No comments about Shipwrecks and Other Drownings.

1 comments about Picturing the Banjo.

1. The book is filled with beautiful color examples of how artists have incorporated the banjo in their work. Leo Mazow's insightful writing is the best in the book. Some of the essays are stretching the truth quite a bit but such is the problem with speculative art criticism. The book is bound beautifully and it is enjoyable to just sit back and look at the images. I wish it were hardcover. I did not know that the banjo originated in Africa. The history of the banjo as described in the book is excellent.

2 comments about Fayum Portraits (Memoirs).

1. I bought this book as a reference for making art. So I was very pleased to see that the book contains a lot of pictures. It's almost a Photo album with ancient family pictures. Great book.



2. This is a small book full of beautifull portraits of Fayum people, in which we can delight ourselves in the skills and artistry of the local artists, as well as the cultural customs it arrised from. It contains a short, but quite satisfactory introduction to the history and traditions of these portraits in greek-roman-egyptian culture. The basis of this book is the portraits themselves, these were carefully selected to present a spectrum of egyptian society. They are presented in a black foreground which enhances the portrait, simulating a family album, if you will. Haunting and beautifull. Recomend it to anyone who enjoys portraits.

No comments about National Gallery Technical Bulletin: Volume 25 (National Gallery London Publications).

3 comments about Josh Simpson: Glass Artist.

1. Purchased this book as a gift for a friend who collects Josh Simpson glass.Seller said the book was pristine--which it was--but the jacket had a scratch on it. When the book came there was a large scratch on the cover which might have been alright if the seller did not try to cover it up with magic marker!! That made it look even worse. Had to take of the jacket. Also I bought the book for $15 plus s/h which I don't remember being mentioned. OK that was fine but when I got the book, the large price sticker on the jacket,which would not come off (!!!), was a large $10. Thought that was a little cheezy.



2. Incredible details and history of Josh Simpson's Megaworlds. The artist shares the journey of one of his basketball size Megaworlds from start to completion, amazing. I was mesmerized by the beautiful pictures of his Megaworlds. I highly recommend this book to glass collectors and those who work with glass. Inspiring all around.



3. February of 2001 found me on a hilltop next to an old barn about ten miles from the Vermont border. It was cold out, that's for sure. New England winter is no joke!

   Soon, however, I was sweltering, as I was being ushered through the hot attic of an old barn, past row after row of thick rods of colored glass, and down onto the working floor of Josh Simpson's hot shop.

   I was standing there, a couple of paces from four or five furnaces, fiery orange crucibles of molten glass, watching T-shirted apprentices clad in protective eye-shields, colored to keep out heat and ultraviolet radiation, when a friendly man I had never seen before showed up at my left elbow.

   "Hi, I'm Josh," he said, and as we chatted about glass art, and how he started out with glass to begin with, he told me some of the stories you can read in this excellent book.

   The book gives you photographs showing how his beautiful glass `megaplanets', intricate and astounding, have been inspired by ice, by scenery, and by crystal-clear, detailed, yet strangely unfamiliar views of the earth from space. The close-up photos of Josh's pieces of glass art are startling. You can really see why glass is the most-collected stuff in the world.

   Andrew Chaikin describes exactly how Josh makes a megaplanet, a challenging process illustrated with some of the most evocative photographs of molten glass you can imagine.

   That's interesting enough as it is, but the second part of the book, where you can clearly see Josh's artistic imagination at work, and almost hear him talk as he writes in a warm, autobiographical voice, is intriguing.

   This book comes as close as you can get to being in Josh Simpson's brain and seeing the images in the world which inspire his glass art, and then actually visiting Josh Simpson's studio to see him create it.

   If you're at all interested in glass art, "Josh Simpson: Glass Artist" is definitely worth reading.

   P.S. Getting the book will be a lot less uncomfortable than actually being in the hot shop, which I believe is probably not open to the public.

No comments about The Magic of Things.

No comments about LeWitt x 2.

1 comments about Adam Elsheimer.

1. This book is a discovery. A catalogue for an exhibit at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, it documents the work of one of the most unjustly unknown masters in art history. Elsheimer influenced most of the big names who came after him in the XVIIth century.
   
   The quality of detail, tone, light and colour is well rendered in these pages. This book is a gem of erudition. Buy it before it gets out of print (books on Elsheimer are as rare as his paintings).And to think that the Louvre does not have a single painting by this artist!

2 comments about Bansemer's Book of Florida Lighthouses.

1. This was a "coffee table" book in a beach house we rented. We were really excited about it and ordered one for ourself and one for our daughter's family. We also ordered the SC and GA one for another daughter. The writing style is so homey and comfortable and the pictures are beatiful and relaxing. The stories and the paintings made us want to see all of the lighthouses. Therefore, we are planning a trip this year to see as many of them as we can. We have also found it exciting to know so much more about the 5-6 lighthouses in our area. This book really piqued our interest in lighthouses with its enjoyable writing and lovely art.



2. Bansemer's Book of Florida Lighthouses is the best book on lighthouses that I have ever read. Inside, is beautiful and colorful artwork of every Florida Lighthouse. This book contains very descriptive information and how to get to the lighthouses. I have read every book on Florida Lighthouses and this one is the BEST and will be for a long time!

No comments about Walking Dreams: Salvatore Ferragamo, 1898-1960.