4 comments about Fantastic Felines.

1. A friend showed me the book and I bought it as a resource for my art students. Wonderful use of colors and imagination!



2. WOW, WOW, WOW!!! This book is just knockout! Full-color dynamite with the exciting art of Laurel Burch. I love the simple lines and fabulous color combinations that set your imagination free with wonderful fantasy. the pictures are so gorgeous that it takes looking at them over and over again to catch all the fine details before you realize that what looks so simple is indeed complex and well-thought out art design. Very intriguing! A must have for cat lovers.



3. If you love Laurel Burch then you will love this book. It's gorgeous, sumptious, lavish -- all the words that people use to describe Burch's artwork. I thought the most interesting parts were 1) the biography; 2) the pictures detailing how various objects are planned, sketched, painted and then produced; and 3) actress Tippi Hendren's work in rescuing big cats (lions, tigers, etc). It would have been a better book, however, had there been more text regarding production as well as Burch's background and approach to her work. The last couple of chapters contain information about the various product lines (cups, plates, scarves, umbrellas, etc) plus four pages showing all of her cat jewelery -- but no information on how to obtain them or when and if her jewelery will be available again. Many of the pictures of Burch's artwork are suitable for framing, btw, so you may want to order two copies. Nb: with a couple of exceptions, all of the photographs are of Burch's cat pieces (hence the title of the book, "Fantastic Felines"). Don't buy this expecting an overview of all her work. But if you like the cats, then this book is definitely for you.



4. I have collected a variety of Laurel Burch products, this book, Fantastic Felines, I must say, is one of my favorites. It not only displays a variety of products Laurel Burch has designed, but also goes into her private life, for us to get an idea of what inspires her as an artist. Throughout her book, the poems and the beauty in her artwork, are heartfelt. Everytime I pick up the book I see something new. I recommend this book highly as an intergral part of any Laurel Burch collection or for any cat lover. Great as a gift, too, for that's how I received my copy, and I'll cherish it always. Thanks, Laurel. Fantastic Job!

1 comments about Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art.

1. In Suzanne Lacy's Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, authors espouse continuity and responsibility through community-based public art works, collaborative practices among artists and their audiences, and the engagement of multiple audiences through empathy and appreciation. Their sense of new genre public art builds on exposure, deconstruction, and rejection of modernism's constructs and myths. Throughout these essays terms such as "community", "consensus", "truth", "good", and "multiple voices" are used to propagate a genre of public art that is dematerialized and progressive. Yet, it is not realistic to assume that consensus and community will always be progressive forces. This book raises more questions than it answers. Such as; can an artist go too far in the direction of consensus and community? Isn't there danger in not recognizing the tensions and conflicts within any group interaction (small community) for the sense of consensus (common good). Do the multiple voices include those that do not label the project "art?" Do these, and other public art projects have the potential to fall back into the modernist trap of being seen as a fraud, a hoax, or a loss of craft, in which audiences are insulted? Are these projects art because an artist was involved, and what happens to that role if the artist is simply a conduit for other voices? Can the artist speak for communities from which the artist does not belong (is it better to utilize local artists from within the communities)?

5 comments about Royal Arts Of Africa: The Majesty of Form (Perspectives), The (Trade Version) (Perspectives).

1. I will recommend this book to the Ministry of Education.
   Indeed, it is one of the best books on African arts.
   It is more than a book on arts, it is an illustrated history of the origin and development of African arts, and the important role Africans monarchs played in shaping its identity and distinct personality.
   The book is a calendar and a humanistic-historical odyssey of the multiple dimensions of a pure African platform, an authentic African human expression, an original evocation of the African natural beauty, the African mysticism, the African struggle...



2. I don't know what to say but the quality and delivery time were exceptional!!
   The book came within a week of my purchase while still in its plastic wrapper.
   
   Very NIce!!



3. An allure of this book is the many (206) illustrations of art from the kingdoms of west and central Africa. Of these, some 140 are in full colour and show the impressive skill of the court artists.
   
   In Benin, Dahomey, Yoruba and other kingdoms, there were flourishing scenes. Each distinctive and fascinating. Readers may be familiar with the centuries of European artwork and how these varied between those countries. One thing this book makes clear is that central Africa had an equally rich and diverse history that, sadly, has not been often recognised by outsiders.
   
   The book can be read at several levels. The first and most immediate is simply an appreciation of the illustrations. A deeper level is to integrate that visual appreciation with an understanding of the cultures from which they derived.



4. One of the finest books on African Art I have studied. I showed my copy to a business assoicate from the Republic of Congo. She is from the Kuba tribe and deals in art from this area. She asked me to get a copy for her work and a friend of hers wanted another copy. If the African people approved of the book, what else can I say. Top reference book.



5. This is a rare good book. We have too little exposure to the great arts of Africa; this book is a remedy. ABy linking the art chosen to the royalty of West Afarica kingdoms, whe illustrates how close the connections were between power and art; power including raeligious and ritual power as well as temporal. The book lacked only an overview analysis to tie all the sections together amorae firmly.

No comments about Papermaking and the Art of Watercolor in Eighteenth-Century Britain: Paul Sandby and the Whatman Paper Mill (Yale Center for British Art).

No comments about Beyond Vision: Essays on the Perception of Art.

No comments about Calliope's Sisters: A Comparative Study of Philosophies of Art.

1 comments about Michelangelo: 16 Art Stickers (Fine Art Stickers).

1. I like using stickers of works by great artists. But, why does it have to cost more than $1.50.

5 comments about The Adventures of Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh (Adventures of Tintin (Facsimile Edition)).

1. It is a great work by a classic 20th century cartoonist. An outstanding 1930s black and white story about drug and arms smuggling. For all ages, full of mild humour, suitable for young children.



2. As you might or might not know, most early Tintin was originally published in B/W format, with old style drawing. Yes boys and girls, it wasn't the colour edition we have now in hands. The first 9 titles are sceheduled to be released in English. This Cigars of the Pharaoh is one of them.
   
   Most early Tintin might look very old to us. The drawing weren't that smooth, compared to the later coloured edition. If you're a die-hard Tintin fan, I'm sure you really wanted to know what the book originally looked like. You will notice that the panels also changed. Not just the size, but also the sequence. Some panels were even edited or deleted. Some panels are added. In short, you can compare both editions.
   
   The book was carefully printed and packaged. From the looks, people would already guess that this book (and also the others) is a lux book. The paper was good. The hard cover was good. The binding was good. The printing inside was also good. What more can you expect? Here the book also provided several pin-ups or covers in colour. It's a very nice gift!
   
   If you feel you're a die-hard fan of Tintin (and Herge) then no doubt you must have all these 9 B/W original editions.



3. First published in Le Petit Vingtième between 8/12 1932 and 8/2 1934. The book appeared in 1934 . Redrawn in 1955. It was first published in English in 1971.
   
   A colurful and detailed adventure , Tintin and his dog Snowy meet up with an eccentric Egyptologist on a cruise , taking Tintin on a danger-filled adventure from Egypt to Arabia to India , in a hunt for whoever is behind the mystery of the Cigars of the Pharaoh , he is framed for heroin possesion , caught up in an Arabian war and sentenced to be executed , lost in the desert , locked up in a mental assylum in India , before being led to an international ring of drug trafficers. It is amazing the amount of detail Herge worked into these adventure comics.
   
   Many of us grew up on them and love them for the nostalgia value.
   I loved the animation in the underground Pharaoh's tomb.



4. On a journey to Egypt Tintin meets absentminded Egyptologist Professor Siclone. The professor is in search of mystery. The only clue is a symbol drawn on a piece of parchment. Once in Egypt Tintin and Snowy follow the professor into an underground passageway marked by the symbol and find empty sarcophaguses marked with their names. They escape and find themselves pursued by mysterious criminals. All the while the mysterious symbol keeps turning up on stone walls, painted on trees, and on cigar labels...
   
   This comic is fun because of the exotic landscapes. Tintin travels through Egypt and India which are drawn with exotic flare. Whenever he thinks he has entered the traditional untouched east, western civilization intrudes: He rescues a lady from bandits only to discover that he has just spoiled a scene from an adventure movie. He is captured by Bedouins who recognize him as a celebrity reporter and are happy to have him as a guest. He approaches two arabs to ask directions and finds that they are in fact the Thompson and Thomson team who have donned robes to blend in. The east meets west theme, inherent even in the mysterious cigars marked with an ancient Egyptian symbol, kept me guessing through the book.
   
   The Cigars of the Pharoah maintains the quality of other books in the series. There are jokes for children and for adults, so it is a good purchase for families and public libraries. There are some loose ends which are tied up on part 2 of the story: The Blue Lotus.



5. On a journey to Egypt Tintin meets absentminded Egyptologist Professor Siclone. The professor is in search of mystery. The only clue is a symbol drawn on a piece of parchment. Once in Egypt Tintin and Snowy follow the professor into an underground passageway marked by the symbol and find empty sarcophaguses marked with their names. They escape and find themselves pursued by mysterious criminals. All the while the mysterious symbol keeps turning up on stone walls, painted on trees, and on cigar labels...
   
   This comic is fun because of the exotic landscapes. Tintin travels through Egypt and India which are drawn with exotic flare. Whenever he thinks he has entered the traditional untouched east, western civilization intrudes: He rescues a lady from bandits only to discover that he has just spoiled a scene from an adventure movie. He is captured by Bedouins who recognize him as a celebrity reporter and are happy to have him as a guest. He approaches two arabs to ask directions and finds that they are in fact the Thompson and Thomson team who have donned robes to blend in. The east meets west theme, inherent even in the mysterious cigars marked with an ancient Egyptian symbol, kept me guessing through the book.
   
   The Cigars of the Pharohs maintains the quality of other books in the series. There are jokes for children and for adults, so it is a good purchase for families and public libraries. There are some loose ends which are tied up on part 2 of the story: The Blue Lotus.

No comments about Conservation of Leather and Related Materials (Conservation and Museology).

2 comments about Ceramic Form: Design and Decoration.

1. This is another excellent book by Peter Lane. A good all round reference for design and decoration with a collection of work from many leading artists. The variety offered in this book will keep your inspiration going for many years.



2. I'm just involved in ceramics and I am more interested in homelife ceramics. This book gives me much ideas of vessel forms and decorations, it's very helpful, especially in the chapter 6 "forms in profile"!