Canvas to the Imagination

In September I kicked off my new portrait series with a bang by shooting four of them in one month. In October I decided shooting two a month would be a more reasonable pace, and both subjects ended up being people from out of town. My sister Kathryn was in Vancouver visiting for eight days over the thanksgiving weekend so I took advantage of the timing to include her in my series.

The idea behind these shots was based on a suggestion by my friend Susie. She liked the idea of emphasizing my sister’s very thick and curly hair by making it crazy and nesty with birds and bugs in it. Since the only way I could pull of that idea was with a huge amount of photoshop work, I opted for something less elaborate but that still made use of her hair. My sister is a knitter so I went with knitting needles and yarn. I ended up having to string the yarn into different corners of the room for the shoot and then Kathryn had to sit VERY still while I took photographs. It was hilarious and we finished with the moustachio’d shot below.

The yarn draped over Kathryn’s shoulders is made by a local Vancouver yarn company called SweetGeorgia Yarns. Felicia Lo is the owner and she makes beautiful yarns in rich colours that even a non-knitter such as myself can covet.

1. Taking the train to Seattle and enjoying the beautiful view from the window. I saw about a million different bird species flying, gliding, or bobbing in the water as we went past.
2. A relaxing Friday afternoon spent in the Turkish Baths at the Banya 5 Spa in Seattle.
3. A long long afternoon nap in our hotel room with a beautiful view of the city and a giant king-sized bed. (Thanks for the amazing dealio Priceline.)
4. Visiting the Elliot Bay Book Company and managing to keep the book buying under control.
5. Trader Joe’s candied ginger and lemon verbena soap.
6. Amazing inspiring art at Patricia Rozvar Gallery and Gallery I|M|A in Seattle.
7. The lovely and funny wedding of Dave and Lauren.
8. Dancing the night away with Boris, and in high heels no less.
9. Ending the wedding evening with a huge Near-Death Ray gun battle between Boris, Mark and me. (We had to test out the wedding favors somehow!)
10. Hanging out with Mark and Andrea in Seattle for some quality eating and shopping.

I experimented with a new technique with this book. Folding the pages is yet another way to manipulate an old book, and there are so many different ways to fold the paper too. I loved how it looked when it was done because the folded pages create a beautiful pattern within the book. I decided to divide the pages into two sections and glue the edges of the paper together on either side, leaving the end pages exposed because I liked the pattern. I kept things simple with the composition of this book because the type on the page and the pattern on the end pages makes things busy enough. I wrapped the thread around the flower seed pod stem because I felt it needed just one more little thing.

My friend Siobhan was looking at the altered books in person yesterday and told me she didn’t get a good sense of them in three dimensions because so far I’ve photographed all of them flat. I decided to take more detail shots of this one to give people a better idea of what the whole thing looks like.

A sewing needle embedded into the pages to secure the thread.

A dedication written “To Elsie” on the end papers.

Materials used in this altered book: book, thread, two sewing needles, a poppy seed pod, and gel medium.