About Sherri Warner, book artist




Well, let's see...what can I tell you about myself, without boring you too much?

		My education in art began many moons ago, when I was a small child in rural Alabama. I was always encouraged to create. Some of my earliest memories are of making "art" - using empty matchboxes to make small vehicles, drawing on the back of used envelopes my grandmother saved for me, digging up clay from the roadside ditch to sculpt small figures, creating assemblages of seashells, or seeds, or keys, or whatever else we had a lot of. And when I wasn't making things, I was reading. I worked my way through a set of World Book Encyclopedias, the dictionary, the Bible, and whatever else I could find to read.

I attended the University of Alabama, and began in the Fine Arts Department. I soon convinced myself to switch to a brand new program called "Computer Science" so I could be assured of making a living. And I did just that for over 15 years. My last assignment in the world of corporate computing was to build and maintain a website.

This piqued my interest in graphic design, and when I was laid off, I pursued a degree in Graphic and Multimedia Design. There have been many art-related classes along the way, from Drawing 101 at the Universityof Minnesota to Sculptural Welding

through Bloomington Community Education.

And then, in the fall of 2002, I re-discovered artists' books. I was immediately captivated.

		Oh, sure, I had purchased a copy of Shereen LaPlantz's Cover To Cover back in 1995, and I had made plenty of books as gifts along the way, but I suddenly realized that there were other people making these wonderful books! Since then, I've been teaching myself, and creating as much as possible.
I feel like everything I've done in my life -- from the fine handicrafts to the voracious reading, the computer and design education and other art classes, the experimentation and interest in many different areas -- everything has come together in a fusion that I call book art.

My books are multimedia assemblages that combine words and images defined by several recurring characteristics. I love the synthesis of the content, the structure, and the materials - all of my books have content, and this content usually drives my other design decisions. Most of my work reflects my somewhat odd sense of humor - all of it shares a sense of playfulness and whimsy. The interaction between the reader and the book - that interaction that provokes surprise, delight, a smile or laugh - is very important to me. And all of my books are constructed from commonly available materials.

Now, I've developed a small body of work. I've progressed both in the technical skills required to build a book, and in the content development for those books. I'm at a point where I'm ready to begin sharing my work with people other than my family and friends.

The graphics on this page are Photoshop composites from various projects that I've done -- some intended for books that I have planned, some intended for other purposes.

Contact me if you have any questions, comments, or just want to talk about artists' books!