Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Whole Shebang

As promised, here is the finished version of my altered book cover.























As you can see, I've added a lot to the left side since I posted it here.  The biggest change is the little girl; she is part image transfer, part drawing, and the flower "dresses" are image transfers of botanical illustrations from a textbook dated 1899.  I've also attached a piece of mica, using eyelets and brads.


A word of warning: attempting to set eyelets in mica is not really a great idea, in case you're wondering.


Here are a few details of the piece:


When I was a child, I drew constantly, from a very early age, and loved to make things out of paper.  My grandmother showed me an amazing trick.  She would fold up a sheet of paper like a fan, make a few snips with the scissors, and when she unfolded it, there magically appeared a string of paper dolls, all holding hands.  She told me that when she was a little girl, her family was very poor, and they had no toys at all unless they made them.


I had plenty of toys, including all kinds of dolls, but I found it more fun to make my own. My other favorite pastime was to run around in the woods like a wild animal, exploring every nook and cranny.  Between my yard and the woods was our next door neighbor's yard, and it was here that I got some of my doll-making materials.  I would find just the right stick for the body, and use either one of my neighbor's unripe grapes or apples for the head.


Usually, they wore petunias as dresses, and snapdragons as hats.  Wouldn't you, if you could?



I liked to know the secrets of the earth, and how things grew.  My grandmother taught me these things, and she also taught me to sew.  All these images are woven together in my mind, a tangled collection of dreams and memories.  If you peel back the layers of years, that world still exists, inside me.

We all have these layers of memory.  How many of them are real, or have mixed with dreams and stories and other memories, slowly changing as that moment becomes faint and cloudy, as if behind an old, dusty pane of glass?  And does that even matter, when what's inside our minds and hearts makes us who we are, whether or not it's strictly "accurate"?  These are some things I've been thinking about.


18 comments:

  1. gorgeous, amazing pages...i love mica and i agree, it is delicate work to set an eyelet to it...i have similar memories about the women of my family...your pages are beautiful

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  2. Oooooo--well said! Does it matter how accurately we remember stuff--as it matures and ripens and maybe distorts and otherwise morphs into that which makes us who we are? And you can really see all this taking place in your collages. Very cool.

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  3. Oh what a beautiful post. Your cover pages are amazing, and the story, your story that goes with the images is touching and so true. I also have been drawing since I was very little, and loved paper dolls. Thanks so much for this! roxanne

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  4. A word of warning: attempting to set eyelets in mica is not really a great idea, in case you're wondering. You have such a way with words! Really this made me smile, and good to know. Loved your tales of childhood too. I have always considered myself blessed to have had an idyllic English countryside childhood roaming woods & fields as time stood still around me.

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  5. this is exceptional. i'm very impressed....

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  6. You have lovely layers of pondering and paper. How wonderful that you have such memories of your grandmother and childhood. I think I would like to wear a snapdragon hat...somehow I think we would be quite the rage. They may have let us into the royal wedding this past spring-

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  7. tout autour du monde...on admire!

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  8. Your cover pages are unique and beautiful, Sharmon. I like the story behind; it brings back many memories from my childhood.

    Thanks for your lovely comment on my altered frame!

    Hope your day is going great!
    Gaby xo

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  9. layers of memory... absolutely, i think it what are really is... xx

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  10. This is a beautiful piece...the composition leads in and out of tender memories...every image becomes richer as it relates to you and your grandmother...life is good! I like your use of mica and stitching!

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  11. Love post. Beautiful piece is right. Very creative. I admire your patience.

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  12. Knowing the stories and memories that prompted the choice of the elements in this piece make it all that much richer for the viewer. Even without that knowledge, though, it's a visually engaging work of art.

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  13. I like your artwork.......maybe it's all real!
    Ruby

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  14. Bravo Sharmon - I love this work, and the intertwined retrospective back to "Old Davidsonville S.P." Having been an eyewitness to some of those days, I'm thinking the "S.P." must mean "Sharmon's Playground". Your depth and span of view is wonderful - keep on seeing and saying.

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  15. Oh these are delightful!! I remember sewing with my grandmother as a child too.. and her always asking me to thread her needle... now I wish there was a little one handy to thread my needles.. life goes in a circle.

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  16. Wow, I just LOVE that flower image transfer on the right.

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  17. Thanks, all, for your warm and wonderful comments; they really do mean a lot to me. Many of you I have emailed individually, except

    L.W.- Thanks for visiting. I'm not sure if I'm really that patient, or just plain stubborn!

    Ruby- You're right; and what is 'real'? Some would argue that we create our own reality, which is why I wonder if it even matters. it's all a matter of perspective.

    Don- As always, I appreciate your encouraging words and continuous support, my friend. :)

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  18. Wow, an amazing work!
    Thanks for visiting my blog! Have a joyful day.

    PS: You might like the collage box project and/or the paper swaps.
    http://paper-swap.blogspot.com/

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Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. I'm happy to reply here, but may not always have time for individual emails.