I have some beautiful papers from Cave Paper that they call “skins” – it is translucent and crackly, a good fit for the inclusion of snakeskins, which I also have a supply of and a fondness for. There is a single sheet structure that I have seen referred to as a maze or a meander book but the reference I like most (and that I can’t find now that I’m looking) is a snake book (I think Scott McCarney calls it this). An obvious structure choice for this book. -

Another trigger was a book I had in the studio Reptile Medicine and Surgery by Douglas R. Mader with beautiful reproductions of reptile anatomy.

After folding and cutting the paper, I painted with gouache on both front and backsides. I have lately been using a writing technique similar to those used for found poetry. My texts do not necessarily conform to poetic form but the guidelines are similar. Text on the frontside was created from an article published in the July 3, 1930 Walnut Grove Tribune - a bit of folklore (what might today be called an urban myth) about the milksnake.

That Milk Snake Story

In the pine barrens I caught a large snake
black-and-white serpent
immune to the bite of any
The sight started a line of snake stories.

A cow that suddenly went dry
watched, she would go to the far pasture
low invitingly
A snake would creep out of the grass
milk her.

When the snake was killed quarts of milk gushed out.

The cow pined away
and died.

A sad story; true as most.

On the backside is a text written from various encyclopedia entries, again, using found poetry methods. I digitally formated my writings to fit this book then laser transferred it to the bookpages.

The oviparous milksnake
whose clutches average ten
starts with three, or four
or even twenty more
in humus or under rot

eight weeks later
the precocial young
need precious little more

(brightly born they dull with maturity)

even the largest of milk snakes
could no more milk a cow than could a bird

For the cover I sandwiched some snakeskin bits in between 2 circles of mica and, because the mica is transparent, it is possible to see through the mica to the image painted on the first page of the book.

The book when closed measures 7×6x3/4 inches, and extends open to 7×22 inches.

This final images shows the page orientation etc. of the book, and that it remains really, a one sheet structure.

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Alicia Bailey

Das kleine Büchlein, das man aus einer Seite 30,5×30,5 cm Cardstock falten kann, hat seinen Namen von einem Irrgarten.

Die Faltung ist aber gar nicht so kompliziert, wie es zuerst aussieht. Eine schöne Anleitung, zwar auf Englisch, aber hervorragend bebildert habe ich bei ANSO gefunden. Und so sieht mein erstes Maze-Book aus.

Es ist ein kleines Erinnerungsgeschenk an meine Freundin, die ich vor ein paar Wochen mit ihren Kindern im Playmobil FunPark getroffen habe.

Ein Tip für Neulinge: Wenn man die Fotos so ausdruckt oder entwickeln lässt, daß 4 Stück auf einem 10×15cm Ausdruck sind, passen sie genau in dieses Album. Entweder macht man das selbst mit einer Bildbearbeitungssoftware oder z.B. bei DM Drogeriemarkt am Fotodrucker. Dort gibt es diese Auswahlmöglichkeit auch.

Cardstock – Bazix von CreaMotion
Scrapbookpapier- Basic Grey
Rubbelbilder – Kaisercraft
Den Titel habe ich mit dem Craft Robo ausgeschnitten. Der Font “Bauhaus 93″ passt ganz gut.

Ich wünsche Euch jetzt schon ein tolles Wochenende. Ich werde arbeiten, denn ich erwarte eine große Lieferung mit neuer Ware …