Altered and Collaged Folded Books
Acerca de
Sponsored by Chateau de Balsac
Led by Tanya Wilkinson
Sep 23 - Sep 28, 2025
All-inclusive pricing for five nights, six days; includes lodging, outings, courses and more
3,400 €
A culturally immersive workshop exploring books as an art form, using up-cycled materials and found objects.
This hidden gem of rural France is the perfect place to slow down and take time to create. With over 2000 years of human history there is always an interesting corner to explore. The Aveyron, long secluded, is an authentic, unexplored area that holds a rich collection of ephemera, upcycled materials, and curiosities. The second-hand stores (brocantes) and flea markets (vide grenier – which translates literally to “empty the attic”) provide ample locales to find interesting objects to create mixed media art pieces.
The Experience
This six-day all-inclusive* workshop is a chance to explore an untouristed area of France, create lasting memories, be inspired and create an altered or collaged folder book. You will visit Brocantes and Vide Greniers to find materials to create your own works of art. Through folding, cutting, layering, and mixed-media techniques, participants will transform discarded books into sculptural and visually expressive artworks. By the end of the course, students will have completed at least one altered book and gained techniques to continue their own explorations.
“An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that changes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its appearance and/or meaning.”
This workshop is designed for new and experienced artists and is a supportive environment to learn or enhance your skills. Apart from visiting the various brocantes, etc, we will also experience the beauty of Aveyron by visiting medieval villages, hiking through the countryside, strolling through the Soulages Museum (a world-class museum focusing on abstract impressionist Pierre Soulages) and enjoying the local cuisine.
Each day you will be able to relax, slow down, and enjoy the living-history all around you. By the end of the workshop, students will understand various book alteration and folding techniques, develop skills in collage and mixed media applications, create a finished altered book as a personal art piece, and gain confidence in experimental and sculptural book arts.
The Workshop Leader
Tanya Wilkinson, PhD, is a Feminist artist and author based in San Francisco. She began her career as an artist by making paper by hand, then progressed to printmaking, collage, assemblage, mixed media sculpture and book arts. These techniques and media are still part of her current creative practice.
Tanya has shown her work primarily in the Bay Area, since 1999. She is also the author of several books: Medea's Folly: Women's Relationships and the Search for Intimacy (1998), Persephone Returns: Victims, Heroes, and the Journey from the Underworld (1996) and Women’s Dreams and Nightmares (2018). You can see her work at https://www.tanyawilkinson.com
Artist’s Statement:
An artist is essentially a storyteller. Where do the stories come from? The artist takes in experience, sorts it, reconstructs it and gives it a shape. Having elaborated and refined a world inside herself, she then stands on the threshold between that inner world and the outer world, trying to make some part of the internal narrative visible to others.