2 comments about Luxor Museum: The Glory of Ancient Thebes.

1. The Luxor Museum is small but contains many great artifacts of all types. This photographic approach uses some of the finest examples on display to take the reader through the museum in the order of a tourist visit. A plan of the museum is included. The great majority of photos are of free-standing statues in the round, mainly of royals and a few deities. They are superb examples, mostly of the 18th dynasty. Two outstanding figures that merit mention are the seated statue of Tuthmosis III in black granite, and the magnificent and rarely seen alabaster statue of Amenhotep III with the crocodile-headed god Sobek.
   
   There is so much more that could have been included. It's a nice book of 41 limited color photos that could have been a great volume had it depicted more of the awesome artifacts on display.
   
   Will look good on your coffee table.



2. Loved the book and the photographs are exceptional. Not a compliant - but it left me wanting more. It could have been a larger volume - but it is just a tease. Still love it though.

No comments about SlideGuide (with Student Test Packet) for Fichner-Rathus' Understanding Art, 8th.

4 comments about The Glass Painting Book.

1. Just beginning glass painting and swayed by the previous glowing reviews, I purchased a copy of "The Glass Painting Book" by Jane Dunsterville. Also, the photo of the gorgeous painted mirror on the back cover certainly helped! I will say that I am VERY disappointed as the book didn't meet my expections.
   
   Since this book is geared towards "the first-time glass painter", I anticipated some discussion about different kinds of glass paints, different techniques, ideas, etc. The book only glosses over these introductory subjects.
   
   For example, in her "Materials and Equipment" section, she discusses different kinds of glass paints. Some paints need baking and some are air drying only, or that some are more translucent than others. This is all fine and good, but I want to know what types and brands of paint are currently on the market, what are the benefits of using one kind over another, how many looks can I achieve (like stained glass), etc. There is a supplier index in the back, and it may be useful to those people residing in the UK, but there is only ONE supplier listed for the US. And I didn't realize QVC was a major supplier of glass paints to the US! NOT!
   
   Introductory paint projects should be written as scientific experiments: very detailed and easy to replicate. This is not the author's approach. She doesn't even tell you the color paints needed or how to replicate the "look" of the project. For the painted mirror project (as pictured on the back cover) she states a GENERAL list of materials (mirror, your design, glass paints, etc). There is NO instruction on technique in the project steps! They are trivial ... clean mirror, transfer design, paint over black outline, etc. I suppose the author relies soley on the 1-2 pages in which she discusses techniques in the beginning of the book. But how some of the projects looks are achieved remain a mystery as many of the "techniques" discussed should not be categorized as such. Cleaning the glass and paint smudges are not painting "techniques". The author gives artistic license to the new student prematurely by advising to "experiment" which actually disguises the lack of teaching direction from the author.
   
   On the upside, the book has beautiful pictures of the projects and useful design stencils.
   
   Overall, I do not recommend this book. I was very disappointed especially given the previous reviews. I have learned more about beginning glass painting on my own than through this book.



2. I was so struck by the beauty and vivid colors of the projects in this book that I just had to buy it. The picture lanterns on page 30 are of interest to me for they require no special glass, just old jars and such that we all have around, or can find at flea markets for little cost and we actually recycle and make them beautiful by painting. I also love her kindly faces of the Sun & Moon........just beautiful. Her techniques are clear and easy to follow. The book is just so EXCITING!



3. When looking for a glass painting book, I was after a book that not only showed me how to create the effect I am looking for, but to also give me idea's on what I want to paint. This book has it all. Technique, colour as well as design ideas. Brilliant!!



4. What can I say? Jane Dunsterville has created a masterpiece of a book. The pictures and related text are very clear and the instructions for the projects are easy to follow. Glass painting is a fascinating craft that can be used to decorate anything from a tooth brush holder to a full window. Jane shows you how to get the best from any given media.

1 comments about Beasts of India.

1. I first came across this book in Pondicherry, India at a hotel--I was just floored with the marvelous drawings, like paintings, really, and the great paper and binding. And, you learn from the book about animals that are important in India history and mythology. I think many of the pictures would be marvelous just framed. I am not a child and would certainly put them in my library!

1 comments about People with Real Lives Don't Need Landscapes.

1. I don't read poetry all that often since graduating from the university, but I discovered this poetry collection gem through John Dolan's newspaper "the eXile" and all I can say is I forgot how great poetry can be! "People With Real Lives" is highly readable poetry, often funny and at times quite violent, and amazingly diverse in themes. Whether calling for the canonization of Mark David Chapman "He gets my vote for heaven/Shot him the required three times: 3 miracles" or lamenting a mouse that he kills by burning him in his oven in "How I Killed the Mouse" every poem is a small trip to somewhere unexpected. The saddest poems, however, deal with fate, the fate of Dolan, perhaps, or the fate of all of us, such as "No One's After You" or "The Problem is How To Thank". Our lives our small. We are so ungrateful. We deserve so much less and we received even less than that. This is the sadness underneath the violence and humor of this wonderful collection.

No comments about On the Edge of America: California Modernist Art, 1900-1950.

5 comments about J W Waterhouse.

1. Anthony Hobson was my father and I watched as he researched, visited, photographed, wrote and re-wrote the text for this book. It was a labour of love, bringing to the fore an artist who had been deeply unfashionable for many years - out of step with the tastes of the intervening times.
   His writing style was characterised by a passionionate, often wryly humourous but always very readable style.
   His research discovered and brought to the public eye, paintings that hadn't been seen for a generation, paintings found in lofts and attics, and in private family collections. He met an elderly lady who had sat for Waterhouse when she was a child and recorded her memories of this event in her young life.
   Along side the personal aspect of the work runs the academic thread of rigorous research into the literary themes that underpin so much of Waterhouses paintings, and the placing of all of this in context with other artists of the period and before.
   My father fell in love with the sumptuous beauty and incredible technical skill of Waterhouses work. He was very aware of the power of images and spent a great deal of time working on the reproductions included in the book. What you have to realise is that this was the best that could be done at the time. Colour printing has moved on enormously since this book was published. The costs and quality are at vastly different levels to those available to authors today. He would be the first one to say that ANY black and white reproduction of this artists work could never remotely do them justice, but he worked with what was do-able and in giving a glimpse of long unappreciated paintings, he was able to start an army of fans on their way to a well-deserved re-assessment of Waterhouse.



2. If you're looking for a brief intro into who Waterhouse was and his paintings, then this book is for you. If however, you want to see his paintings in color and larger sizes, then do not get this book. This book is an overview of Waterhouse's life and paintings, not the complete story. For the complete story and paintings, buy Trippi's book instead.
   
   The text is laid out well and in sequence of Waterhouse's life. I found myself compelled to read the entire book in a short time.
   
   There are some color pictures, but they are not as vibrant as the Trippi book. Many of the pictures are black and white and some are quite small, fitting into the margins. It was frustrating to see the b&W pictures and to try to imagine what they were really supposed to look like. But if all you want is an overview and a sampling of Waterhouse's art, then this book may be more manageable than Trippi's.



3. I think I made a mistake when ordering and accidentally got this book instead of Trippi's hardcover. The narrative is interesting and insightful, but the reproductions are an outrage. Black and white for Circe Ividiosa and for (gasp) THE MAGIC CIRCLE??? Come on! Black and white should only be used to make a point about light and shade or for lesser works and studies. But there are several masterworks reproduced in B/W in this book. Also, the color reproductions are lousy as well. 3 stars overall out of respect for the author, but 1 star for the plates.



4. I find Waterhouse the greatest of the late 19th-century British painters. His women are full of life. He was a master at capturing the slightest expression to convey the personalities of his models. His compositions are superb. Paintings such as the 1888 "The Lady of Shalott" and the 1894 treatment of the same subject are as powerful as they are beautiful.

   Hobson makes his admiration of Waterhouse's paintings obvious. This makes the book a very enjoyable read. It is a wonderful introduction to Waterhouse's work. Hobson spends a lot of time discussing paintings--this is something that is too often forgotten in art history texts. He identifies aspects of Waterhouse's compositions that help make his paintings outstanding. He describes the literary sources of Waterhouse's subjects. He mentions the artists who influenced Waterhouse's style. The essays are clear and well-organized. Anyone who is interested in Waterhouse's work should read this book.




5. During my education and professional life as an artist and professor of art the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and their contemporaries especially Waterhouse was/is extremely appealing and inspirational to me and many of my peers who are painters or illustrators. His work is among the best of his and any era since. The lavish reproductions in this book do homage to the wonderful God-given ability of the artist. Waterhouse's nymphs, faeries and women are innocent, gorgeous, and fetching, his colors deep, dark and lush, his men heroic and altruistic. If you love PreRaphaelite era art, Romanticism, mythical stories skillfully representated in figure art, this is the book for you. Though I bought the book for the reproductions, I recently read the text and found it helpful.

1 comments about Studios by the Sea: Artists of Long Island's East End.

1. This is a beautiful book, with great shots of the studios of different artists. The studios are as different
   from each other as the artists are themselves. It has given me great inspiration in designing my own
   studio.

No comments about Sergio Rossi.

No comments about Creative Collectives: Chicana Painters Working in Community.