THE RAINBOW FISH COLLAGE

Buy me here!

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I had the awesome opportunity to attend a Pop-Up Museum at Westerly Public Library yesterday.  I brought my Rainbow Fish Collage for feedback. The Rainbow Fish was written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister.  I've put a link to Marcus Pfister's official website for you because there is such a wealth of information, resources and more amazing books to read with your students or children. Marcus Pfister was originally a graphic artist that worked in advertising. He published his first book entitled The Sleepy Owl in 1986. The Rainbow Fish came to America around 1992 and has been translated to over 80 languages and has sold over 30 million copies. The Rainbow Fish is also an animated show. Students and teachers love The Rainbow Fish. For my display yesterday, I included the cover of the badly damaged book that I made the collage from. Thank you to everyone for your positive feedback at the Pop-Up. I've included a better picture of the collage below.

The Rainbow Fish Collage

I LOVE MY HAIR!

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My first Recycled Story is based on the book I Love My Hair! by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and illustrated by E.B. Lewis. This is a fabulous book that I read to hundreds of students as a teacher in Boston. (See Ms. M’s Materials on Ms. M’s Mass Media). The collage grew from a very tattered paperback with pages falling out. At first I thought I might just frame some of my favorite pages but the edges were also tattered and E.B. Lewis's beautiful illustrations were speaking to me, "don't throw me out!" The faces of my students who would share new found confidence about their beautiful hair and experiences after reading the book with me were echoed in Natasha Anastasia Tarpley's story. I couldn't throw this book away! Maybe I could save it? Thus, Recycled Stories was born. 

It actually took me some time to pull this story together. I hope you enjoy it. I’ve made quite a few Recycled Stories since my first and do not have the wall space to keep all my beloved art. The one-of-a-kind collage is framed and measures 18” x 22” and comes complete with a new, hard cover copy of I Love My Hair!  Contact me for pricing on the collage.

ORIGIN OF RECYCLED STORIES

As an educator and library media specialist, I have seen my fair share of books that have broken spines, torn pages, ones that have become the dreaded "coloring book" or my all time favorite - "nacho libro!" My beloved Luis brought back his book quite literally dipped in cheese from cover to cover. I thought I took a picture of "nacho libro" but as I post I can not find it. Should I find it, I promise to update this post. But I digress as this post is about what has brought me to recycle stories. I felt there just had to be something I could do to save some of the books that were being returned unreadable and turning books into a collage as a Recycled Story was born. I haven't posted any of the collages yet...they will be here soon! To make a Recycled Story these are the Three Rules I follow.

1. The book must not be readable as a book anymore; binding cracked, pages loose, a few pages may have writing on them or it could be an overly loved paper back with a tattered cover.
2. I must be able to retell the story - the essential elements.
3. I ONLY use one book per collage, but I allow myself to use other items such as paper, cloth, ribbon or other materials as appropriate to the design.

The book below was actually "recycled!" The pages were stuck together and could not be separated after completely drying out for two weeks. I have collected a fair number of books over the years that qualify to become my collages, but I also go to tag sales or library book sales to find candidates for my artwork.

RECYCLED STORIES IS LIVE!

As I continue  my eclectic journey that has always involved education, communication, media and the arts I am repurposing some favorite and lesser known books and stories of our time. RECYCLED STORIES uses damaged and beyond repair books to create story collages and other functional novelty items to decorate your favorite readers life.