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Diane Franklin
Artist, Teacher, Writer
Artists' Books
The books shown here represent a wide variety of book structures and content. Some contain original photographs; others use papers that I have printed or painted. Some include collages while others are made from the pages of discarded books or maps that have been altered in some way. For me, the joy of book making is experimentation. It's also about finding the right format or structure for the content, or the reverse, so that the two components of each book meld seamlessly together.
Click image to see expanded view and more information about each book.
Utamaro Carousel
Carousel book featuring prints from 18th century Japanese printmaker Utamaro Kitagawa. The book consists of three layers,of varying sizes. The background layer and the frame layer are covered with Asian lettering. The middle layer consists of a series of Utamaro prints adhered to card stock and then cut around. The three layers are hand sewn together.
Accordion binding with Japanese hair ornament used to close book
Accordion binding with Japanese hair ornament used to close book
Double-Sided Flag Book
This double-sided flag book consists of two sets of collages, used as flags. The first set is made from gelliprinted papers. The second set is made from photographs that have been used for transfer printing on a gelliplate. These prints are covered in black paint, but the original photographs show through. Cutouts from the first set of collages are used to enhance the second set.
Double-sided flag book structure
Double-sided flag book structure
Contemplation
Large book made from many kinds and many layers of paper including photographs, gelliprints, sewing pattern paper, old book pages, etc. The last layer consists of Asian scripts and washi papers.
Slip stitch binding
Slip stitch binding
Eileen Fisher's Army
Pop up book made from an old Eileen Fisher marketing leaflet.
Accordion binding
Accordion binding
Pinwheel
Geliprinted pages, each folded into a 3 panel box structure and connected together. Magnetic closures keep the book opened in a circular shape.
Circular binding
Circular binding
Doors of Europe
Book features original photographs of doors, taken in France, Spain and Belgium. Book is housed in a loose portfolio cover.
French door book structure with accordion binding
French door book structure with accordion binding
Women of Worth
This book is comprised of photographs of the nine collages that were part of a large wall piece I had previously made. On the back of each book page, there are tiny collages made from scraps of the original collage papers used in the larger piece.
Accordion binding in codex format. This allows the book to be viewed as a traditional codex or to be arranged in accordion format.
Accordion binding in codex format. This allows the book to be viewed as a traditional codex or to be arranged in accordion format.
Red Dome
Circular book made from 3 layers of maps: an old atlas, a bicycle map, and a map of Boston. Edges of the papers were dipped in red dye. Book used Turkish and Hungarian map folds. Handmade paper beads were added for interest. Magnetic closures hold the book in a circular form.
Circular book structure
Circular book structure
Marian Anderson Coptic
Book made from pages taken from an autobiography of Marian Anderson. The pages were cut, dyed, divided into signatures and then assembled into a coptic book. The cover papers and binding strip were made from papers that were underneath the book pages as they were being dyed.
Coptic binding
Blue Flags
This book started out as a double-sided collage made up of gelliprints printed with local plants. The collage was then cut up and assembled into a flag book.
Flag book structure
Flag book structure
Waterworks Museum
Book was made from original photographs taken at the Waterworks Museum in Boston, MA. This museum houses the old machinery that was once used to pump water to the city of Boston. Black and white images, made from the photographs, serve as inside covers.
Japanese stab binding
Japanese stab binding
Spring Green
This book consists of a number of prints and collages made using using variations of green and yellow paint. The pages are held together with fused strips of silk organza. Some of the pages have cutouts, allowing a glimpse into other pages.
The covers feature book cloth made from shibori-dyed fabric.
Fused book structure
The covers feature book cloth made from shibori-dyed fabric.
Fused book structure
Black and White Collage Book
This book consists of a series of uneven and varying pages comprised of collages, prints, and painted papers. The pages are held together with fused strips of silk organza. The book's cover is textured wallpaper.
Fused book structure
Fused book structure
Double-Sided Accordion
The front side of this double-sided accordion book was made from an unsuccessful collage that was cut down into smaller pieces and attached to black paper. The reverse side was made from gelliprints that echoed the colors in the collage.
Accordion book structure
Accordion book structure
Holes and Curves
This double-sided book is made from watercolor paper. One side was printed with circular images using the gelliplate. The second side was gessoed and then printed on the gelliplate in a random fashion. Holes and curves were then cut out of the pages so that subsequent pages show through.
Accordion book structure
Accordion book structure
Double-Sided Panorama
This panorama book is made with gelliprints on both sides of the page cutouts. The gelliprints are multi-layered and made with masks of different shapes and sizes.
Accordion binding
Accordion binding
Green Snake Book
This book is made from painted cardstock. Squares and circles were cut out of the cardstock and then attached to each other with rayon cording.
This is a version of a one-page maze book.
This is a version of a one-page maze book.
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