Last year I finished a series of paintings I named “Cartography” because they looked like abstracted maps. After the necessary fermentation stage (that point when you put the painting away and critique it several days later), I liked some areas of the paintings, but not the wholes. So I got out my paper trimmer and cut them up into little rectangles and put them away in my collage paper box.
Last week I was making little artist books and one was a sturdy accordion book made with textured card stock and book binding tape at the folds. When I was finished I knew it was the perfect background for my Cartography segments.
It is, in it’s own way, an old-fashioned folded map.
Accordion books can be as simple as a folded single-sheet or involve complicated pop-out shapes. They can also be made by hinging papers together, like I did here. This method involves a considerable amount of gluing, but results in a very sturdy construction that provides a substantial surface for paint or, like this one, more glue!
