I wasn't sure where to start on this one. I have never defaced a book before beyond turning the corners down and I found it difficult to start but once I had torn the first page out then it became a bit easier.
Working out the order of work was difficult. Do I begin at the beginning and go on to the end or start in the middle or what, also, what it my book about? The book in question was rescued from the library who were going to destroy it as no one had taken it out for a long time. It is a series of poems and paintings on the English landscape through the seasons.
The layout is a poem on the left hand side and a picture on the right.
I wasn't keen on many of the poems and some of the pictures were very bland and not all of them seemed to tie in with the poems. One of these was a poem I particularly liked about a wicked fox but the picture was a line drawing of a sleeping fox cub which was very pretty but not appropriate. I decided to start my book here, right in the middle making a picture to match the poem.
The poem is quite long so rather than write or type it out again, I decided to give the white page a wash of colour and then decorate it with the gander's feathers and the gold dripping from the pheasant. I am not sure if you can see the words but basically he has raided the geese, carrying one in his top hat and carries the pheasant, dripping gold, home over his shoulder like a swag bag. He has a gleaming fang and should be wearing a mask but I prefered to leave well alone as he is already a bit of a funny shape for a fox.
I am now about half way through the book. Autumn and winter are finished and summer is started. I have decorated some papers from paint leftovers and stamps that I have made, all ready to be put in when I reach the right page. Now I have got going it is a bit easier. I am replacing the poems in the book with ones that I like and maybe only using a few lines or words from them. I am also using songs and sayings to make a more varied content.
