No comments about Mornings in Florence.

5 comments about The Greatest Skits on Earth.

1. This book is not "just like volume #1" Volume #1 has classical skits such as "Who's on first?". Volume #1 also has some stuff that we will not be preforming--ever.
   Volume #2 is a compilation of Christian based skits that teach a lesson. If you are looking for skits for a church youth group, this is a fine book. However, I found the skits contrived and very good at stating the obvious. I read a few of them to my kids and at the end we all looked at each other like, "Duhhh!" (I must admit I did not read all the skits, and therefore there may be a few that are truly clever.)The Greatest Skits on Earth (Volume 2)
   It might be better to just come out and talk to the youth instead of trying to feed them chocolate coated brocholli. Call the brocholli brocholi and tell them it is good for them.
   This book was not what I expected. Before you buy it, make sure it is what you want, maybe check it out from a library.



2. I am interested in this book, but I have a question. It is photocopiable? I can only afford to buy one copy, so if I can't copy it how can I use the skits with students?



3. I have not received this book as of yet, I have order and paid for this book since Nov 18, 2001. If you are not going to send me my book within the next 2 days please e-mail me at tagent48@swbell.net and let me know, so I can received my credit. If you didn't have the book you could have notify me before now. I'm still waiting
   Thanks,
   Jeweline Spears



4. This book is stuffed with over 200 pages of skits. Ideal for youth meetings, camps, or anytime you want to make people laugh or make a point. It compiles one-act skits, slapstick skits, sight gags, "famous" interviews, the classics, stunts, and audience-participation skits.



5. This book is stuffed with over 200 pages of skits. Ideal for youth meetings, camps, or anytime you want to make people laugh or make a point. It compiles one-act skits, slapstick skits, sight gags, "famous" interviews, the classics, stunts, and audience-participation skits.

1 comments about Henri Matisse: The Vence Chapel: The Archive of a Creation.

1. First, this is not a coffe table book. Though Illustarted, it is NOT a picture book.I mistakenly thought it so.The books dimensions are1.69 x 9.40 x 7.12 ,whic are that of a normal harcover book. That said, this is an interesting volume on the creation of the famous chapel at Vence. Matisse was ill, and a young nurse kept him company though the long bouts of insomnia accompanying his illness. Later, she joined the domincan sisters.Matisse felt a huge debt to this woman-later nun, and a serious of circumstances led to the creation of this magnificent chapel. There was a domincan friar,Fr. M.A Courtier,who after being stranded in the USA during WWII,set about bringing modern art together with the sacred.{he edited a journal called SACred art}. A young architect,Br. L.B. Rayssiguier, was designing a new chapel for the NUNS at Vence, and approached Matisse to ask his advice. The majority of this book is the correspondence between Matisse and Fr Courtier and Brother Rayssiguier. The photos show the chapel in many stages of development{though not nearly enough color photos of the remarkable stained glass windows, nor of the marvelous stations of the cross} Still, it was an interesting read,that 50 years ago, the giants of art were in competition to design great works of religious art,whatever their motives.Along with the Rothko chapel{a comparison drwan in the preface},this stands as a monument to a genius,and the letters bewteen Fr Coutrier and Matisse are filled with anecdotes and observations. The Menil Foundation has done an excellent job in the production of this volume.

1 comments about Madonnas : From Medieval to Modern (Temporis).

1. Kyra Belan's Madonnas: From Medieval To Modern is a truly stunning, full-color book that reproduces more than 200 artworks of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Christ, and widely revered symbol of both Christianity and motherhood. Accompanying Belan provides an informative commentary text informing the reader of the context of each artwork, the name of the artist, and countless other relevant factors that affected the Virgin's enduring presence in paintings, murals, and sculptures, up to the present day. A truly beautiful artbook, Madonnas: From Medieval To Modern is enthusiastically recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of Christian art in general, and portrayals of the Blessed Virgin Mary in particular.

No comments about Clandestine Splendor: Paintings from Catholic Churches in the Dutch Republic.

No comments about The Life of a Balinese Temple: Artistry, Imagination, and History in a Peasant Village.

3 comments about Art of Our Own.

1. As an artist, I found An Art of Our Own to be a truly great book by an inspiring, deeply informed writer! If you're serious about learning the fundamental purpose of genuine abstraction, pay no attention to the ridiculous and shallow review from the Library Journal. The quality or value of writing, scholarship and art is subjective, which should be an obvious fact.
   
   Consider this: regarding the great pioneers of early abstraction (Kandinsky, Mondrian, Malevich etc), the "private symbolism" referred to by the Lirbary Journal critic is far from being a merely personal thing, but rather springs from the collective unconscious and is in truth the foundation of all things Universal. As established by Frazer (The Golden Bough), Campbell (Hero With a Thousand Faces) and David Fideler (Jesus Christ, Sun of God), we have common instincts, desires, motivations and beliefs that can and are expressed through symbolism or metaphors.
   
   How these universal ideas and feelings came to be expressed succinctly through the evolution of painting and abstraction is masterfully documented by Lipsey and establishes the initial impetus for modern art. This is essential knowledge for artists interested in learning the traditions from which abstraction transformed representational images and gave birth to an art of our own, as opposed to forms dictated by church, state or the marketplace.



2. I picked up this wonderful book after seeing a recommendation in Arthur Danto's column, which noted that Lipsey is one of the few writers who can address the spiritual in modern art in a clear-cut way. I couldn't agree more. If more writers and critics had this facility perhaps the contempory artists whose work is most enriching (Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Astrid Colomar, etc.) would be properly viewed those who are most related to the origiginal pioneers of modern painting. As Lipsey demonstrates, the primary impetus for these pioneers was metaphysiscal rather than formalist. Were it not for Lipsey and precious few others, this crucial element of the history of modern painting would be all but lost in the vast majority of contemporary scholarship.



3. Lipsey describes the social and political scene that surrounded each of the major styles in art that have emerged in the twentieth century and describes the art forms and thinking of many of the well-known artists within each movement--Cezanne's relentless pursuit of the essence of nature, Kandinsky's definitions of the spiritual quality of color and form, the poetry of structure in Cubism, Dada and Duchamp in reaction to World War I, the Russian Avant- Garde and Malevich's Suprematism as integral to the Revolution of 1917, and the domination of abstract art after World War II. Lipsey's theme is that "Twentieth century art embodied a stronger and wiser spirituality than we have fully acknowledged," and his choice of artists is governed not by the degree of their fame, but by the degree to which they succeeded in embodying a contemporary spirituality. Modern art is a statement of philosophy that differs from previous eras, Lipsey posits, in part because "t! wentieth-century artists have for the most part worked individually and without formal adherence to religious or spiritual traditions." Lipsey's careful and thoughtful exploration of the spiritual in twentieth-century art has enormously enlarged this reader's ability to see abstract art and benefit from the experience.

1 comments about The Crucifixion in Irish Art.

1. The Crucifixion in Irish Art presents 50 examples, from 800AD to the 20th century. A full page photograph faces a single page of text, for each. Most are black and white photographs with four or five color plates depicting stained glass representations and contemporary oils. Yet so much in such a small book! The introduction places the art works in Irish history from the Celts on to today. The development of the crucifix as art is emphasized, as one is compared with the following. It was my good luck to stumble on this volume in Ireland and it inspired much of my trip as I plugged through fields, disturbing cattle, to locate some of the original crucifixes in the book.

4 comments about The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty: Art, Sanctity, and the Truth of Catholicism.

1. I was recommended Saward's work as a preliminary text to introduce me to theological aesthetics before delving into the works of Hans Urs von Balthasar on beauty. It is a condensed development of a Theology of Art that is a testimony to the relationship between holiness and beauty. The theological is highly Thomistic and is constantly related to the beauty which is found in the Holy Ones of the Faith.
   
   Saward's main development throughout the text is how beauty is always a reflection of holiness, for holiness is, at its core, a full harmony with God, letting the Radiance of the inner life of the Trinity shine through the holy one. By means of a variety of reflections, Saward considers those Holy Ones who are transparent to the beauty of God and reflects primarily on the different aspects of these beauties, particularly as found in Christ, The Eucharist, the Saints, The Virgin Mary, and the Martyrs. He always orders the beauty of the Holy Ones, as well as all of Creation, to the Holy God of all creation.
   
   Saward's treatise serves as an important reminder to the power of Art insomuch as it works to the Glory of God, to the Glory of the Truth. Beauty is not removable from Truth and Goodness, but is an exposition of it, and a route thereto. By means of such Holiness, Art is lifted up to its summit and thus can purify an entire culture.



2. Every once in a while you read a book that inspires you from cover to cover. I couldn't put this book down because it was so well done and leads you on to reflect on the beauty of the Christian faith and it's practicality in the spiritual life. Mr.Saward has a good grasp on the connection between the beautiful and holy. I found it very readable and would recommend it to anyone who seeks to enrich their Christian faith.



3. This book is so rich, I felt spoiled to have read it. I boughtit because the reviews were so good, and I'm really glad I did. If youwonder what art has to do with spirituality, this book will carefully reveal it to you. It provides a wealth of information - each premise is carefully documented and supported. It ties together the experience and profundity of art (in worship, in creating art, etc.) with holiness. It was written from a Catholic perspective, but the rich traditions and thought underlying the message are for all Christians. What joyful reading... END



4. This is a beautiful exposition of the harmony between holiness and beauty. John Saward, a friend of mine, is a reflection of this great work. Read it.

1 comments about The Gospel in Greasepaint: Creative Biblical Skits for Clowns, Mimes, and Other Fools for Christ.

1. I looked into this book because I needed Christian material for a mime. The skits in this book are parables and stories from the Bible that are acted out with a narrator or at least 1 person talking. This may be all right for a program in a church setting. But a mime working at a festival is often working alone or with another mime. And a mime is expected to "Respect the WHITE". In other words a mime is never to talk while he/she is wearing the white makeup. The skits in this book were good, but were no help for what I needed and I felt misled by the title.