Alphabetica An A-Z Creativity Guide for Collage and Book Artists

Whether you call it collage, altered books, book arts, assemblage, or mixed media, there's no debate about the creativity of the artists whose work is showcased in this book. Each of the 14 artists was working on the same theme -- the alphabet A to Z and numbers -- but each produced unique results. It's not a how-to book that shows you how to do everything step by step, but one that provides inspiration and enough info to try new techniques and approaches yourself.

Don't be misled by the subtitle of this book ("An A-Z Creativity Guide for Collage and Book Artists") into thinking this is a step-by-step, how-to book. It's not a guide to collage techniques for newbies. Rather it's an ideas and creativity showcase featuring the work of 14 different collage artists working on the same theme (the alphabet and numbers). This doesn't mean there aren't techniques in the book; they're just not explained in detail.

What makes the book are the big photos of the finished pieces, set on a white background so you can study each piece in detail. There are also loads of "Try this" boxes suggesting ideas. Obviously with the variety presented you're not going to like everything, but just turn the page and move onto the next thing. There's plenty.

Personally I'm going to have to stick pages 56 and 57 together because it makes me shudder to see the journal covered with sawn-off tops of alphabet blocks. I concede they're well worn, it's just not for me. But if I flip a bit further on, to pages 78-9, there's a piece by the same artist that I love: "W is for words".

Towards the back there's a section called: The Masters Artists Workshops. Here each artist is given two pages to present an approach or technique, and explain how they created the work featured. There's also a list of 10 studio essentials and people who've influenced their work. If you like lists, you'll love these!

If you're in need of some inspiration or fresh ideas, you'll find it in here!