Alex, My Student, Becomes the Teacher

Graffiti apparel

Last week I mentioned to my new students how much I like graffiti. Immediately all eyes were on me and a lively conversation began.
Where was the best graffiti in the city I asked? Everyone started to tell me their favorite spots. Alex shuck his head, "no man its on Clinton Ave." "Miss can I show you pictures on my cell phone?" My mouth dropped to the floor when I saw his pictures. "Alex you have to take me there."

Yesterday Alex and I drove to Clinton Ave in Rochester, NY.

This was Alex's neighborhood, these were his home boys. He told me stories about growing up on Clinton Ave, and with much pride pointed out what made certain pieces better than others. He mentioned one group of street artists know as FUA Krew quite often. They were the best.

As I was preparing to write this post I looked up FUA Krew. They happen to be upstate New York's oldest and most well-know street artist group.

They have a web site http://fua-krew.org/ and are featured in Beyond Gotham a new documentary about hip hop culture in Upstate NY.

What an amazing adventure! Alex your the best! Thank you for sharing a part of your life with me. I'm truly honored.

The Long, Tall & Skinny Journal

My book measures 11 3/8 x 4 3/4"

forty six pages of collage

Page one, notice the type in the top left corner.
(I like old things)



I'm being very brave and sharing my second attempt at bookmaking with you.
If you look closely you will notice that my pages stuck together. :(
I spent all Saturday making my collages . Forty six pages of delight...
Yesterday they were crunchy but seemed dried so I bound them together with mat medium and clamped everything together.
This morning I ran down to my studio to check out the book. I almost started to cry... all the pages had stuck together. I gently tired to pull them apart, but as you can see there are torn pieces.
Just when the tears were about to flow, I noticed the copy on the first page. "I like old things." Do you think this was a sign from the universe? The pages do look old.
If your wondering what I used to glue my collage with, it was polymer medium. I think it was the polymer that caused the sticking and I forgot to put wax paper between the pages. You can be sure that will never happen again.

Book 1 : Plus Cuff

Week 1, Book 1, plus the extra bonus of a Cuff.

Last week was crazy! It was back to school meetings, and getting ready for students this week. My on-line bookmaking class began, and our son, Gian started his college journal out of state. (13 hour road trip).

Oh and our youngest son, Luciano celebrated a birthday.

I spent yesterday and today creating my first book. With everything going on the only thing I had time to purchase was the linen thread. Thank goodness I had all my recycle creations to use

for inspiration. I loved my book design so much I just had to create a cuff just like it.