Gifts From the Sea - Jill's pages.

My theme for our altered book collaboration is Gifts from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I first read this book in my early teens and have re-read it many times since. It speaks to my soul not only as a water person but also as a woman. You can see my pages here on my blog.

The first artist to work in my book was Jill Zaheer. I started enjoying Jill's blog after we were introduced through Supria and Inner Works. Jill interpreted my theme in a beautiful two page spread full of texture.


Please click on each of the images to see the wonderfully detailed work Jill has created. In these two pages, I can see the colors of a perfect day at the ocean. I can hear the wind blowing and the waves crashing on the shore. I can smell the salt in the air.


I know these little pipers well from my many visits to Florida. Here they look so real, as if they could fly away at any moment. I like Jill's use of paint and glitter to show the sun glistening on the sand.

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This (to me) represents bliss. So now when I can't get away for a beach vacation, I can put in my earbuds, listen to my ocean waves app and enjoy the pages in my book.

Each of these little fish have messages and are three dimensional, hanging by fishing line.

Thank you so much Jill for sharing your interpretations and talents in my book. This collaboration has been such a great experience and has left me with an art piece that I'll cherish for years and years.

Designs in Nature * Rita's Pages

For the past few weeks I've been working in Jill's book choice Designs in Nature. This is a subject that I'm very happy to work with as nature is always an endless source of inspiration for me. My fascination with the birch as an abstract form has made it's way into these pages along with my love of images of bare branches. I've included leaf images, drawings and actual leaves, and a beautiful feather found long ago. My pages are about simplicity and solitude.

A Testament to Friendship

I received Veronica's book on friendship- and like many of us, all my original thoughts on how I would proceed changed when I received it. There's something so special about holding the book, feeling its essence, and then gently turning each page with such delight and amazement.

The process of developing friendships is one that takes time, effort and a special devotion that feeds the friendship - allowing it to grow, prosper and flourish. I dedicated my work in Veronica's book as a special testament to the friendship that the six of us - Seth, Veronica, Supria, Roxanne, Rita, and myself have formed.

There's such a special excitement and magical element of surprise to see what works of creativity will find it's way into our lives. More of my pages can be seen here. Thank you Veronica for choosing this theme and planting the seeds for these pages.

On Paper Wings

When I first received Supria's book "On Paper Wings" in the post, I felt a little intimidated. After all, this is what Supria does. She is a mixed media artist. I was in awe of how she treated the pages. Such care and so much detail. Techniques that I haven't dared to try yet. This is, as you may recall my first venture into the altered book. The fact that Roxanne was the first artist to work in Supria's book made me a little tense as well. After all, this is what Roxanne does. She is a mixed media artist. Roxanne's pages in the book are very creative and textural also. I enjoyed working on these pages and looked at them as a challenge. I'm quite happy with how they turned out, even though I did have a bit of an issue with the paper wrinkling up on me. The book is coming together as a wonderful tribute to Helen Keller with all the texture and the wonderful scent of beeswax.

Snowflakes and Tulips...

Initially I was a little stuck on Jill's book, "Designs in Nature", but once I began laying paint on the pages I became hooked with the thought and images of nature, especially of snow. I found a feather lying on the snow on my walk one morning and knew it had to be included. I feel blessed to live in a place where I have the privilege of experiencing all seasons and to see how snow sparkles like sugar on a cold, sunny winter's day. To see how plants change colour and shed their summer glory, for winter's hibernation and a new rebirth in spring. Jill's colours reminded me of summer, and Seth's of clouds and changing seasons, which led automatically to my focus on winter and changing light. Thank you Jill for such a wonderful treasure.

Earth Tones, My Interpretation

I've been working in Roxanne's book "Earth Tones" for the past couple of weeks. Here are just a couple of photos, a sneak peak if you will. I didn't want to show the whole page but did want to give a sense of what I came up with. I interpreted the title "Earth Tones" as the four elements, earth, air, fire water. Here I've shown sections of fire and water. To see earth and air have a look here at my blog. I've really enjoyed working with this theme.

Gift From the Sea

I've always loved the ocean, so it's no surprise to me that when I signed up for this round robin altered book collaboration I would choose Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I have a very special copy of this book that I received for my 17th birthday and it has a beautiful inscription written inside. It's pages are discolored and worn as I've re read it numerous times and I'd like to keep it as is. I came across another book that I think would be perfect for altering. It's much larger and has more pages so I think it's better suited as we'll all be working with it. Step by Step Sushi by Katsuji Yamamamoto and Roger W. Hicks. I'll be altering this book and my theme will be Gift From the Sea. I think it works beautifully because what better gift do we get from the sea? It provides us with an abundance of wonderful fish. I researched on-line and found that when altering a book there are basically no rules, so I can proceed with my plan this way, right? If anyone has suggestions please feel free to comment.