Artful Readers Club - April Read

My book for April was The Brethren by John Grisham published in 2000.

I was totally sucked in to the narrative from the first page and found it difficult to put the book down!  For me, it contained all the elements of an expertly fashioned and totally believable crime story with a political sub-plot. In no way spoiling the plot, the main characters are two ex-high court judges and a disgraced Justice of the Peace who are serving lengthy sentences in a federal prison in Florida.  With the help of a bent lawyer, they place advertisements in a contact magazine and pose as young men wishing to become 'pen pals'  with older men.
At the same time they are busy writing their letters, a country is going to the polls to elect a new President.

A piece of American junk mail arrived fortuitously in the post box this week so I thought a collage would best depict this very enjoyable book.  The fingerprints, letter (written in block capitals), SWM (single white male) and postage stamps with election badges set the scene for a great read.

Thanks for stopping by and I do hope you will check out all the other reviews at Darcy's Art-and-Sole and thank you for your lovely comments.

Last Enchantment Altered Book Page - Dancing Unicorns

These pages are dedicated to the legend of the Moon Dancing unicorns as told by Meredith Ann Pierce in Birth of the Firebringer.  Each month the unicorns gathered at dusk to dance in a Circle under the full, dusky moon.

The unicorns are from Chocolate Baroque stamps and have been stamped in Black Archival Ink and then covered with Glossy Accents and glitter.  The foliage stamps are from Clarity and Lavinia Stamps.  The background has been made by masking and sponging with various Distress Inks.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate them all.

"Last Enchantment" Altered Book Page - Jack Frost

I think we have all seen enough of Jack Frost just lately and he also inhabits the enchanted forest.  As a child I found Jack Frost to be a bit of a scary character and yet, at the same time, very appealing.  The image of Jack is from Google and has been coloured with pencils.  The poem by C.E. Pike is the one most of us are familiar with "Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about!"

I have white gessoed the pages and then sprinkled Stampin Up's Dazzling Diamonds powder on whilst the pages were still wet.  The snow flakes have been stamped with Cobalt Blue Archival Ink.  The images have been attached with Golden Matt Gel and brushed over to seal them.  Snow crystals have been punched out of silver holographic card to add some shine.

Thank you for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment.  I appreciate every one.

Last Enchantment Altered Book Page - The Green Man

The image of the Green Man is a freebie from the very talented artist Jay's blog as drawing this would be way beyond my capabilities.  I have coloured the image with Derwent Inktense pencils and then used a crackle stamp from Sheena Douglass and a border stamp from Clarity Stamps to complete the design.  The poem on the opposite page is suitably creepy and called Green Man in the Garden by Charles Causley and has been coloured with Pan Pastels.  The pages have been coloured with Distress Stains and overstamped with green Archival ink with a flourish stamp from Fiskars.

Thank you for looking and do feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate every one.

"Last Enchantment" Altered Book Page - Fox

This has been a work in progress, altering  "The Last Enchantment" ex-library book for over 12 months now, only working on pages as and when the mood has taken me.  I am almost at the end of my imaginary journey within an enchanted wood.  I have recorded all the animals and fantasy creatures encountered, together with a snippet of information, mainly in the form of poetry, about each one.

This is the first page I have drawn and coloured from scratch.  Usually, I have relied on rubber stamping or print outs for the images. The inspiration for this layout was from a painting by Patrick Latimer, a South African artist.  I was impressed by the simplicity of his fox drawing and felt confident that I could draw one too.  The picture has been coloured with water soluble Caran D'Ache Neo II crayons and blended with a damp brush.  I am very impressed with these crayons, with their ease of use and the rich pigmentation.  Not having to use a wet brush to blend means that the page does not get wet and wrinkled when drying.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment, they are all very much appreciated.