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Altered States: A Scrapbook Artist Learns to Break the Rules
by Carol Wingert
Gilbert, Arizona
Featured in Legacy - Autumn '03
Before making this altered book, I primarily focused my artwork on scrapbooking and stamping. Scrapbook layouts tend to be a little more rigid than altered book pages, and scrapbookers generally operate with some "rules" relating to color, graphics and layouts. Creating the altered book was a real exercise in freedom for me—there were no rules!
I began working with heritage-type colors and some subdued metallics and later began playing with some color, depending on the mood of the photo.
Creating a fictional story line for each page was fun; my imagination ran a little wild at times.
I thought often about the women of that time period (1920s) and wondered if they were content.
As I progressed, my style didn’t change as much as my willingness to try new methods and materials.
My greatest challenge was in creating the cover. Contrary to the old adage, "Never judge a book by its cover," I have found myself doing just that...The leaf finding was a favorite of mine and just the perfect accent.
 
Interestingly enough, my scrapbooking style has become less rigid since I completed the altered book.