Friday Inspiration – Yvette Hawkins
I love books. Everything about them. How they contain so much information in such a little space. How someone can basically share large parts of their mind and imagination through such a small vessel. I love small, itty bitty tiny books. I love large, thick substantial books. I love books filled only with words that can transport you to other worlds and I love books filled only with images that do the same.
Did I say that I love books? I DO!
Almost more than books, I love art made with books. I used to have a journal that was made from an old book. The cover was salvaged and mounted on thick board and then spiral bound around lined pages just for me to fill. I had it for some time before I even used it. I do that. I buy journals to write in before my old ones are even half full. I’m a sucker for a good journal cover. That’s the truth.
But, back to art made from books. I think what I like so much is that no matter what the art piece, that has been made from the pages of a book, I know that there is a deeper level to the art. There are the words on the page. Sometimes it’s random. The artist just put the pieces together independent of what the words say, mean. Other times it’s completely purposeful. They’ve picked that exact book, those exact pages, those exact words, to emphasize their piece.
I stumbled across this artist the other day and if you could guess, she creates art from books. I was looking through Etsy, one of my favorite online marketplaces of ALL time, to gather ideas for wall art. (Valentine’s Day is coming and I needed a little inspiration.) I found a piece that Yvette Hawkins had for sale and had to visit her website. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Not only does she make small individual pieces but she makes huge installations. That’s where my heart sings. I LOVE the big pieces. The one’s that fill a room, gallery space or storefront window.
I definitely gathered some inspiration and now I think I need to visit a used book store for some materials!
