Distressed Elements - A Journey in Seth Apter's Innerworks Altered Book

Seth Apter's Distressed Elements is my last book to work in - and what a final act it's been. Hard to imagine that this theme, initially so foreign to me- turned out to be a magical play land - prompting me to take flight within this extraordinary altered book collaboration. As seen in my post here, these pages have been inspired by Seth's phenomenal book joined by the soaring spirit of our InnerWorks group!

So thank you Seth for creating this wonderful book. It's here that I've discovered an exciting journey of layers and human construction within the depth of human emotion.

Working in this book totally filled my soul - and what could be a better ending than the creation of a new beginning- right here - just where I leave off!

Earth Tones

Roxanne's book, Earth Tones, has arrived and moved on. The book structure that she is altering is quite unique. The pages that had already been added when I received the book were inspirational and I know she is going to love them. Her theme completely spoke to me. In short, working on this altered book was a pleasure. Below are some glimpses of the three pages I completed for Roxanne. You can also click here to be taken to my blog, The Altered Page, to see an image of one completed page.

Leaves were twinkling in every wind that blew...





Embroidered over with millions of silver flowers...




Precious stone...

Nature's Got My Number

I finished my section of Designs in Nature and it's now been given to the talented hands of Seth Apter from The Altered Page to begin his interpretation of my theme. This has been a uniquely special project for me, being my first collaboration and on the theme of nature- an entity so a part of me that my greatest challenge has been to create just a few pages to express the feelings and energies that it evokes within me.

Nature

Our trusted, most astounding friend
With exceptions of it's forces gone awry
It is the most gracious of hosts.
Always welcoming, always accepting.
And is the singular relationship that we will ever have-
Where we are always a special "insider".

It's a soulful relationship
With all of our senses
With that which is before us.
Comprised of life's natural signatures
Nature's beauty is an unwritten seamless poem.

In its awe inspiring infinite variety of patterns
With unique colors, lines, dots, textures, distinct shapes
And its ever magical grace and style,
Throughout our lives, nature flirts with us.

We get signs.. at first, oh so subtle signs.
Revealing ever so slowly,
Little by little,
Then a bit more and more.
From trees with erupting multi layered buds
To flowers as gorgeous as we can ever imagine.

The sea, the incredible sea
Glimmering bright with tides rolling in and out,
White foam topped rolling waves
Sounds of music playing above us
And a golden mosaic of sand under our feet.

Sea creatures hidden under the shore,
Swimming in the vast wide blue-green ocean
Whose size we can't begin to fathom
Brimming with trillions of gorgeous shells,
Home to sea life we may never see.

Birds' nests filled with tiny baby birds eating berries
Breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, the illuminating moon
Shining down on us with the brilliance of stars shining bright.
The amazing colorful rainbows, at times double rainbows
Born out of the magnificence of rain
Meeting the sun on it's journey out.

Tiny intricately woven spider webs
So perfectly shaped and spaced-
A weave of incomparable duplication.
Nature's designs, the greatest art work imaginable,
Is where my heart always finds home.