*EAST*

EAST is an altered art book that I've worked on for a couple of years, adding to it every now and then. This is one of the reasons I love creating altered art books - you don't have to "finish" them, and you can continue with them as long as you like.
This particular "book" is really a stationery folder that was given to me as a child. I've turned it inside out - the outside was originally the colorful red and yellow batik-printed Japanese paper. The inside was very old bark paper with natural texture and with pockets. It was called "Mingei Letter Set" and unfortunately, I do not have any of the original stationery left. The folder remained intact, thankfully.
The additions I have placed in this book are Asian postage stamps, coins, photographs taken in Japan and Korea, miscellaneous cut-outs and calligraphy, rubber stamp images, cloth "beads" and painted wooden beads, chopsticks, pages from Oriental books and maps, decorative papers, photographs of my own artwork, a tiny Oriental silk knot, a paper bill (money), printed papers with gold foil, and finally an Origami crane that I made as a teenager. Unlike my usual sepia-toned vintage altered art books, this one is colorful and playful.