Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists [Hardcover]

Lynne Perrella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2008

A glimpse into the personal collections and work of 35 major artists.

This large format, full-color, inspirational book is about how artists use their collections to make artwork. The gallery-style format allows readers to see what artists collect, and the resulting spectacular artwork they make from it. The book will feature the collections and the artwork of thirty-five major mixed-media artists. The artwork will include journals, assemblages, altered books, as well as jewelry pieces, and detailed descriptions of the materials and techniques used, plus tips and insights into using unusual materials and collections.

Mixed-media artists are naturally collectors. They are fascinated by the stuff of life, and they are always looking for the right elements to add to their collages and journals. This book offers a juicy combination -- sort of a walk through an artist-filled flea market, and a gallery of the pieces created using these collections with tips and insights on collecting and creating, and how they go hand in hand.

Features a lineup of 35 contributing artists including:

• Lynn Whipple
• Graceann Warn
• Gail Rieke
• Beryl Taylor
• Keith LoBue
• Michael DeMeng
• Nina Bagley
• Susan Lenart-Kazmer
• and more

Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions features a beautiful collection of inspirational artwork. You'll enjoy artist's tips, creative ideas, and advice on working with unusual materials for collage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Perrella, Lynne. Art Making, Collections & Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists. Quarry: Quayside. 2008. 160p. photogs. ISBN 978-1-59253-363-3. $26.99. FINE ARTS Perrella (Beyond Paper Dolls) features creative uses by 35 artists of found and collected objects such as buttons, shells, textiles, photos, suitcases, utensils, and other castoffs that are given second lives in art projects. Examples of each artistÆs works are displayed on a colorful double-page spread, with large photo reproductions and commentary that includes quotations from writers and musicians. Some of the most innovative and clever applications are wedding-cake-box sculptures, worn and painted gloves, and outlandishly decorated corsets and military garb. Instead of serious intellectual art, this is more a showcase of works by artists having fun with trinkets and treasured ephemera. Contact information and artist web sites are included at the back. A popular crafts addition suitable for many public collections.

Russell T. Clement, Northwestern Univ. Lib., Evanston, IL, Library Journal, April 2008

About the Author

Lynne Perrella is an artist, author, and workshop instructor. Her art interests include collage, assemblage, art journals, and one-of-a-kind books. Her first two books, Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks and Alphabetica were published by Quarry. Her third book, Beyond Paper Dolls came out in September 2006 by Stampington. She contributes articles to a variety of magazines, including Sketchbooks, Martha Stewart's Body + Soul, and Mary Englebreit's Home Companion. Her work has appeared in various books on mixed media including: Collage for the Soul, True Colors, Crafting Personal Shrines, Altered Books, The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery, Quilted Memories, and others. Lynne also appears in the documentary film, "1000 Journals". She conducts creativity workshops at venues throughout the United States and abroad. She exhibits collage and assemblage at galleries throughout the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. Her website is www.LKPerrella.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592533639
• ISBN-13: 978-1592533633
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #812,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Welcome to my Author's page. I live and breathe mixed media artwork. I am a collage artist, author, and workshop instructor. Years ago, I was consulting with another artist who was writing a book on Altered Books. I knew many colleagues in that field and was happy to make recommendations and forward along any potentially-helpful information to her. One day, I got an email from her stating that she had decided to also include the topic of Art Journals in her book. I immediately fired back: "Hey! That subject should have its OWN book"; and she recommended that I work up my own book proposal on the subject. On an impulse, I went ahead with the idea, and within a week I started writing my first book, "Artist's Journals and Sketchbooks", published by Rockport/Quarry in 2004. I realized how affirming it was to be an advocate and a spokesperson for a topic I felt strongly about; plus it was a joy to feature the work of artists I knew and respected....plus some new faces. The other compartments of my life, as a full-time artist and a workshop instructor, work well with my more recent role as an author. All of the aspects, of all these endeavors, seem to interact perfectly. Since my first book, I have gone on to do four other titles. "Alphabetica", "Beyond Paper Dolls", "Art-Making: Collections & Obsessions" and my latest book, "Art-Making & Studio Spaces". Every aspect of doing a book project is interesting; from the first sudden "what if?" vision of a potential book idea, to planning the book map/pagination, to working with my photographer, to interacting with the contributing artists, and getting the guidance and coaching from the editors at Rockport/Quarry. Not unlike the art-making process itself, my goal as an author is to attempt something that is unique, distinctive, and personal. I would like artists and non-artists alike to encounter my books and feel that they are being welcomed into a fascinating artform (mixed media) where personal artistic exploration is alive and well.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A lost opportunity, February 19, 2008

By 

Susan Wood (Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists (Hardcover)

I've been anxiously awaiting this book since it was first announced. The topic fascinated me. The list of artists included is inspiring. The book is lavishly illustrated. So why is it only worth two stars?

For me, the book doesn't deliver on its promises. I was hoping for in-depth discussion of how and why individual artists collect and how their collecting and collections influence their work. What the book delivers is a series of 'sound-bites' which don't go beyond superficial observations. It never comes to grips with its theme.

The organisation of the book doesn't help, with comments and work from each artist spread across several (loosely) thematic chapters. Perhaps a meatier book would have resulted if each artist had been covered in a section of their own. The reader would have certainly got a better sense of each artist's work that way.

The images are beautiful, but they too are frustrating. Some are badly framed. Not everything is captioned, and the captions that are provided are not very informative. Many of the photographs are over-styled. This is particularly annoying when it is the work itself that is being shown. In some cases it is impossible to tell where the work stops and the other bits and pieces start.

It is a pretty enough coffee table book but lacking in substance. I'm happy enough to keep it, but if I'd seen in a bookshop it would have stayed on the shelf.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boo Hoo!, March 4, 2008

By 

A. Platten - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists (Hardcover)

I ordered this book with the expectation that I would get to see inside artists studios with all their "stuff". I want to see the environment other artists work in and how they tick including those things they are obsessed about having in their studios to work with or be inspired by. Well, that's NOT what I got in this book. While the photography is stunning, I was disappointed to find that there are only a few photos even shot inside an artists studio but also that all the "collections" for the photos were very staged. It makes for a 'pretty' book but that wasn't what I was looking for. It's a coffee table book for people who just like to have books laying around. It's not something to sink your teeth into. I love all of Lynne Perrella's other books but this one was disappointing. Had I realized I had 30 days to return it, it would have flown back to the post office the day I opened it. I just ran across the receipt and had hit my 30 days so I'm stuck with it. I felt I wasted my money. Maybe I just had wrong expectations of the book and it just wasn't for me.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank You, Lynne Perella!, March 11, 2008

By 

Laurel Hall (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists (Hardcover)

This is the most inspiring art book I've seen in a long, long time. I saw it on the shelf at Borders, and vaguely remembered I'd read something somewhere about a forthcoming Perella book. I took it off the shelf and browsed through it, and got a big rush: Have To Buy!Have To Buy!Have To Buy! followed by, "Oh-h-h-h, I should wait. I've already blown my book budget for this quarter and I don't even have a discount coupon. Oh, how selfish I am even thinking about buying yet another book. Easter expenses coming up and two birthdays and dental work to pay for...etc., etc., etc.." So, I put Perella's book back on the shelf and walked away. But, then I turned around and walked back and picked it up again and looked through it some more---almost hyperventilating all the while---and...put it back on the shelf, but, in the end, I bought the book and I'm completely enamored with it. Upstairs and downstairs, and back up and back down again, I've carried it with me, keeping it close by, browsing through it over and over, each time a pleasure.

As one with a long history as an artist/maker of the odd object and collector of disjecta membra and tattered discards, the book practically sings to me. It's not a how-to book, but instead, could, I think, be aptly described as an afternoon's outing through an intimate art gallery. The photography is glorious; Perella's books always are. The text is superb, both beautifully sensitive and generously nuanced in its reportage of the artists' purposes and devotion to collecting and art making. Truly, of all the excellent art books and magazines I've bought in recent months and years, this is the most personally stimulating and inspiring of all! So inspiring, in fact, that I'm seriously contemplating unearthing my own packed-away collected treasures and either putting them on display---or better yet, making 3-dimensional mixed-media art again!