Artist books

Some days as an art teacher are more rewarding than others. Today was definitely one of those special teaching days. I have a beautiful Year 10 art class who have been working on artists books or altered books this term. The concept is Essence, so they can basically explore any topic, but I aim to push them away from cliche responses and towards a more sophisticated visual literacy. The results are always fantastic but today yielded some extra-specially exciting works. 

This altered alphabet book is a treasure. On some pages the student has crossed out or circled every single chosen letter, on others she has stitched, or ripped, or overlapped letters. But I particularly love the cut out cover of the letter A which reveals beautiful stitching. 

Every page of this altered book was a delight so it was difficult to choose the pages to feature. Consequently these images are only a glimpse of what this wonderful book contains. The work journeys from a dark and depressed state into hope and happiness. This student has displayed a very sophisticated aesthetic for someone that is only 15 years of age.

I really don't think these images do this work justice. I love this book so much, I am trying to convince the boy to sell it to me. Every page instills wonder and delight. It is playful, instinctively sensitive and just a totally beautiful response to the concept of doorways/journeys.

There are many more wonderful books from this class and I have another Year 10 class to collect work from tomorrow. I must acknowledge the fantastic work that my student teacher Gabrielle Morosini did with these students. It is a pity she was not here today to see the results of her hard work.