I've had this book in my wish list for several years and recently bought it due to being heavily discounted. I loved Rhodes' Fragmentation and Repair, and I've found Sketchbook Explorations quoted, referenced and wish-listed by many artists in many art books. Because my expectations were really high, the reality was a bit disappointing.
I LOVE
> Although Rhodes is a textile artist, the book is very useful for mixed-media artists and painters.
> The hard-cover is coated with a velvety fabric. A real treat.
> Gorgeous, good quality photos that give us an insight into Rhodes' art process and artistic eye. They are not just illustrative for what she speaks about, but they can be used on their own to get inspiration.
> The way Rhodes approaches sketchbooks and the many ideas and inspiration I got when reading and looking at the book photos.
> The tips on how to create your own brushes and painting tools, how to make concertina books, ring tags books, scroll sketchbooks, foldable sketchbooks and much more.
> The ideas to use labels, envelopes, index cards, and tickets to create mixed media pieces.
> This is a book to both read and watch and you can do one or the other, or both at the same time.
> The book has a small back index, old style publishing, something that I love.
SO SO
> I wish the book had a ribbon bookmark because this one of those books that I visit over and over.
> Some of the practical exercises Rhodes suggests are well known and nothing original or new in 2024. They might have been innovative in 2018.
> Most of quotes Rhodes includes in the book are not necessary as Rhodes is an experienced artist, an awesome one, and her voice is as strong as the one of the artists she references.
> Rhodes skips the surface for the subjects she presents in the book, so they are excellent as an introduction not in-depth explorations.
I DON'T LIKE
> Although printed in good paper, this is a bit too glossy for my liking.
> The text body is not fully justified, which, in my opinion, rests polishedness to any edition.
> The font size is too small and faint, difficult to read for me and I had to use a magnifying glass for it. The font type and size for the quotes in the book are perfect, and I would have loved that to be the one used for the text body. Reading a hardcopy book
is different from reading it on a Kindle, so I wonder why some editors think it is OK to have such a small font (beyond saving printing space) especially when the book is quite pricey.
> The structure of the book is not specially organic to me.
IN SHORT
A must book for those artists who want to keep a sketchbook art practice. Definitely perfect for beginners, but I found it to be a source of inspiration for me. Having said that, Rhodes' Fragmentation
book is more comprehensive an experimental; if I had to decide
on which one to purchase now that I have both, I would choose Fragmentation.
This is a great book for both amateur and professional textile and mixed-media artists. The book reads well, has great quality full-color photos and there are plenty of techniques and ideas that I'll be trying out in my artwork.
THE BOOK'S CORE
The book explores
how to fragment and deconstruct mostly salvaged, recycled and reused cloth,
paper and objects before repairing and reassembling them into a new
artistic whole or series. This is achieved by using different techniques: manipulation, weathering, washing,
soaking, burying, abrasion, staining, burning, scorching, making
holes, fragmenting, reassembling, folding, deconstructing,
reconstructing, repairing, and collage, among others. Working small allows extensive experimentation and exploration before taking on large pieces of projects.The message is:"Do not discard
things that are fragmented or seemingly mundane, as they can provide
inspiration for drawing and mark-making and may be included in finished
work. Looking closely and embracing imperfection can lead to stimulating
and visually exciting work. Allow traditional methods of repair to
inspire and stimulate innovative, contemporary ways to join and
reassemble. Finally, remember that everything can be altered and
adjusted – if something is not working, it can be reworked, and often
the results will be far more dynamic and exciting than the original."
(p. 283)
Shelley Rhodes'
work is strongly influenced by Japanese, Bangladeshi and Korean
textile and paper techniques, concepts and aesthetics as well as by
Western quilting, patchwork and mixed media art.
-- Japanese Boro (heavily
patched and repaired clothing and bedding made through necessity in the
far north of Japan and worn by poor fishermen and peasant families in
the late 19th century. They're made from rags, repaired and patched with
many layers stitched together using fabric scraps to patch holes and
thin areas). Sakabukuro sake bags, Wabi-sabi (the aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence), the concept of Mottainai (or using every last scrap of fabric), Momigami (the art of paper kneading, which involves the repeated scrunching, crumpling and unfolding of paper) and Washi paper printing techniques. -- Bangladeshi Kantha double-sided embroideries created from worn-out saris and dhotis. -- Korean Jogakbo,
a style of patchwork traditionally used to make wrapping cloths by
sewing together geometric scraps in an irregular, improvised way, using a
special seaming technique to create a flat seam, which gives the cloth
the appearance of a stained-glass window.
Beyond her own work, Shelley Rhodes comments on other artists' artwork at length: Beverly Ayling-Smith, Sharon Brown, Jenny Bullen, Elizabeth Couzins-Scott, Alice Fox, Matthew Harris, Debbie Lyddon, Sian Martin, Jan Miller, Sally Payne, Wen Redmond, Dorothy Tucker, and Donna Watson. Their websites or Instagram are mentioned at the end of the book. I really got inspired by some of the techniques and ideas that Rhodes mentions throughout the book, as well as by seeing examples from her own and other artists' work showing these put into practice. All the 'Things to try' suggestions in the book are really inspirational, as well as other well-explained techniques and experiments that Rhodes mentions. Her creativity and dedication to her trade are amazing. The book is also great explaining how art pieces are conceived, tried out and made. Besides, Rhodes provide invaluable guidance on how to present, display and exhibit artwork.
IMPROVABLE
Some of the techniques mentioned in the book are difficult to replicate due to the need of specific tools, materials/mediums and working space that aren't ready available without expending a bit. Just an example, the Devoré paste recipe. I'd rather have this mentioned and then an alternative product mentioned as substitute.
Some of the explanations that Rhodes gives or her own or other artists' work are full of jargon and unnecessarily complicated.
Although the quality of the photos
is excellent, I would have loved having full page photos because the current sizing, in both my android and PC, aren't the best to enjoy the artwork at its best.
KINDLE EDITION
>> On the bright side:
-- No typos on view and the edition of the book is excellent overall.- There are plenty of good quality photos, which display well by double tapping.
-- The book comes with a subject index, which is properly hyperlinked to the pages the different entries relate to.
>> On the downside:
-- The footnotes and the hyperlinked references in the text aren't well linked and take us to an area or page that are the correct one, at least on my Kindle for Android. I guess that this changes from device to device, phone screen size to another, and whether you read the book on a smartphone, tablet or computer, but ain't sure.
-- The chapter Making Changes has two sets of 11 samples photos experimented with, which are shown before and after the experimentation. However, they aren't displayed side by side, and, even worse, the samples aren't numbered on the photo.
IN SHORT
A great inspirational well-edited art book that has given me plenty of tools and ideas to put into practice in my own artwork, which is more than what I get for most mixed-media art books.
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