1 comments about Helen Cordero And The Storytellers Of The Cochiti Pueblo (A Closer Look Activity Book).

1. This is an excellent book. I am an art teacher who uses this book to help children appreciate other cultures and their traditions. I use the book for inspiring children when we do a clay project. I do not have the children copy the clay figures, but come up with ideas of their own. The media specialist at my school also uses it to encourage children to create their own stories.

No comments about Claywork: Form And Idea In Ceramic Design (Revised).

No comments about A Collector's Guide to Souvenir Plates.

5 comments about Color Harmony 2 with The Palette Picker: A Guide to Creative Color Combinations.

1. I have Color Harmony 2 without the CD. It is a great book (5 stars in my opinion). Therefor I also got the one with the CD.
   
   THE CD DOES NOT RUN ON WINDOWS XP!!!!!!
   
   There is no update available from Rockport publishing.



2. This book is ok for the beginner, but I should have bought something more like the Designers Guide to Color Series. First Color Harmony 2 is basic art class. Second the cd rom is not what I thought it would be. I was expecting something more like a paint palette where I could create, or mix my own colors and then have the software comeup with the complementary, split-complementary, analagous combinations etc. Instead I am limited to the 106 individual programmed colors. So I was really disappointed. And didn't think it was worth the price.



3. This is the best book on color I have found. It is a must have for anyone who has ever been confused about matching colors and creating the right mood. Though I was already fairly confident working with color, this book helped me a great deal by letting me see a wide variety of color combinations together.

   The book begins by discussing the color wheel. This includes the facets of color such as hot, cold, light, dark, pale, bright, warm and cool as well as a great explanation of all the different color schemes. It is divided into over 20 different themes including romantic, friendly, earthy, fresh, calm, traditional, professional, magical, classic, tropical and energetic. For each of these themes a set of color schemes including monochromatic, primary, complementary, split-complementary, analogous, spilt, clash and neutral is shown. A brief tips section for using the themes in graphic design, interiors and fine art is also provided. In the back of the book there is a process color conversion chart that gives the CMYK values for each of the 106 colors used. Swatches that you can cut out are included. This is very useful for graphic designers.

   A very helpful and versatile CD is included with this book as well. It allows you sort by color scheme or theme. You can also pick a color and then see all the color schemes that will work with it. Each color scheme is shown in several different forms and against black, white and gray. One of a color scheme's colors can be made bigger to be used as a background to the others as well. Colors can be saved and added to custom lists and exported to popular graphics programs like Photoshop and PageMaker. The color DIC number as well as RGB and CMYK values are also given.

   The program does have some minor limitations. It can only search one aspect at a time. For instance you can't search for a rich theme with yellow. Also, if you search by color or color scheme you can't find out which theme set it originally belonged too. I found it a little hard to install and use at first as well.

   This book and Color Harmony Workbook are pretty much identical in content. However, this one is smaller and contains a CD while the other has tear-out swatches. Because I was more interested in decorating my home the workbook was more useful to me. For a web or graphic designer using computers a lot this version will probably be of more help. If I had to select only one color book, this one or Color Harmony Workbook would be my first choice.




4. While I found the book to be useful, especially in the 'classic' swatch sections, the 'trendy' area is a bit outdated, being it's six years old.

   Also, you're better off buying the version without the CD. Be cautioned, the CD is old, written for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, uses a primitive 'drag folder onto your hard drive, click file and choose program to associate with' install procedure, and uses an included, older version of Oracle Media Objects player to run...it will not work on Windows NT 4.




5. There's a lot of confusion about the two versions of Color Harmony 2 because the difference seems to be the CD -- both versions credit Bride M. Whelan as author; the less expensive version doesn't come with the CD (which I haven't used).

   The comments on color combinations have been helpful in convincing client/coworkers -- "but this is a Professional palette!" The book's palettes can be a useful starting place.

   One caveat: written in 1994, the New Trends section is a bit dated, unfortunately.

No comments about Francis Alys: The Historic Center of Mexico City.

2 comments about The Complete Collection of Antiquities from the Cabinet of Sir William Hamilton.

1. An excellent table book, with lots of drawings an pictures thats inspires you to create.
   A pleasure for the eyes.



2. This is one of those spectacular books that makes you appreciate what a real book is! The books of Hamilton's collection of Greek vases - which convinced Wincklemann of the superiority of Greek art, inspired Wedgwood and were a linchpin of the Greek Revival - have been begging for a reprint, and this is a beautiful copy. Its HUGE, so it's going to need a table rather than a shelf - particularly if you pair it with Napoleon's 'Description of Egypt'!
   One concern though is that the inspection copy I've seen is actually coming apart at the seams - possibly a comment on the number of people who've leapt on it rather than the binding quality...?

4 comments about Mosaic Workshop: A Guide to Designing & Creating Mosaics.

1. As a relatively new mosaicist, I own several hardcover books by the well-known international artists. This is becoming my favorite. I often go to it to revisit a certain technique, or mosaic for inspiration or review, just to find myself rereading whole sections. When you are working on a new project, the perspective with which you read changes to accomodate the current work. The data on the page is the same, but you synthesize it in a new way. Because there is so much depth to the design aspects in this book, its like reading a new book each time. If I had to pick just one of my current books, this would be it.



2. I have acquired quite a few mosaic books and written reviews for them on Amazon, and although all of them are useful to some extent, this mosaic book has really impressed me! There are many photos of absolutely gorgeous mosaic designs which follow a more traditional style, using only tiles and not other objects such as rocks, shells, marbles, etc., like you find in some mosaic books. The designs are exquisite in color and workmanship as well. There are many "gallery" items which are examples of professional work, and there are quite a few featured projects with a form of instructions called "Method Tips" which, rather than giving explicit step-by-step instructions, give instructions with advice, suggestions and options for color, materials, positioning, etc. Because of this, and because the designs are rather sophisticated and complex, this is not a mosaic book for beginners. However, truly motivated beginners could get started trying out a couple of the simpler projects.

   Besides the gorgeous designs, this book is impressive in its extensive teaching about design, light, color, contrast, background, and several methods of laying mosaic. I get the feeling I'm in the hands of a skillful and professional mosaicist, and that this is a book to be studied to gain useful insight for building my own skills. These are not designs for someone to quickly throw together; rather this book is an excellent resource for serious mosaicists.




3. If you want to learn about mosaic, this is a good book. Many ilustrations help you to understand how easy is create a mosaic.



4. Wow - this is an amazing book that explores colour, tone, texture and technique in sufficient detail with great photos to match. Excellent for inspiration and learning the finer points of the mosaic art but not really suited for beginners. It only loses a star because the format is not the easiest to follow even though it is well laid out, and at first glance, it doesn't appear to be a workbook. But mosaic afficienados should really include this book on their "must-have" list, if not for the photos alone. Definitely recommended.

No comments about Analysis of Performance Art: A Guide to its Theory and Practice (Contemporary Theatre Studies).

No comments about Thomas Hirschhorn (Contemporary Artists).

2 comments about Copper Red Glazes.

1. This book provides a clear and detailed understanding of the technical side of copper red glazes. I did find it in some places to be "heavy" reading and the lack of good quality colour photographs was disappointing.



2. This book contains everything a potter would want to know about how to obtain that elusive copper red glaze. Although not a book of formulas, it does go into specifics as to the how and why of firing, with a comprhaensive section on trouble shooting. Highly recommended by a producing potter getting copper reds.