Workshop: Make your own Altered Book with The Social Glue

Transform existing books into new artistic creations.

A number of artists from The Social Glue of Sydney have long term altered book projects which they work on alongside other one-off collage works or series. An altered book is wonderful device to use as a collage diary in between collage meets, or a way to to begin a session, like a warm up. Sometimes it’s a great practice to do at the end of a session, as a way to use up the scraps you’ve made. If you’re a low-waste person, this aspect of an altered book is very satisfying. We will provide materials for you to collage into your book, but please give some thought to procuring your own book, as it needs to be something that feels right for you to dedicate yourself to over time. Street libraries can be a great resource. Choose something that opens up well so the book will stay open as you are working. A small hardcover that’s portable is perfect, because the book that you can easily take with you will be the book that you actually work with. It can be illustrated or just text, but we’d recommend that you have something to work with that’s printed into the book - this helps counteract the “specialness’ of a blank page in an expensive diary with beautiful paper, and this affords the freedom to play and mess up. To start, we’d recommend finding something short enough that it won’t be daunting, and something that doesn’t have shiny paper because often this makes the book heavier and harder to work into. Feel free to bring a few options and we can discuss. 

We will show you strategies for working, glues to use, ways to store your cuttings, and we will share our works and what we’ve learned along the way. 

Your workshop leaders

Kathryn Bird, founder and host of The Social Glue of Sydney. Her altered book, which is an ongoing project of many years, works into a light and portable Japanese book bought for a few dollars in a Kyoto book store. Some spreads from this book can be seen on her website here https://www.prettyshakecollage.com.au/home/collage-work/the-altered-book

Nicole Buckland is an occupational therapist and avid collager. Her current altered book is an ongoing project using a vintage child’s encyclopedia. A video of part of the book can be seen here:  https://www.museumofintrepidexploration.com/work/altered-books

Nicole runs regular community collage sessions out of her studio, located at Sugar House Studios in Brookvale. 

Key art above by Kathryn Bird, founder of The Social Glue of Sydney.