Customer Reviews

The Art of Personal Imagery: Expressing Your Life Through Collage

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been reading Corey's blog for years and when I heard she was putting out a book, I was skeptical. THough I adore the books she made for her little boys (having a little boy myself!), sometimes I felt her art just was not my style. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed when I bought the book. Her book is one of very few art books that I read cover to cover. Lots of interesting tips and discussion about art-making techniques and how to incorporate your own photos into art. I'm a little tired of seeing black and white photocopies of vintage photos in everyone's art, so I was happy to read about ways of taking and manipulating your own photos to use in a similar way. This is also a beautifully laid out book. The publisher did a great job in making it easy on the eyes. I heartily recommend it.

I just recieved this book and I have to say that I am very impressed with the overall quality of the book. The artwork itself is amazing...it is not generic like a lot of the collage work you see today. The author uses her own style and personal imagery to guide you through many of the process oriented examples in the book. I like a book that has a good balance of "how to" and inspiring eye candy. As another reviewer mentioned, if you don't like her style, you may find her samples somewhat similar, but I personally feel as if you learn more about her as an artist...she is not trying to do 10 different "styles", she is being true to her self and her art. As a photographer, I am always interested in new ways to incorporate my own photos into my art journals and I found this book to be wonderfully motivating.

And to think I almost missed this book because I thought it was just another cluttered-looking volume about scrapbooking. Shudder! This is a fantastically useful art book for anyone who wants to learn about painting great backgrounds, altering photographs, using personal symbols, and more. I highly recommend it to beginning artists and experienced painters who want to give their work a newer and more exciting look!

I love this book because the author shares her process of creating meaning in her collages. I have most of the major books on this style of art because I find it fascinating. I've also taken workshops from several of the authors and produced some pretty good looking finished pieces. Curiously though the finished pieces I've created leave me cold emotionally and I now realize it's because I wasn't bringing my own meaning to them. This author pushes you to find and express your own meanings and your own style. If you really read this book (not just leaf through the beautiful artwork) it will lead you into discovering your own meaning and style. Additionally, she provides methods not covered in other books on collage including incorporating modern photos. For my money, this is one of the best books on creating that I have purchased.

I am absolutely loving this book. I can hardly wait to apply Corey's techniques to my own personal art projects. I'm not a very good writer, more of a visual artist, but her book shows you how to incorporate a little or a lot of written word.
The quality of the book is excellent, spill proof cover!
And the photos are all very inspiring.
She encourages the reader to search for his/her own "style" and explains how to go about doing just that.

It is obvious from previous reviews that if you are familiar with this artists work/style, you will probably love this book. Moortgat's book does cover a wide range of techniques. Personally, I would have liked to see a wider range of styles used to showcase these techniques and/or particular aspects of collage.

Also, I suspect that if you are already a Corey fan, then being given a deeper glimpse into this artist's personal life and the exploration of her experiences and feelings through her art would be very interesting. For me, by the time I reached the half way point in the book, I found myself wishing for a bit more varied subject matter.

However, it is lovely to see a woman paying tribute to her own life in her art. It seems that all to often collage/scrapbooking/cards/alterbooks/etc are made to celebrate events in someone else's life.

I have never heard of Corey prior to picking up this book. Her artistic style is fun and the book is eye opening. Corey comes across as a very introspective and deep thinking person and she helps the reader to explore symbolism in their own artwork and give prompts and exercises which I found enlightening. She then offers up her own creative techniques to help you create your own art journals.

If you have been wanting to start an art journal but feel intimidated or overwhelmed, then this is a great book for you. If you are an experienced art journalist and want to explore the symbolism in your own work, while being inspired at the same time, then this is a great book for you!

Just received this book last week-wonderful inspiration. Being familiar with Corey's work online i couldn't wait for the book-it doesn't disappoint. The illustrations are great, as is the information included. It helps make you think about your next piece of art and giving it personal meaning.

Having read many books in this and similar categories, this book is an excellent resource.
As I too use personal imagery and the personal imagery of others in my art, I was very interested to see this book. I was not disappointed, in fact, I have read and re-read the book many times already and I cannot say that for many books of this nature, if at all.
The techniques are presented clearly and well. Coreys approach to her art is very similar to mine and I take my hat off to her for sharing both her wonderful techniques and her personal journeys as well.
The book is very clear and concise.
The chapters leave no room for guessing.
It is not a book filled with pretty pictures which either does not give the full techniques applied (as so many of these book do). It is not a book filled with borrowings from other artists.
That is why I enjoyed this book so much. Every technique is explained to its fullest potential - rare these days. It is not filled with fluffy images of anonymous people - I love that it is real, about real people, in the main and that it is all Corey.
I applaud her and the publishers for presenting us with a realistic book filled with real and useful techniques and approaches.
I cannot speak highly enough about this book, you will not be sorry if you are a collage, mixed media artist or a journaler.
Standing ovation!!!!
Encore.
Can't wait for the 2nd book.

As an avid scrapbooker and beginner mixed-media artist, this book has really made me redefine my style. I've reached a point in my art that doing pretty pages was just not enough, and I found myself including more and more symbolic items in my artwork. Being OCD-like, this book has really prompted me to loosen up, experiment and have fun with my artwork. Coreys artwork is so rich in meaning and symbolism. I couldn't put this book down, and even sent my kids early to bed so I could read it. The artwork is breathtaking, the examples are thorough, the supplies are listed, and...she even explains her inspiration and mental process of creating that piece of work. If you are interested in taking your artwork to the next level- out of the cookie-cutter mold- you will find this book a gold-mine of eye-candy and information.