Art in Life and Altered Books

    

How Art Can Be Used in Society

Victoria Townsend

All images belong to the copyright owner in this article.

    For a long time, I thought about this question and how to make a career with art after college. I was starting completely from scratch and did research before graduation. Two things that stood out the most was social media and art galleries. I was working a full-time job to support myself, so there wasn't much time to find a gallery, pay for the space to show my work and pay for advertising. There were applications and queries to art companies, but no luck. I kept drawing and painting anyway. In doing so, it helped me to think and find new ways of going forward. I learned I needed to be around people and not in a room, so I drew outside sometimes doing impastos of the landscape or buildings. It felt very alien as nobody really does that anymore, and I was stared at the few times I did that. Now, it's using pictures from the internet I have seen most other artists do. The few artists that draw or paint directly from nature are rare nowadays.

    Art is useful and can be pleasing to the eye. A car, for instance, is a work of art and engineering, as I have been told years ago when I worked in a small art gallery/store. So is a watch, or a chair.                What about art on paper? It can be distracting, entertaining, intellectual, educational, sad, happy, and so on. The subject depends on its purpose and the individual who created it.  

    There are four created books I'm going to show, all of which I have made except one; the first is an Altered book I used during my college years.

 I have discovered that graphic novels, or visual novels as a few artists call them, such as Audrey Niffenegger (you can visit her website), Lynd Ward and Edward Gorey can be made in different ways. The Rebellion Against the Standard Mind is one example. I started this project but never finished it, too many pages and I was ready to do something else. I used an old textbook on Illustration MS from my days as a college student. This became a visual diary of oil pastels and collage to express my thoughts.

Rebellion against the Standard Mind, 2009

Collage, oil pastels, ink

8 7/8in x 6 7/8inches

      

 Rebellion Against the Standard

 Mind, 2009

 Robed Figures making spaghetti

 in a magic pot. 

  (Watch a short video here)

Rebellion Against the Standard

 Mind, 2009

 Maze of Emotions

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Art in a Book contains photographs from the altered book above as well       as some paintings I have done. This was my first self-published book I     made, and it became an experimental project to see what I could do         with it. The drawings with the maze of emotions and Spaghetti are in       this book.

My Art in a Book

Published by Blurb Inc, 2013

Personal project, 20 pages

6 7/16in x 6 11/16inches

 

 

Untitled Christmas Story

Created 1999, Handmade Book

Construction and decorative

paper on cardboard

8 pages

8 3/4in x 6inches

The Untitled Christmas Story took a couple of days to make.

    

    A girl lives alone in the forest, and everything is covered in snow and low temperatures, it's cold. Christmas is a few days away and nothing is ready. The girl doesn't have a present and can't decide what gift to make. 

    Someone or something is hidden in the trees, watching her. A friendly presence who leaves her a gift of a bell in a small wooden box in front of her door. Does she accept this gift or try to discover who's hiding in the woods? Could it be Santa's Reindeer or his elves?

    This is a children's book and I was a teenager at the time. I knew about strangers and going off on your own. My younger self wanted a simple and happy story, this was fiction. In reality, I would stay home drinking tea and not worry about work, or taxes and other adult stuff, or someone sneaking around my door at night. 

    Untitled Christmas Story

    "Humph!"

       I turned but the voice had vanished, and I heard the small door slam shut. I stayed crouched in the snow astonished, a couple minutes later I was on my way home thinking about what I saw.

 

 

     Small Sketchbook

     Created in the 2000s

     Construction paper on 

       cardboard with tattoo stickers 

       and blue ribbon

     28 pages, size 3 1/4in x 2 6/16in.

 

 This is the second book I made while I was a student, it sits on my bookshelf, and its pages are untouched. The cover is coming apart a little, but it still holds together well. On the back is a picture of a sun and moon face to face with their outlines completing a full circle.