Altered Platter: Collaboration for Dining With Friends

Dr. Ed Madden, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina and a published poet, agreed to collaborate with me on a special project. Four of his poems (two already published) were used with my mixed media ideas. The result is one of fifteen platters produced by local artists for the Dining With Friends Dessert Finale. It is an honor to be selected as one of the artists. It was my great pleasure to work with Ed's words!



I hand-painted heavy watercolor paper for the pages. The poems were printed with help from Traci Coleman at Kinko's. Without her, I don't think I ever could have managed the alignments needed! These pages fit inside the watercolor pages. I used an open binding over ribbons.



Vintage stamps, some hand cancelled, were collaged on the watercolors. The trickiest part of the project with getting the book attached to the painted platter. I used GAC 200, the least flexible of the polymer emulsions and one specifically designed for non-porous surfaces. Silicone covered paper with Ziploc bags full of sand held everything in place while drying.



Alex and I will soon be creating another video of this project. We're still collecting files to be used. We're planning to include a brief biography for both Ed and I, information about the local charity organization (Aids Benefit Foundation of South Carolina), the logo for the charity (we've got permission already), and pages of text so each poem can be easily read. We are also trying to find a perfect recording of an Italian song mentioned in one of the poems.




Above is an image of the platter before I attached the book. I painted it with Glossy paints. These are the colors that are baked in an ordinary household oven to a hard, enamel surface.




Mouse House also creatively framed the poster for this year's event. I used automotive primer on a variety of found objects and screwed them all onto the white, wooden frame.