Woman turns her beloved books into works of art
Allyson Porter has a special appreciation for books. She decorates them. With them and because of them, too. She’s a book artist. It’s a rewarding but fading craft.
“So many are looking at the computer screen now and not the page of a book,” Porter said. “I’m not sure many today would say they love a book. But I do.”
Allyson’s art says this as well — she has a personal library of her own. She takes books from her family’s inheritance and turns them into art objects.
Allyson and husband Jan Porter inherited the library of Jan’s twin brother, Stan Porter, when Stan passed away in 2016. Stan was a collector. Most of his books were first editions, many signed by the author. The boys came to the love of books understandably. The Porter brothers’ mother was Louise Porter, a beloved public school teacher whose entire teaching career was spent in Cass County.
Allyson’s book art is natural, too. She says she first looks at a book and then lets the book look back at her.
“It begins to tell me something, and I start gathering items to go with it. But from then on things just seem to come together, and the book art turns out. I really can’t explain it any better than this.”
Every bit of the book can be used. Cover, binding, pages. Pages may be folded, origami style.
“If I had my druthers, I’d decorate a house with leather books and their gilded pages with satin bookmarks. Maybe from the Franklin Library and the Easton or Oxford Presses. Let’s go back to the seventies and find those collector items that aren’t getting read anymore anyway and just decorate with them.
“It definitely seems to me we are saving something very special in several ways.”