I love using vintage books in my work.
I love the smell of the pages and
I imagine the stories that go with the book.
It inspires me to create.
I often think of the people who might have owned the book
I Imagine them turning the pages
Reading the words to themselves or aloud to others
I wonder about their lives and
what they might be wearing
or where in their home they might have spent time reading the book.
It feels like I'm holding a bit of history.
A bit of someone's story that is now part of my story.
This is a vintage "Salmebog" which is a book of Lutheran Hymns from Norway.
I got it at a flea market in Oakland, CA
It's dated 1895 and has a note inside that reads
"Given to me by my mother and father - 1917"
The original owner was
This book is so precious I can't bring myself to use the original pages.
I photocopy and scan the pages to use in my work.
I make lots of scans and print lots of pages that I put in a bin
so its ready for me to use when the creative muse strikes!
I'll be using some of the scanned pages in my weekly journal this week.