altered book - kubla builds his dream dome

First spread, wherein Kubla decrees his will.....

I did this spread with a completely different background and ended up ripping out both pages and starting over. I saved a few elements and re-used them and this was the result. I had been trying to duplicate a cool background I saw in one of my art books and it flopped horribly. I really wish I could attend some workshops on altered books and/or collage. I found a class listed for this past spring at the Dallas Craft Guild and am crossing my fingers that it will be offered again in the fall. I get the feeling Dallas isn't really into this type of craft although I think it's one of the major scrapbooking markets.

It's still raining. I don't know where all this water is coming from. This is Texas, for cryin' out loud; it's supposed to be hot and sunny. I think the polar ice caps are falling on us.

altered book beginnings

Sometimes it pays to get lost. You think you're somewhere and then you think you're not. Then you know you're not. It can make you nuts, you know? Or it can make you change the way you look at things. That's what happened when I took a wrong turn yesterday.

I started work on my first "real" altered book a few weeks ago but have been hesitant to post anything for fear I'd put myself under so much pressure I would run out of ideas. So I've procrastinated with the few ideas I have and have found that NOT proceeding with them is worse than proceeding and failing. I've already ripped out one page and started over on it with no real damage done.

Anyway, the book is inspired by the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge was addicted to laudanum, a form of opium, and he said he imagined the poem during an opium reverie. The poem is a lovely collection of uneven meter, mismatched rhyme and confusion; and I expect my book will be the same. It should be a fun trip.