Back in my old Facebook days, I used to post a pun every day. Really bad ones. Anybody guess that my blog's name is a pun? Days of Books, Book of Days, get it? I told you the puns were bad.
One of the earliest known Books of Days was also an artist's book, leading me to today's blog topic: what the heck is an artist's book?
"Artist's book" refers to a work that takes the book structure and goes way outside the box with it. The art is usually 3-dimensional, might contain several book formats in one art piece and often challenges our idea of what a book “should” be.
Although
an artist’s book can take many forms, from western traditional bound books, to wherever the artist wants to go, many book artists use a few common elements. I lean towards including
telling a story or poem in my artist’s books when I use a wild and crazy format, but then go with abstract art when I create a traditional journal style.
Check out some examples of
books I’ve made over the years. Then go forth and make your
own.
In Freedom’s Work above, I used a
Coptic-stitch journal format. It is on display at Front Porch Gallery in
Carlsbad until January 9th, 2026.
Who remembers Pluto? is an
Altered Book that began its existence as a Little Golden Book about the Solar
System back when Pluto was still considered a planet. It will be on display June 1-July 30, 2026 at the Rancho San County Library.
Spring, 2012 an accordion (sometimes called concertina) paper book with hard covers. I sold this lovely (back in 2012) but I'll be teaching how to make it in 2026, at least twice.
Joker Horse uses the same accordion format as Spring 2012, but no paper at all. The materials are up-cycled metal, cork, electronics. The list goes on. It will be on display May2-June 10, 2026 at the Fallbrook Center for the Arts.
Until next Sunday, take care.
I can't remember ever not using recycled, re-used and
repurposed materials to create 3-D art. I just didn’t have the ecological
context for it until the 60’s when I read Rachel Carson’s books.
