3 comments about Priscilla Hauser's Flower Portraits.

1. Very educational, complete directions on how to paint beautiful flowers for your projects. I got a lot of new ideas. Worth the buy



2. Variety of flower painting technique. Color concept teaching. Very good quality of publication.



3. This book is found to be useful for glass painting and fabric painting. provides a complete description for the beginners and persons interested in learning about flower painting.

No comments about European Art of the Fifteenth Century (Art Through the Centuries Series).

1 comments about Water's Way: Life along the Chesapeake.

1. Water's Way is a stunningly photographed, and exquisitely written glimpse of life in the Chesapeake region. The book celebrates beauty, both in the natural and human worlds. Author Tom Horton's essays are insightful, humorous, and well-crafted. His words flow like the many creeks and rivers that he describes on the Delmarva peninsula. Dave Harp's photography defines the people, animals, and landscape in such concert with Horton's words that the book should be considered the National Geographic of the Eastern Shore. This a worthy addition to anyone's coffee table.

No comments about Painting Still Lifes Step by Step.

3 comments about Ways with Watercolor (Dover Books on Art Instruction).

1. This is a reprinted version of a book originally published in the late 40's, spiral-bound and intended to be a step-by-step trainer of methods used in traditional transparent watercolor and architectural rendering. Back then, papers were different but by recognizable European makers; paints were fewer (color choices too!) and methods of "paint-slinging" very "creative" as well! Kautsky was trained as an architect in Hungary and not a "Sunday" painter...hence his methodology was very traditional and "old-school" oriented. This is not a coffee table book-it is a concise study of picture-making, published in an historical period that didn't include the lavish color plates as today's offerings contain. This man could really draw! He had worked in the field for over 50 years by the time this book was offered by Reinhold, and he employed an economy of means practiced by only the best delineators of the period. Hence, his images are tight, well composed and clearly executed in a methodical and somewhat slow fashion (by today's standards). The "California Style" painters, for example, used symbols and a sort of shorthand collection of shapes and colors in their paintings, to convey their expressive imagery-not Kautsky! His are decidedly architectural renderings employing accurate perspective and traditional compositional devices. For images and techniques that are decidedly contemporary variations on this, choose a book by Robert Wade, or John Lovett or Al Stine, whose simplifications may be more appealing and certainly more colorfully printed with loads of useful, "painterly" advice. But, Kautsky's tree and wood renderings, roads and landscapes among other subjects are stunningly true to species and form and fashioned with only a couple of brushes which will require dilligent practice to replicate. Serious designers, architectural delineators and art students willing to practice with a vengeance, will discover Kautsky's instructional insights and methods to be invaluable and not equalled by ANY of today's current publishing artists.



2. I was very disappointed in the content. There were not enough color plates and transparency in the color was lacking. Many of the instructions were used with black and white sketches and plates. Many of Kautskys subjects and scenes appeared to me to be "pre watercolor career" pencil sketches which I recognized.
   
   Dark somber and sparse in my opinion.



3. I found the prints excesively dark, specially the black and white ones and the color plates didn't offer enough variations of tones. Overall his paintings looked quite uniform.

5 comments about Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin.

1. Having just traveled to the Society Islands I wanted more info on Paul Gaugin. This translation of his journal provided insight I would not have gotten otherwise. Combined with other biographies it rounded out the picture. Recommend it if you are interested in either the South Pacific Islands or Gaugin and his art.



2. I picked it up for a school project and it was fantastic. It's just a nice little journal, I feel there is more but I don't know for sure, this may be all there is in the tahiti journal of Paul Gauguin. The pictures are great, the translation is very well done. Excellent read.



3. This is a jewel of an art book by one of the greatest painters of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Originally considered too racy to publish in France, this 2005 English edition of the banned 1894 illustrated personal journal is probably how Paul Gauguin would have liked to have seen his text and art work combined for publication. The color and layout do justice to his artistic creations. The only change the artist might have still wished for was to have the book's format slightly larger since some of his woodcuts and the original journal itself are slightly larger than this reproduction of the work.
   The book has a short 1962 introduction by W. Somerset Maugham that is somewhat amusing in that it tells how Maugham traveled to Tahiti to research Gauguin for a book he was considering writing about the island's most famous painter. He found one of the actual huts where Gauguin had lived and worked and purchased one of the glass panels that Gauguin had painted for one of the hut's three doors. The children living in the hut had passed the time scratching the windows clean and already destroyed the other two door paintings. Maugham bought the half door containing the one surviving glass panel with its painting of "Eve, nude, with the apple in her hand" still intact for four hundred francs and had it shipped back to his home in New York. It was in his writing room at the time he wrote the introduction for this volume.
   Relating the antidote of Maugham's good luck and prowess at art collecting was the only subject covered in the introduction. But it did illustrate how little remained in Tahiti of Gauguin's stay in the Island Paradise. There was even less left there after the famous writer's research visit.
   Gauguin's text is much more interesting. He tries to capture some of the purity of the native culture that was being quickly destroyed by the European invasion. I particularly liked the stories of one of his treks into the land of the Gods near the center of the island as well as his story of taking a local wife (concubine) from among the natives. After the deal was made with the 13-year-old girl's parents and stepparents, she accompanied her new mate home. After eight days the woman was required to return to her home and if she had decided she didn't like the match, she never returned to him. That's how divorce was handled in Gauguin's Paradise.
   Gauguin attempted to explain the secret and mysterious history, legends and religious beliefs of the natives. His paintings and wood block prints helped him with this documentation. Why he suddenly left his idyllic life in paradise after only a two year stay to return to France in 1896 isn't explained in his journal. He only describes the pain it caused him and his beautiful native mate who he never saw again.
   This is a must read for any fan of Paul Gauguin's artwork. Unfortunately, it only answers a few of the many unanswered questions about the great painter's life. And new questions are brought up and then abandoned. Personally, I would love to have read more about the former cannibals he met while living in his South Seas Paradise. Too often Gauguin only touched on some really fascinating fact and then left the reader dangling and desperate to know more. It's still a beautifully illustrated must read!



4. This was very interesting reading just before going to the South Seas. Wonderful to see the islands as he saw them and described them in this journal. Well worth reading!



5. This is a lovely book... and, brief though it is, helped me to understand more about Gauguin's reasons behind his actions. I read it at a perfect time - when the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY was holding one of their most important exhibits on Gauguin and featured his wood cuts. It's a colourful, passionate and painful journey.

1 comments about Watercolor Lessons from Eliot O'Hara.

1. Oh, boy, where was this book hiding?! Thanks to a recommendation from another watercolorist, I got a copy of this out-of-print classic. Eliot O'Hara was a fine watercolorist and author Schmalz outlines O'Hara's technique and lessons in clear, concise words and pictures.
   
   The book has color plates in the center, so most of the pictures are in black and white; while you can view the values of the colors (how dark, how light) you cannot get the full effect; however, that does not diminish the usefulness of the illustrations. For example, the explanation of how light reflects on wavelets is detailed but exquisitely clear. If you want to paint boat scenes or landscapes, this is probably one of the best sections on water and reflections I've read. There are a lot of pages devoted to establishing depth (with fog, color) and most of the pictures are of landscapes. The style is very much "Sixties"--in a way, the book looks very dated. But it doesn't matter because you'll be painting in your own style anyway, and the lessons are universally applicable to any landscape work. It's a shame this book is out of print, but secondhand copies are available. I recommend this for anyone serious about learning watercolor.

No comments about Wilson Hurley: A Retrospective Exhibition.

3 comments about Sacred Mirrors Cards.

1. Alex Grey's art has interested me for quite some time. Wasn't really sure what I was buying but I figured "What the heck, why not?" If you like the art, and want some explanation behind it, these cards are for you. Each card has a "Poem", per say, on the back of it. It's a tour through the spiritual anatomy. I would recommend these to anyone interested in the chakras, your spirit, or just for curiosity. AND if you are a TOOL fan, check these out. A lot of albums have Alex Grey's art on them. If you like Tool, you've got to love Alex Grey.



2. I thought these cards would be more inspirational and have messages worth pondering. The poetry is second-rate, at best. It is not really poetry at all, but rather ramblings and explanations of what the art is supposed to be. Poetry is supposed to speak to your five senses, not sit flat and hard to read. The art on some cards is exceptional, but on other cards, it looks like the pictures in my anatomy textbook. I'm very disappointed in these cards, and I really feel as if I wasted my money.



3. "The Sacred Mirrors are a journey through our physical, socio-political, and spiritual anatomy." - Alex Grey
   
   Arguably best known for his "X-ray" paintings, transcendental artist Alex Grey melds the anatomically correct with the visionary in the Sacred Mirrors Cards. The twenty-three cards in this boxed set are intended to lead viewers through the process of theosis. That is, we may draw closer to God by contemplating the iconic archetypes portrayed on the cards and by seeing others, the world and ourselves as reflections of the Divine.
   
   Intending to remind us of the pure wonder that can accompany our Earth journey, Grey says, "My life is committed to making artwork that wakes people up to the miracle of Life". From skeleton to viscera, nerves to auric fields, Spirit infuses the "mundane" mechanics of the body as surely as the magnificent emanation of love and community.
   
   At 8 ¼ X 4 ¾ inches, the Sacred Mirrors Cards are quite large, depicting colorful imagery on one side and poetic meditations on the other. For example, on the back of the card depicting the lymphatic system, Grey writes:
   
   "Lymph, holy water of life,
   Bathing every cell
   With nutritional healing plasma.
   Mysterious cleansing cousin
   Of the cardiovascular.
   Nodes that swell when inflamed,
   Pick up the pieces of the circulatory system.
   Take away and destroy invading predators.
   Purify, recycle and regenerate white blood cells,
   Lymphocytes, my defending militia.
   Immunize me.
   Keep me safely healthy and whole,
   My guardians of the realm.
   On a micro-level border patrol
   Thou are the decided of what is and is not me."
   
   Six of the twenty-three cards show nude males and females from Caucasian, Asian, and African ancestry. The poetry is basically the same on all six, except towards the end where Grey offers a comment about the specific image.
   
   My favorite image from the Sacred Mirrors Cards is of Sophia, where all seeing, all knowing eyes bejewel her pink etheric gown. The Earth lies where her heart would be, doubling as the "brain" for a gestating baby. A luminescent halo encircles futuristic glyphs, while her third eye is wide open in a penetrating stare. The only thing that mars this otherwise glorious painting (in my opinion), is the disturbing image of Kali copulating with a reclining male (soon to be dead by her knife?). On the other side is baby suckling at a woman's breast, so I get the point of life and death being on the same continuum but...
   
   The Sacred Mirrors Cards are indeed unusual, and would likely be enjoyed by fans of both Alex Grey and Ken Wilber. However, I find some of the imagery a bit gruesome and Grey's sentiments a bit "top heavy"--an analytical, rational approach to spirituality. This is, of course, a legitimate portrayal and path to Spirit, for All That Is does indeed lie within muscle, bone, and blood--the latter being our very (earthly) life force.
   
   But, alas, contemplating organs and guts aren't my particular cup of tea. And, to be fair, that doesn't comprise *all* of the images in this set of cards. For example, the Spiritual Energy System is an arresting portrayal of the chakra system "sprouting jets of psycho gism". A European-looking Jesus makes an appearance, as does a thousand armed, eleven-headed Buddhist deity.
   
   "Is it just me?" I wondered. I appreciate that the human body is a magnificent machine--a vehicle for spirit to be appreciated--but I didn't feel particularly inspired. So I asked my husband, who enjoys some of Grey's art (especially Oversoul), to give me his impression of the Sacred Mirrors Cards. He expressed the same sentiments that I had felt, so it wasn't "just me" after all. We both agreed, however, that some of the poetry conveyed brilliant insights into the human body and its connection to the Infinite.
   
   So if you love Grey's art and vision--and books like Transfigurations--then you'll likely enjoy this unusual meditative offering.
   
   (To see 6 images from the Sacred Mirrors Cards, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)

No comments about Silk Painting for Beginners.