A long, long time ago, before I even thought much about creating mixed media art, I made myself a large wall art piece out of old dictionary pages and cabinet photos. That piece was always a work in progress that never grew as massive as I had dreamed. It had to come down when I moved from Turku to Jyväskylä over five years ago, but funnily enough I don't recall ever seeing it again until last week when I found the remnants safely tucked away. I had forgotten the whole piece and was looking for something else (and didn't find it). Studio inventory might be a good idea...

In any case, this pretty young lady had become separated from the rest of the dictionary pages, and I decided she'd be perfectly alright on her own. So, I made her a box frame, covered it with some more dictionary pages and kraft paper, and added a twine for hanging.

The markings on the cabinet photo, half hidden by the folds in the paper, show that this girl was photographed in the same city I left behind. For some reason I hardly ever use Finnish photos in my work, it's like I enjoy that one extra step of separation between myself and the foreign subject of the photo. I think the only other time I've used Finnish photos in my work was when I made a mixed media piece using photos of my great grandaunt Saima.

I don't think we Finns have a very particular look about us (at least it's difficult to put a finger on anything other than the blonde hair and the blue eyes - neither of which I have, I'm a very in-between person with light brown hair and greenish grey eyes), but it's still easy to spot another Finn abroad. When it comes to this young lady, I could guess she was Swedish just as well, but she does have that Nordic look to me.

I suspect I will have this in my shop later this week, together with all the details and a couple great new books. Now it's time to make those books I haven't even planned yet! I think Coptic notebooks could be a nice change from all the bullet journals and sewn boards bindings you've seen here lately. Stop by on Thursday to see what I come up with!