Local artist's book available

Local artist Alma Cox can officially refer to herself as an author since the publication earlier this year of her first book "Collage Fusion: Vibrant Wood and Fabric Art using Telamadera Techniques."

She signed copies of the book last month at Stitchin' Post, where the book is available for purchase.

Cox decided to write the book after she penned an article for the magazine Cloth, Paper, Scissors that described her mixed-media technique of Telamadera Fusion or "TF".

"The response was so wonderful and positive that I thought it would be fun to share many ways that Telamadera Fusion can be expressed in a variety of art techniques," she said.

Telamadera Fusion is an art form that brings paint and material together on wood.

"You can add in mirrors, plaster, or wood embellishments, for example, to take Telamadera Fusion even further," Cox said.

This line of creative thinking carried Cox into the realm of quilters, hence the connection to Stitchin' Post. She has expanded the TF concept to scrapbookers, fine artists, and even jewelry makers as well. The resulting mixed-media art book features 20 techniques that expand the Telamadera Fusion process, and 10 additional step-by-step projects that use fabric and mixed-media techniques in other expressions.

Response to the book had led to a number of teaching opportunities, which is one of Cox's goals as an artist.

"The overall purpose of writing the book is in line with my own personal purpose of inspiring others to expand their own creativity, and to bring more beauty and joy in creating into our experience," she said.

Cox will be teaching TF locally at Stitchin' Post on March 22, and will also be featured among the instructors at the annual Quilter's Affair held in conjunction with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in July. The book is also available at Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com, and at at Cox's Web site http://www.almaart.com, which also includes further information about her artwork and art endeavors.