Prelude, 'Cycled Time, Thrift Geek

Chicago artists craft new life for old book covers

The final chapter for many books may be less than glamorous — molding away on a basement bookshelf, or tossed into a trash bin.

But three Chicago artists are bringing new life to old books, reusing them or their beautiful covers for wall art, purses and even clocks.

In part of a growing trend, old volumes are showing up in galleries, at art fairs and in small shops around the Chicago region. Sales, artists say, are swift.

BJ Negrete, an artist and  bibliophile who lives in Oak Park, recently began selling wall art made from books at Thrift Geek in Evanston.

Negrete said she searches for books that are beautifully designed. Antique buttons serve as fasteners and a picture hook adorns the back cover. Her small works of art are priced between $24 and $45.

“I love the outside of books, the pictures on the cover,” Negrete said. “Instead of having them lined up in a bookcase where only the binder is visible, I thought hanging them on the wall as art would display their beauty. When you want to read it, you just take it down, read a bit and hang it back up.”

Shawna Rose of Chicago makes small purses out of book covers, and orders are rolling in, she said. Her cottage business “Prologue” carries the tag line, “Novel, Stylish, Handmade.”

Working out of a studio in her Chicago apartment, Rose said she was also struck by the beauty of older books. One of her economic text books became the catalyst for Prologue. “I had graduated, and I had all of these textbooks,” Rose recalls. “Then one day I looked at one of them and thought it would make an interesting purse.”

Today, Rose sells the purses at summer fairs and festivals, as well as on-line. Special orders are up, she said, despite the down economy. Many book fans request that their favorite read be made into something the can always carry. Rose has made more than 60 purses, most selling for $60 and up.

Amanda Christiansen salvages old books for her business "Cycled Time," converting hard covers into clocks. But she fears that electronic book-readers like the Amazon Kindle and low-priced paperbacks could spell The End of well-designed and beautifully stamped book covers.

"I really think the older hardcovers are beautifully made and I don't think they will make them this beautiful anymore," she said. "It will all be about paperbacks. The old books are small and designers put a lot of work into them. Now they want to make money. Years back, it was all about making a great book — cover to cover."