Punk Fiction, Book Four: Rediscovering God

For my fourth book inspired by the on-line workshop Punk Fiction by Michael deMeng, I took great pleasure in carving up a signed first edition of Rediscovering God in America by Newt Gingrich.  Small of me, I realize, but hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I cut a window into the cover with the idea of creating a space for a steel wire structure based on a form I saw at the Kohler Art Museum designed by the slightly mad (but fairly artistic) Emery Blagdon.  

To make the structure, I used my Christmas present, Now That's a Jig! created by Brenda Schweder.  I love how easy it is to wrap rebar wire on this tool.  

After hacking into the cover, I built a tunnel into the pages of the book, leaving this little swish of Newt's signature.  From the title of the book I took the theme Rediscovering God and so I selected this little saint statute to be set in the window.  

My thought here was to recreate the feeling I got walking in the tombs of New Orleans.  There is such a sense of decay there yet it is also a celebratory feeling to be among the old crypts.  

Here is an instance of where the form created the theme rather than the other way around.  For whatever reason, I decided to stick four arms onto the piece with the hope of creating a sense of desperation.  At this point, the piece reminded me of a scene in Jesus Christ Superstar that has stuck with me since I first heard it:  the leper scene.  Surrounded by begging lepers and frustrated by their desperation, Jesus scream, "Heal yourselves!"

And so we have, Rediscovering God.  

Punk Fiction, Part Three: Prayer

Here is book three made after starting Michael deMeng's on-line workshop called Punk Fiction.  I love the way I am finding books that provide me with all the theme I need to get going on a project.  Today the word "prayer" jumps right off this cover and into my head.  

My original idea was to take a this decorative spoon (which unfortunately I did not take a photo of in its silver state), paint and adorn it, and then attach it right smack in the middle of the cover.  

BUT...I decided no.  I wanted a piece bigger and more sticky-outy so I went for this lamp base.  

It looked really good after painting it.

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BUT...it looks even more sticky-outy with a baby doll hand in the middle of it.  

I decided to texture the book cover with Woodicing.  

I treated the back cover with a layer of acrylic and a page from an old German bible.  

As I went to paint up the front, it occurred to me that I have seen these colors before.  I doubled checked and yes, indeedy--I had seen this color before...

in Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.  

So we have Prayer.  

Punk Fiction, Part Two: A Gathering of Angels

Here is the start of the second book I began in Michael deMeng's on-line workshop, Punk Fiction.  The workshop is being offered in two parts:  covers and then interiors.  The idea is for us to prep a few books on the outside so that we are ready to do the inside.

I am too impatient.  This book is not going to wait but rather be made as one piece that does NOT open.  

One of the other things that is happening is that the original theme or title of the book is now giving me the themes for the pieces.  In this case, the title A Gathering of Angels is a no-brainer.  The first step is to create a niche through the cover.  My original intent was to re-use the cover art but that was quickly abandoned.

This old photo was selected because it was designed perfectly to be altered with paint.  

The exterior of the book got a coat of lace, DAP, rusting solution, and two metal adornments.  

The back of the book needs some attention as well.

Destroy thy mother.  

And I said unto her, Thou shall abide for me many days;  thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man:  so will I also be for thee.  

Your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.  

And so, A Gathering of Angels is done and set aside.

Punk Fiction, Part One: Demon in My View

The efforts that you will see here under the heading Punk Fiction are works inspired by the on-line book making workshops led by Michael deMeng.  You can still take the workshops on-line by going here and signing up.  I will not be revealing too many of the techniques here in detail as I do not want to spoil Michael's great class for anyone who wants to take it.

The first part of Punk Fiction concentrates on the covers.  In the second part coming this spring, we will be altering the inside of the books.

The first book I chose to alter was a hardcover copy of Demon in My View, a vampire novel by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.

I gathered some goodies to add to the cover including a little bird skull and jaw.  

Aves Apoxie Clay forms the base for the goodies to be added.  

 The cover then got painted with acrylic paints.  

For the back cover, I went with more acrylic paint and some Bible quotes.  

Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down;  deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword.  

Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.  

Then I had one of those weird things that happen in assemblage.  While the bird jaw was a cool topper to the niche in the cover, it was fragile.  One night while working on another book for this class, the new one tip over and an appendage sticking out of that cover landed directly on the little jaws and shattered them.

OK.

So I went down into my stash of bones and found a cool little birds foot.  With some Apoxie clay and some more acrylic paint, I managed to affix the new appendage to the work.  

So the cover is done on Demon in My View.  I will be setting this one aside to alter the pages in part two of Punk Fiction.  

UPDATE:  March, 2014

After careful procrastination, I decided not to alter the inside of the book.  Instead, I sealed the outer edges with Apoxie Clay and then painted it with acrylic paints.