Since launching in 2010, Pinterest has sparked a renaissance in the art of crafting. A resurgence of collecting and creating homemade art projects has filled the Internet, with users cutting and pasting to their hearts’ content.
The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge has tapped Tanya Ruffin as the organizer for a new event at The Red Shoes on Government Street. The class will feature Ruffin teaching attendees the craft of book altering, an interest Ruffin has practiced for several years.
Ruffin is the social media coordinator and IT trainer at the LSU AgCenter. Aside from her job at the University, she is the creator of Create Studios on Perkins Road. Ruffin teaches different crafting exercises and hosts “Arts and Carafes,” an art class where students bring food and drinks.
Book altering allows the artists to redecorate old or damaged books into journals, photo books and scrapbooks for new hobbies.
“It’s kind of to be made as a form of scrapbooking, but I really wasn’t interested in scrapbooking,” Ruffin said. “It’s just a way to repurpose unloved books and keep them out of the dumpster.”
The process of book altering is fairly simple, Ruffin said. Using glue and materials like paint or glitter, anyone can alter a book into the newest addition to their art collection. Books are first thinned out by tearing out a portion of pages. The remaining pages are glued together to strengthen them like cardstock. After a coat of paint and some embellishments, the book is ready for new materials.
Because a newly altered book offers nearly infinite potential for decoration, Ruffin sees the craft as long-term work. Altering a book can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the artist’s preferences.
“You can paint, you can cut out scrapbook paper and glue it down,” Ruffin said. “There are pretty much endless possibilities from that point. The whole point of them really isn’t to have a finished product. The whole point of it is actually the journey of making the books.”
As an artist herself, Ruffin sees altered books as a sort of on-the-go art project. When there’s no time to sit for hours in the studio, artists can pull out their books and work on design ideas and different uses.
The Red Shoes, where Ruffin will lead the book altering workshop, is a nonprofit learning center. Pairing with the ACGBR, Ruffin was The Red Shoes’ choice to teach a course on this relatively unknown interest.
Ruffin said she sees a benefit to attending crafting courses like hers versus simply scrolling through Pinterest for ideas. Despite being filled with videos explaining book altering, few websites take the time to specify each step that can be taken for the perfect book.
“There’s tons of little techniques that people do with all of their books,” Ruffin said. “When I first started it, I actually was watching videos … trying to learn it. I can find a video … on how to tear the book, but I don’t know all the cool things I can do to paint the page and then draw on it.”
The workshop is scheduled for today at 6:30 p.m. Admission is listed at $60.
You can reach Gerald Ducote on Twitter @geraldducoteTDR.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Book altering class on March 3 will offer the chance to recreate pieces like this.