No comments about Art Worlds.

5 comments about Believe: A Christmas Treasury.

1. I'm a grandmother and I would recommend this book to anybody who loves Christmas and what it stands for. A treasured keepsake. Wonderful stories to read your children, Poems, food for thought, a few stories could be used for programs in church etc. It's an enjoyable read and I wouldn't part with it.The pictures are beautiful and I can't say enough. It was even nicer than I had expected. Love it!



2. This book's gilt-edged pages, charming colorful illustrations and classic Christmas treats including among many, O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi" and the nostalgic holiday song, "Over the River and Through the Woods" make for merry family holiday pleasure. Splendid! This book is called a treasury for good reason.



3. What a beautiful book - and a great gift idea! I saw this at the bookstore a few weeks ago and loved it. I ordered it as a gift for a friend out of state off of amazon.com and was pleasantly surprised when 2nd day air and the book came to less than the cost of the book at the bookstore. Add this book to your Christmas collection!



4. This is a book to be passed on from generation to generation. The illustrations are exquisite, and the poetry and stories and vignettes are extremely well chosen.



5. This is a great collection of Christmas stories, songs and other treasures. All of them are beautifully illustrated by Mary Engelbreit.

   If you love Christmas and Mary Engelbreit this book must be in your collection.

   You'll love it!

3 comments about Acrylics - The Watercolor Alternative.

1. Generally, this book was all that I hoped it would be. It gave specific step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations of demos for the techniques the book presents. Great pictures too. I thought of a few questions related to this topic while reading the book, and have not found the answers for some, so... it is not as comprehensive as I wished. As a long time water colorist and acrylic painter, I was given the exercises and steps I need to continue on my own using acrylics like w/c but avoiding some of the w/c problems that inhibit some of my ideas. A measure of my approval of the book is that I am considering a workshop by the author, when I have the opportunity.



2. Being a former teacher of art I have 4 favorite books and this has become one of them. I found Acrylics: The Watercolor Alternative to have the best demonstrations that illustrate technique. I use acrylics in my work and Harrington's versatile use of acrylics makes for a wide range of possibilities. He is an architect which is reflected in the dicipline of his work. I love the sketches and preliminary designs he prepares. This is very important for artists. I would highly recommend this book. Bino, March 2006 Ruston, Louisiana



3. I love this book. If you love the vibrancy of watercolors but not their 'fragility' this book offers a great alternative. I am an intermediate to advanced artist and find that this book is exactly what I was looking for. I especially like the section on riverbed rocks under water. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow and cover a nice range of subjects (landscapes, water, trees, buildings, flowers, etc.) There are plenty of step by step demos to get a feel for the technique. There is also a nice, but not overly long section on materials. His painting style is somewhat realistic, but not too much. After buying lots of books I have FINALLY found just what I was looking for. I took a chance on this one, since there weren't many reviews and I couldn't look inside the book, and I am very happy with it.

2 comments about Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories (Book & CD).

1. This is one of the worst books on sound art I have ever read. Its like reading an article in college newspaper. The research is incredibly week, it is as if Licht referred only to The Wire for his information. He makes many mistakes concerning John Cage (who made Sound Art in the early 60s and NOT just for "the stage") He takes cheap shots at Stockhausen of whom he seems to know NOTHING about (Cardew was wrong by the way). There is more to sound art than what can be found on Forcedexposure. This book is just awful, and I am afraid it will be used and referred to by teachers and curators in the future, which is a crying shame. And if you think I'm wrong, do some research on Sound Art and you will see that there are many many many books better than this one. After I bought it, I brought it right back and got a full refund I then used that money to order a Stockhausen CD. Please shop around before you buy this book.



2. Years ago, a critic remarked that so-called Performance Art might have been called either Theater or Dance if those media were less uptight. That's how I feel about sound art - if Music were more open as a discipline, we wouldn't need to have a special category of stuff called sound art. We would simply recognize that for most of the 20th century, music and visual art blurred into each other, and the artistic use of so-called non-musical sounds became increasingly important. Today, in the age of the sample, where Foley artists and composers are often one and the same, and most undergrad art students have made at least one sound piece in their lives, it's useful to have Alan Licht's clearly written, well-illustrated, handsomely designed volume on how composers and artists have worked with sound in the 20th century. Licht hits all the significant movements (Futurism, Dada, Fluxus, etc.) that contributed to sound art, and does a good job of exploring the range of possibilities (from sound sculpture to sound installation to Christian Marclay's floor covered with vinyl records). While I might wish that some of the younger contemporary artists working with sound got more space, you can't have everything. A few years ago, the Pompidou Center in Paris did an exhibit called Son et Lumiére, and if you can find the catalog (and read French) it provides the history of the connection of music and visual art missing in Licht's book. But until that's available in an affordable English version, Licht's book is probably the best available on the topic. And the handy CD included means you can use your ears as well as your eyes to consider the topic, a welcome addition.

No comments about Big Stitch Knitting.

1 comments about The Writings Of Marcel Duchamp (A Da Capo Paperback).

1. I cannot recommend this "as a read". It has value if you have a significant level of interest in this type of art.

2 comments about Vincent Van Gogh: A Self-Portrait in Art and Letters.

1. It is a pleasure to see Van Gogh's original handwriting in his letters, accompanied by drawings and skecthes. Highly recommended.



2. I was so pleased to find this book in the library and after readint it I had to own it. I have many Van Gogh books. This one is espeically interesting since the editor minimized her words on the first page of every chapter. The words after that are Van Gogh's words taken from his letters to Theo and various others. I find it extremelly intersting to read what he wrote about his works as he did them. This is a terrific book.

4 comments about Silver Age Sci-Fi Companion.

1. The space adventures and worlds envisioned by a classic DC Comics series edited by Julius Schwartz and written by Gardner Fox and John Broome is revealed in SILVER AGE SCI-FI COMPANION, a consider of the series stories of Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space which includes reviews of complete series and behind-the-scenes insights on writers and artists alike. Any Silver Age comics collector, library catering to them, or science fiction fan will relish the plot synopses and insights.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. All of the comic history-related books TwoMorrows Publishing puts out are worthwhile, but this is the best one yet. Author Mike W. Barr really goes the extra mile here and it shows. Not just a dry recitation of facts, Barr weaves together interesting factoids and makes connections where you least expect it. Wonderfully illustrated with vintage art, there are plot synopses of the biggies like Adam Strange and the Atomic Knights but also obscure DC sci-fi creations like the Faceless Creatures (!) and Super-Chief. More fun than a visit to the Space Museum. Go out of your way to get this one. A+.



3. The Silver Age Sci-Fi Companion is up to the standards of most TwoMorrows fare - expert coverage with interviews of the living comic book creators who were there when this stuff was all created. A lot of these comics were before my time so it was a great exposure to concepts that I had never known of (such as Space Museum or the Atomic Knights). There's even a look at which books were reprinted and when. This book provided me with days of reading enjoyment.



4. If you ever wondered where the inspiration came for these superheros and a bit of comic history, buy this book.

2 comments about A Cezanne Sketchbook: Figures, Portraits, Landscapes and Still Lifes (Dover Books on Fine Art).

1. This is a copy of a sketchbook of Cezanne's pencil sketches. It has a good introduction and explanation followed by a listing of the sketches and then finally all the sketches. Interesting to see if you like to draw, and especially to see if you enjoy Cezanne's paintings.



2. "A Cezanne Sketchbook: Figures, Portraits, Landscapes and Still Lifes" is a reproduction of the informal drawings of the artist Paul Cezanne. These are all black-and-white sketches, accompanied by an informative introduction by Carl O. Schniewind. The sketchbook captures Cezanne's monumental human figures, haunting faces, and lyrical landscapes.

   The really wonderful surprise in the sketchbook is the fact that the artist allowed his young son Paul (b. 1872) to also draw in the sketchbook. Thus we see these charming childish sketches alongside the work of a master artist. When you also consider the many portraits of little Paul by his father in this volume, the "Cezanne Sketchbook" becomes a moving testament to the love that binds a father to his son.

2 comments about Jack Vettriano: Studio Life.

1. I'll confess it now, I'm not much of one for most modern art. I tend to find it too loud, or too busy, or just plain awful. But, as they say, there are exceptions to every rule, and Scottish born, self-taught, artist Jack Vettriano is one of them. You might not recognize his name right off, but if you saw his work, you would know right away who he is. The best known of his works are the two paintings, Elegy for the Dead Admiral and The Singing Butler. It seems that nearly every poster shop in the world has these two available.
   
   But I prefer his moodier, darker works. In those, men and women are shown in intimate moments. Some have dangerous overtones, others are very sexual in nature. Sometimes there is nudity, but not very often. But what does come across in every one of them is a sizzle of passion and intensity.
   
   With his book, Studio Life, Vettriano lets us into the world where he creates his images. Even more interesting, he shows us just how he gets there -- from the places where he gets his inspiration from -- Scotland, London and Nice, France -- his models, where he works, and finally, himself.
   
   The book is filled with photographs and reproductions of Vettriano's works, from the inital sketches and rough ideas, to how he sets up his models for a shoot -- and sometimes uses himself as a model, all the way through to the final painting.
   
   Other intriguing aspect is how culture has both influenced, and has been influenced by, Jack Vettriano's work. I was rather pleased to see that some of my own favourites were there too -- musicians such as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, to name a few. There's edgy glamour in his paintings, the women in them leggy and made up with scarlet lipstick, the men in suits and ties and impeccably turned out. In our age of open sleaze, and Hollywood excess, what I like about them is that it harkens back to a time when there was a bit of danger to being in love, that being with someone sometimes was a risky thing indeed, and everything could be bundled up into a single glance or the turn of a head. And sometimes, in Vettriano's work, the cigarette in a hand, or a glance.
   
   An interesting touch is the introduction to the book, penned by none other than a fellow native son of Fife, Scotland, long time mystery author Ian Rankin. He discusses some about the nature of both the writer's and artist's life -- namely, they work alone, they have to, or otherwise nothing would ever get done.
   
   I rather enjoy Vettriano. He's got a rough and tumble honesty to him that strips away most of the elitism or obfuscation that most modern artists cultivate. And there is a real skill underneath there, his figures are very alive and there. While his people are nearly too perfect, in a stylized film noir way, the viewer's eyes keep going back. There's a story in that painting, a snapshot of time, and you've just been allowed a peek inside. But just a peek, mind, it's up to you how the rest of it will play out.
   
   If you can handle the sometimes disturbing, sexual, tone of his work, Vettriano is an artist that is worth a second look. While I know that there is a snowball in hell's chances of ever owning one of his works, his books do let me have a bit of his work for my very own. And that is enough.
   
   Five stars. But not for everyone. Proceed with caution.



2. I appreciate Vettriano. He's a fairly decent craftsman and his ideas are nice. He is an artist who has found a nich and is able to make a living off of it. There isnt an artist I know who wouldnt honestly trade places with him. (That tells you something about the artists I know.) The feel of the book is quite contrived. I love seeing artists' studios. ONes work space call tell you ALOT about a person. His studio is functional and boring. The best photo is of him in his artist get up. Old ripped clothing that has a huge red smear of paint across the front. How the hell did that happen (!!), apart from on purpose. Silly. The text is interesting. He explains his process, which does have merit.