2 comments about Backyard Mosaics.

1. While it is nice to see the completed projects with full plans, the most important thing we took away from this book is technique. We feel we can pretty much mosaic anything that comes across our path now! As a result, we looked at a particularly ugly cement slab that was under an outside faucet and saw an opportunity. We mosaiced it (that's mom and her 7 year old) and it is now a focal point instead of a eye sore.

   If you're just getting started this is a great way to go. It worked with us!




2. This book is an excellent sequel to Ms. Sheerin's first offering, Mosaics In an Afternoon. If you haven't had the opportunity to peruse either book, you are missing out on the chance of a lifetime to add pizazz to your home!

   Most of the projects offered in this book would make excellent gifts, art pieces for sale, or decorations to grace your own home. Not only will you find the complete instructions for each project, you'll find informative lessons on how to be a mosaic designer yourself!

   Highly recommended book!

1 comments about Erotica 19th Century (TASCHEN Icons Series).

1. In his introductory essay surveying and assessing the output of artists of erotica during the nineteenth century, editor Gelles Neret asserts that the century itself resembles the well-known artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Ingres was "a wealthy member of the middle classes associated with 'virtuous art' and Raphaelesque purity, the leading exponent of the classical school," and yet an artist who so often and with such evident enthusiasm and commitment often devoted himself (on canvas and in sketchbooks), despite the taboos of his world, to the depiction of the unapologetic uninhibited erotic life of his subjects. Neret goes on to describe the European century as one of comparative repression - which artists craftily got around in the production and then the distribution of their works. To reduce the risk of imprisonment, some claimed anonymity.

   This is a varied and somewhat difficult collection. Neret has assembled examples that are sometimes jarring in their contrasts. There is for example the lushly golden torso, in a tangle of sheets, of painter Gustave Courbet's sleeping female model ("The Origin of the World," 1866) and Degas' nudes (not, I would argue, "erotica" in intention or result). Series of engravings, illustrations for a variety of fancifully obscene books, were in high demand in the first half of the nineteenth century, and they are included. They are nearly cartoonish, and the colors are often garish. There are dream sequences, parlor high jinks, threesomes, foursomes, voyeurs, business being conducted, feathers, orgies, settings indoors (with great attention paid to interiors: carpets, wallpapers, and furniture depicted carefully) and out - whether in nature on the Grand Canal. The men and women in these are in various stages of undress. (Later on in much mainstream pornography, the men would often remain clothed.) This is the stuff of middle-class fantasy - and one suspects it sold well.

   The devil would appear to have figured heavily in the pornographic lithographs of Achille Deveria and Eugene Le Poitevin. As sexual antagonist without parallel the devil conducts his business, enlists his fellows, thinks up and accomplishes hideous erotic "punishments," lurks in the rooms of the unsuspecting, and causes mayhem and (if the artist is to be believed) not altogether unwelcome mischief. One assumes that nineteenth century sensibilities must have in some way welcomed his leering presence and his tacit approval -in order to feel free to enjoy the goings-on.

   Victorian mores get sent up in a variety of satirical drawings. The prodigious output of painter and illustrator Felicien Rops, working in Namur, is included. He's a fabulous artist and a stalwart misogynist capable of a wide range of styles and moods - so long as they depict female suffering in some fashion. There is death and disfigurement in some of his works, cruciform imagery, and a wide variety of emotionally freighted visual signals. The drawings are sometimes troubling and disturbing.

   Finally, Neret includes the sinister illustrations for "Lysistrata" done at century's end by the misanthropic and spectacularly misogynistic Aubrey Beardsley.

   The standout feature of this collection is that it likely will not provoke desire in all but a few, or particularly promote the enjoyment of any sort of sexual expression. Because of that, this collection is not altogether successful as "erotica."

2 comments about Collector's Encyclopedia of Metlox Potteries: Identification and Values (Collector's Encyclopedia of Metlox Potteries).

1. This book is the definitive work on Metlox Pottery. It's a "must have" for the collector and enjoyable reading for the person wishing to learn more about California pottery. Full of hundreds of pictures and values, this book is an invaluable guide and resource.



2. I purchased this book to clear up my conception of some of the Metlox patterns but it opened my eyes to some very collectible pieces that I had been over looking. Nice pictures with several styles in each catagory that eliminates the guess work. As a beginner collector of Metlox I am truly please with this book.

No comments about Collecting Oyster Plates (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

No comments about Understanding Roseville Pottery (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

3 comments about Art and Feminism (Themes & Movements).

1. This book would be an excellent textbook for a Women In Art course. It doesn't have much information on centuries prior to the twentieth and largely focuses on art, artists, and issues from the 1960's on, so it wouldn't do as the only text for such a course. But this is all you need for late twentieth century concerns.
   
   The early essays are dripping with Freudian psychology and psychoanalytical social criticism. The issues surrounding why it took so long for there to be a sense of equality of greatness amongst artists of all genders is explored deeply. The issues of representation of all races and sexual orientations then follows. The book stops just short of discussing the newest research on intersex persons (persons born with an extra chomosome, among others {XXY, for example}).
   
   For a movement that was intending to create a sense of equality, feminist theory highlights both the vast differences as well as the profound similarities between the perception processes of men and women. This includes both the perceptions of and different approaches to art as well as life. Yet, when all is said and done, more recent artists are primarily interested not in these issues, but more a sense of having their work judged based on its quality, not their gender.
   
   The only disappointment I have in this book is one that no other book addresses either. So, I mean this only as a minor criticism. In short, the book does not answer the following: Is ther an intersex mind state? Feminist theory either didn't reach the point of asking this in time for the extensive research put into this book or it has come to its conclusion and will transform gradually into a whole other movement.
   
   The art chosen to represent the above ideas and explorations is top quality. The reproductions are sharp and colorful. I would recommend this book to anyone with interests in women in art or in feminist theory.



2. This book is a great "picture book" for anyone interested in art and/or women artist. The descriptions of the work are concise, giving enough information to make you want to investigate further. A necessary addition to any art book collection.



3. I saw this book reviewed in Bust mag and am so glad I got a copy for myself. Peggy Phelan and Helena Reckitt have accomplished a "portable gallery" in this book--it is like seeing all of the works themselves, but with commentary that helps at every step of the way.

   Peggy Phelan's introduction is great because she draws everything together in a way that I couldn't do on my own, and actually, I am amazed ANYONE could do it. Wow.

   The book is expensive but worth it because otherwise you would have to buy about 100 books to try and do for yourself what they did here.

   Peggy and Helena, and all the artists, YOU ROCK!!!

3 comments about Beginner's Guide to Enamelling (Beginner's Guide to Series).

1. As the name suggests this is a brilliant book for not only the beginner, but advanced students will find many helpful suggestions within the pages. Very glad I purchased this book



2. I bought this book to get a little information about the art of enameling, and wasn't disappointed. As a new enameler (haven't even taken my first formal class yet) almost any book on the topic will teach me something. The projects in this book weren't hugely appealing, but that's not really the point. No doubt I'll have learned a lot just by doing them and that's good enough for my purposes right now.



3. This book says a beginner's guide and it is perfect for that but I also learned a few things and I am not a beginner. Would highly recommend it for yourself or a gift for a "crafty" friend.

No comments about Breaking the Mould: New Approaches to Ceramics.

2 comments about How Artists See the Weather : Sun, Wind, Snow, Rain.

1. I was delighted by the scope of artists and artistic styles discussed in the book. It is difficult to find books that teach art (history) in a meaninglful way to children. The explanation of techniques used as well as the biographies of the artists were helpful and interesting. My 8 year old daughter has expressed some interest in art and she enjoyed the book. Using the "everyday" element of weather makes it easier for children to relate to as well. I hope there will be more books like this one.



2. This wonderful book enhances childrens' understanding of the science of weather and water. The color plates are vivid and the text is clear and thought provoking. The choice of artists is great, offering a variety of styles and periods.

5 comments about Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, 1930s-1950s.

1. One reviewer correctly compared these to the "dirty pictures" most people saw in junior high school. This is an accurate description. Most of this stuff is not that funny or particularly erotic. In fact, it gets dull pretty fast. The cartoons with Amos & Andy, Laurel & Hardy, Hitler, and Mahatma Gandhi (that one must be seen to be believed), and a minstrel-like Joe Louis are interesting largely for historical reasons. But the takeoffs (no pun intended) on Betty Boop, Lil Abner, Popeye, etc. are surprisingly flat, considering the unexplored comic possibilities (though the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck segment is good for a few laughs). Be warned though, some of this stuff (especially in the last chapter) is really gross even by modern standards, so proceed with caution. Overall, it's more of a curiousity piece more than anything else.



2. From the 1930's through the 1950's, small eight page underground comics were distributed all over the United States. They were crudely drawn, even more crudely written, and usually involved popular icons of the day engaged in sexual acts, accompanied with some very blue humor in the form of dirty jokes and puns.

   These were called Tijuana Bibles, and also known as Eight-Pagers, Two-by-Fours, Gray-Backs, Bluesies, Jo-Jo Books, Tillie-and-Mac Books, Jiggs-and-Maggie Books, and F**k Books, this according to introduction writer Art Spiegelman.

   Author Bob Adelman has collected dozens of these rare bits of cartoon history and republished them here, adding a commentary by Richard Merkin, and putting these into a quasi-historical and sociological context.

   Ever wonder what Popeye looked like while having sex? What about Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse talking dirty while going at it? What did Cary Grant and Alger Hiss look like during gay love? All of this and more are here.

   This book does a better job of reprinting the Tijuana Bibles than anything, but reading a bunch of them in a row gets very tedious. The introduction warns against this, as well. The drawings are often very crude, and the humor is very old, since their prime era was in the 1930's. Also, all but a few of the artists were anonymous, and the printings were not done in the exotic locales of Havana, Tijuana, or London (as the little booklets claimed), but probably in some basement with a mob type watching over the production.

   This is not just a book of dirty pictures, but a very interesting look at what the author calls early sex education. While body parts are rather exaggerated, young men could look at these in the days before government and school sponsored sex ed and have a vague idea of what to do.

   If you have any of these dirty little books around, then hold on to them, they are rare. If you have this overview of the history of Tijuana Bibles around, keep it away from the kids, unless they are curious about the sex life of Dick Tracy or Dagwood Bumstead. I recommend this thin book to anyone who claims to be a fan of underground comics, or erotic art and cartoons.




3. ...Interesting academically, perhaps, or as a cultural artifact, but if you're a fan of erotic cartoons and are after genuine wit or bawdy humor, try something closer in time to the present, such as Dark Horse Comic's new edition of "Little Annie Fanny: Vol. 1." These cartoons are mostly like the scribbles you passed around in grade school, and their erotic impact is lost, nearly a century later.



4. I quite agree with the 6/10/99 customer review from Melbourne, Australia. This interestingly packaged (and heavily illustrated) collection will alternately amuse and offend most everyone. While some of the art is decent (or even good), much of it is crude but somehow apropos to the subject. The packaging is very good, and the book's price is a bargain for what you get. I'm 50 and didn't even know these "Tijuana Bibles" existed until I stumbled across this book. Very educational as well as entertaining. I first bought a copy last summer and enjoyed it so much I bought another for a friend, who enjoyed it as much as I did.



5. This collection of satiric and pornographic cartoons will alternately amuse and offend people everywhere. Nothing and no-one is sacred. Some of the strips are beautifully drawn and funny, some are crude and downright witless and others (note the strips believed to be those of Wesley Morse) are both witty and erotic. If nothing else, this collection serves as a potent reminder that sex, in all its permutations and manifestations, has been around for a lot longer than some people care to admit!