband, how he died, etc. it's a totally made up story but i had to research surnames and origins, first names/origins, fonts used in 1920s publications, etc. i wrote her obituary as well as a couple of diary pages and basically confessed her "forgotten" sin -- only she never really forgot. she almost never left her house for nearly 50 years, at least not until the last 2 or 3, and really had a sad life. that's why she looks so miserable. horrible photo, i know.

here is the back of the bundle of goodies:

all spread out (feel free to untie the twine when you get it to read everything -- quite a fascinating story, lol). even the peacock feature ties into the whole story.:

all of this will fit sweetly into a pocket i fashioned out of one of the fold-down pages. the pocket, of course, will be embellished and decorated to fit with the story of it all, but i haven't gotten that far yet.

i received an email today that my dick blick order finally shipped (only placed the damn order like 8 days ago) so i'll have my black patina for the front piece soon!

next steps: bone page, medical slide page and omg, i have no idea what i will do for the forth. how can anatomy fit into "forgotten"? (wait! i forgot i had a spleen!!)