Today I finally finished adding the new Wall Hangings Gallery to Karen’s Whimsy. I started making these book sculptures almost a year ago, and showed them for the first time at the Bay Area Book Arts Jam last October. I sold my first one there; it’s still one of my favorites. It was called Earth Source and was made from an old Reader’s Digest book. It was a gold green color and had all these paper strips spilling out from it. I was so excited when it sold because it validated my own feelings for that book, reassuring me that I wasn’t crazy, that it was something special. I never even got a chance to photograph it, but it’s still clear in my mind, and I hope to make another one like it soon.

I really enjoy making these book sculptures because I can just let my imagination go crazy. I just got a bunch of books at the library book sale to use for some of these, and one of them is almost finished. It’s called Stone Heart, and I’ll probably finish making it tonight.

I was happy with the way my latest one, Dream Weaver turned out. It’s really colorful and crisp looking. I had originally intended to have the colored strips weave across the page from left to right instead of from top to bottom. Somewhere along the way I changed my mind, but I think it turned out fine. Maybe I’ll do a second similar one with the weaving going the other way just to see how it turns out. However, I’ll have to wait for a book with the right title to float in my direction.