Local artist Andrea Fountain showcases her talents at Artwalk
The City of Moscow’s annual event, Artwalk, has been allowing artists from around the area to share their passions with other people in the community for over a decade.
One artist, Andrea Fountain, has lived in Moscow almost her entire life. She moved to the city when she was in fourth grade and said she is glad to be able to share her unique, handmade book sculptures with people in an area that has become so important to her.
“I’ve lived in Moscow forever,” Fountain said. “I moved here when I was a kid … I grew up here, raised my family here — four kids and now a bunch of grandkids, and some of them live here, too.”
Erin Bamer | Argonaut
Coming from a family with artistic talent, Fountain shapes books into sculptures, and finds the process therapeutic.
Fountain displayed her art in Bookpeople last Friday for Artwalk. She said she started using books to make art when she realized she needed a new creative outlet in her life. Fountain began by messing with discarded books, and from there she has built upon her skills to create freestanding sculptures and hanging paper pendants.
The paper heart pendants that were hung from the ceilings of Bookpeople were the easiest for her to make, she said. Despite this, Fountain said the larger, freestanding sculptures are a lot of fun even if they are more difficult, especially the ones with gentle curves like so many displayed in her exhibit.
“Sometimes I make huge messes, and I don’t want anybody to see those,” she said. “They go into the fire … They’d be good fire starters.”
Now, Fountain chooses her books strategically based on what will form the best shapes. She said she looks for books where the binding is willing to curve to her desire, and considers page texture when deciding which book she will use for her next piece.
Fountain comes from a family full of artistic talents. Her mother was an artist, she said, and all of her four children have some level of artistic ability, specializing in building, music and her youngest son even teaches art classes.
At one point in her life, Fountain was a painter, but she went through a dry spell before moving on to her book sculpting. She said she may go back to painting in the future though, and she also is exploring into the world of floral design. She said she is always looking for an outlet to satisfy her creative needs.
Fountain finds the process of shaping a book therapeutic, she said. She doesn’t have a favorite design of hers — she likes different forms for different reasons. She said she likes the way her sculptures seem to move, and she forms her future ideas based on the movement style she would like her upcoming projects to incorporate.
“I really love making things out of old things,” Fountain said. “That’s why I like doing the books. It’s just like — this is something that somebody threw away and … I just like turning it into something beautiful again.”
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer