Title: The cloth paper scissors book : techniques and inspiration for creating mixed-media art
Author (Editor): Barbara Delaney
Info: 160 p. - 2011
Rating: 7/10
Notes:
Being Dutch my access to the many wonderful American mixed media magazines is limited at best. It is possible to subscribe internationally of course and it is possible to order single editions through the internet. Both are more expensive however than just buying books. I have had the pleasure of getting some of Stampington's magazines, but Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine was still only a name to me, not anything I had really seen up close.
So I was pretty pleased when they decided to make a book out of their best articles and when I received a gift certificate for an online bookstore for my birthday this book was on my wishlist and I decided to buy it. I am not disappointed.
The book has a wide range of articles all dealing with mixed media art. The articles are grouped into seven sections dealing with beginning as an artist, printmaking and surface design, journals and bookmaking, collage and assemblage, mixed-media stitching, mixed-media and beyond and a chapter on getting your art into the world.
A lot of variety in subjects and where there's a lot of variety it's inevitable that some things speak more to you than others, but on a whole I loved most of what was shown. A lot of today's mixed media mavens are showing off their work and are telling you how they did it. Think of people like Jane LaFazio, DJ Pettitt, Susie LaFond or Kelli Nina Perkins, to just name a few.
Of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't have at least some criticism about this book as well and that mostly has to do with the instruction as it is given in the articles. Although the articles mostly do tell how the work is done often it is assumed we know more than we may know and also there are hardly any process pictures at all, only finished products. This makes the book look very pretty, but may also make it less practical if you're a visually oriented person or have never worked with some of the materials mentioned.
Still, the book is full of inspiration and ideas and it would be hard not to find something you might like to try. On the whole it's not the best book on mixed media out there, but it's an nice way to look into what you might like to try and get to know more about. And it also tells me that Cloth Paper Scissors might be an interesting magazine to get a sample of some day.