1 comments about Creative Collage: Making Memories in Mixed Media.

1. Leave it to Marie to define "Collage", and explain in detail all of the goods that goes into them.
   
   As a beginning "altered art", "collage" artist, I am happy with her book more than any other because she tells me what to use, and how to use it!

No comments about Books of Nudes.

1 comments about The Art of Pelaez.

1. Throughout the years and the many outstanding Gallery Girls collections released by SQP, there has been one artist who has always stood out from the pack, Spanish artist Joan Pelaez. It seems every time I review a new Gallery Girls Collection, I always note the Pelaez' pieces as my favorites. Now, SQP has collected these great pieces in the first collection dedicated to this phenomenal talent. Perhaps no current artist is able to capture the seductive qualities of his subjects the way Pelaez does. His women are simply mesmerizing to behold, enchanting you with just a glance.
   
   This book runs the gamut of the Gallery Girls books and features vampires, mermaids, witches, pirates, jungle girls, and a liberal dose of lesbianism and bondage pieces. There's a biker vampire leering coldly at the reader, and another vamp snarling, fangs sharp as a razor as she hangs from the ceiling with her bats. The bondage pieces are playful yet very erotic and filled with gorgeous women in thigh high leather boots, whips and riding crops about to deliver a good spanking.
   
   There's a great piece with three beauties nude in a hot tub sharing some red, ripe cherries, a lovely topless witch flying on her broom past a haunted house, and a fantastic nude Egyptian princess in full regalia. Just try to find a piece that you DON'T love! The depth and detail in Pelaez' work is what really attracts me. You can spend hours perusing the book and catching little things you might have missed at first glance. This is simply a must-have for fans of the Gallery Girls or any fan of erotic pin-up art.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson

5 comments about VJ: Audio-Visual Art and VJ Culture: Includes DVD.

1. The book is well written and is a great overview of the VJ culture, the DVD is full of excerpts form live perfomances by the major artist around, interviews and CGI videos. A must-have for VJS!



2. Just finished reading this book and have to say its amazing.
   
   very insightful cross section of the Vj community. Much to be learnt about the wide range of VJs out there.
   
   It has a good mix between articles on specific issues, looking at the world of VJs, and technical articles explaining how established VJs have their setup.
   
   The DVD has been produced to a very high standard, and like the book lots of informative content is on it.
   
   The book looks beautiful with all the UV pages, and so much design work has gone into it.
   
   anyone who has not got this book yet is missing out big time, recommended to the highest degree.



3. This book was several years in the making, and I admire the dedication of those involved in getting it to print.
   
   Unfortunately, that means that in such a rapidly-moving field, it's a bit out of date. Several of the acts featured have disappeared off the radar by now, and there are some quite glaring omissions - such as the EyeWash DVDs, Resolume software (currently used by around a third of the world's top VJ's) and uh... PC's. This wouldn't bother me as much if not for the tagline on the back cover which touts 'full details of the hardware and software available for VJing are provided'. I'd suggest that 'examples of hardware and software available for Mac-based VJing are provided'.
   
   If you get the impression that you need a pair of Mac Powerbooks to VJ from the setups and info given in this book, don't worry - that's not the case. The scene featured in this book is just one aspect of international VJ Culture, and it's been curated from a particularly Mac perspective.
   
   It's a graphic-design triumph - you couldn't ask for more beautiful, slick presentation. The background of Faulkner and other members of D-Fuse as print-based graphic designers with decades of experience between them really shows. Personally, I find the layering and shiny panels a bit distracting and hard to read at one sitting, and I feel like I should put on gloves every time I pick it up as the slightest touch leaves great grubby fingerprints on some of the shinier pages. But it's a stunning, jaw-dropping book, which is just what the scene needed.
   
   To be honest, I don't see this as a book to read so much as to show-off. VJing is a very visual artform, so what better way to communicate what it's all about than in gorgeous, awe-inspiring imagery? Even if it's a bit of a struggle to actually sit and read it cover-to-cover, it's the PERFECT coffee-table book. You couldn't ask for a better showcase for potential clients, newbie wannabes or... well... your Mum... to show what VJing is and why you're dedicating yourself to it despite the bad pay, the expensive equipment, the long hours, etc etc.
   
   A friend of ours runs a Band House, where touring members of bands stay when they're performing in her town. She's a VJ, and so in a good position to plug 'have you thought about using visuals?' on a daily basis. She said this book's been the perfect way to do that - she just leaves a copy lying around and the muso's thumb through it over their breakfast.
   
   The DVD is a huge improvement over that provided with Spinrad's 'the VJ Book'. There's a load of great material on it, and most of it's of an equivalent standard to the imagery in the book - the glamour, high-end of the VJ scene. Positively wow-worthy, and the most impressive DVD collection of live VJing I've seen to date. Some of my favourite parts though were cut very short - eg just a minute or two long - and then there's the bizarrely out of place inclusion of long swathes of content by Elliott Earls, most of which has little to do with the VJ scene - eg a long mockumentary called the Saranay Hotel. Given that there was so much other great VJ content that could have gone on there, I can't work out why Earls' doco was included. It's got nothing to do with VJing or audio-visual art, and the quality is so vastly different to everything else on the DVD.
   
   Like Spinrad's VJ Book before it, I've bought multiple copies of this book/DVD to give away whenever I can afford it. I take a copy to meetings with new clients, and I lend copies to newbie VJs that come along to our Plug n Play nights. The real problem is keeping a copy for myself, as everyone wants to take it home.
   
   The VJ scene is really still very young - maybe equivalent to the DJ scene of two or three decades ago - and we need some impressive look-at-me Superstar VJ's to get the public to take notice, so that the rest of us can get on with doing what we do with hopefully a bit more attention being paid to what's going on behind the scenes on the screens.
   
   I think this book is probably the single biggest factor so far in that process of getting the public to take notice. It's a lush, visually stunning celebration of a new phenomenon. Thanks so much to Faulkner and the rest of D-Fuse for giving this to the scene. Every VJ should own a copy. Or three.
   
   VJ kattyb, VJzoo.com



4. I was contacted by D-Fuse for an interview for a book a few months ago. I am a VJ as well and I was expecting some sort of paper bag book when it came out. I got it yesterday, a day after my birthday in fact and I have never seen a book (if you can call it just that) with so much detail and so much artistic value.
   
   The audio-visual art + vj culture is one of those books you need to have in your livingroom for your friend to look up despite its content yet. Tp make it better there is so much information inside, even a graphic on how many VJs are per country.
   
   Is a book compared to those of Frank Lloyd Wight. Is one of those books that make you feel like having one even you do not know what is about. The best thing is that you will learn a lot because of the way all reference are managed. And you know what? I'm on page 160!!!
   
   Really good work regarding content and desing, I am very very impress. I am about to get another one, one to show to the people and another one for me.



5. This book is a brilliant piece of art as much as it is a great resource for beginning and established VJs. The presentation of pictures and graphics is stunning, and looking at all of the eyecandy in the book can be inspiring.
   
   This book does a great job of showcasing the best talent in the business in the form of interviews and articles. There are also some really great tips and how-to guides that even the most experienced VJ can learn from. Equipment hardware and software is covered thoroughly and explained in detail.
   
   This is truly a book all VJs should add to their bookcase because it will always serve as a great reference tool as well as entertain and enage you as a casual reader. I highly recommend this book to all VJs and people that have a passion for motion graphics and live performance art.

No comments about Ceramic Painter's Pattern Book.

1 comments about Trunks: The Men of Hot House.

1. Just like everything produced by HOT HOUSE, this book is chocked full of men in their glory. MAJORLY HOT STUFF HERE.

2 comments about The Ceramic Process: A Manual And Source of Inspiration for Ceramic Art And Design.

1. This is not about the book, but about Amazon. Initially, the book arrived printed upside down in the binding and
   with it cut badly with the tops of the pages missing. Following an email, Amazon reversed the charges and sent a new book which arrived in good condition. I would give Amazon high marks for addressing this problem.
   The book itself is excellent.



2. Phenomenal book. It covers the entire ceramic process from the constituents of the clay to drying, firing and glazing or decorating. The descriptions border on the scientific but are written in such a way that you can pick the book up to read for leasure.
   
   Within its pages you will find how to mix a clay for a specific purpose, how to support huge statues and keep small tiles straight. How to fire bisquit and how to glaze (in detail and with recepies, but this is not a glaze book) or decorate. Whether you want to cast 10 thee pots or make a lifesize sculpture of an giraffe you will find hints and tips on how to do it. Everything you need to take your ceramics over the edge.
   
   The artworks that illustrate the book and are used as examples might not be to everyones taste (they come from a school for experimental ceramics afterall) but they fit the explanations perfectly.
   
   If you are serious about your ceramics and want to buy one book that explains the process without specialising on only one type of application (tiles, pots, sculpture) look no further!
   
   If you are new to pottery of sculpture the contents might be a bit daunting.

1 comments about Chris Burden.

1. I actually bought this book for myself, because my dad and brother had both bought it and I couldn't stand not having my own copy to spend loads of time mulling over. This book is a great retrospective book, full of pieces and images of pieces you may not even know, shedding new light on an already amazing artist...It also has some really great critical essays.. enjoy...

2 comments about The Extruder Book.

1. The Extruder Book is a delight to the clay craftsperson! Full of timely information and beautiful photographs, it brings into focus a tool that can be as valuable as the wheel or kiln.
   
   *Expert instruction on making your own extruder dies
   *Step by step photos on several demonstrations of various uses of extruder
   *Comprehensive review of extruders available on the market
   
   If you are like me, you may have viewed the extruder as one of those frills that my studio could do without. After all, I reasoned, I like to pull my own handles, and isn't that what those extruders are for? Boy, was I wrong! The Extruder Book hooked me from the first chapter aptly entitled, "what is an extruder and why have one?"
   
   As I went on to learn, the extruder has many uses, from architectural ceramics to dishes, bowls and cups.



2. This is a great book for the person who wants to see the huge variety of things that can be made with an extruder, and who wants some ideas of how to make many of them. Some projects look straightforward (and could be made by a beginner) whereas others appear quite advanced. Some can be made with a smaller extruder, yet others required a much larger extruder. Many photos and drawings (some in color, some in black and white), with a lot of discussion about the various commercially available extruders and dies, as well as DIY extruders and dies. This is a comprehensive book, with a lot of discussion with a number of potters who actively use their extruders. It includes a number of "neat tricks" I found impressive. Definitely worth reading AND owning. This is the kind of book where you get ideas of things you want to make NOW, as you read it.

1 comments about Nifty Plates from the Fifty States: Take a Ride Across Our Great Nation*Learn About the States from Their License Plates!.

1. I got hold of a copy of this last weekend and my kids already love it. It's both educational and fun - perfect for home, school, or the car!