2 comments about Roman Sculpture (Yale Publications in the History of Art).

1. THis book is part of what I have to read in my introduction course in greek/roman art. In this respect it is maby not optimal, the autor focuses too much on works of art that no longer excicsts, and works that aren't that well known. I wish she would focus more on the really famous pieces. What is realle good is that it follows the Emperors cronologically, and that makes it easier too understand the connecton between art and society. For people with special interests in the field, it is probably wonderfull, but with 460 pages it is long and a bit too much information for a new student.



2. Ms. Kleiner does indeed show how eclectic Roman sculpture is/was. But she also shows and explains how artists wrought texture out of stone, their flare for facial features, the thoughtful tilt of the head or the significance of a raised eyebrow. There is more to Romans than conquest. This book makes that clear. This book also does an excellent job of relating historical events to tastes in sculpture.

No comments about Greek Sculpture: The Classical Period, a Handbook (World of Art).

5 comments about 3D Origami.

1. I bought this book a couple years ago. Used the Temari ball as a pattern to make ornaments. Made a basket, some cranes and now I am working on the Peacock.
   
   All I had to do was take one crane to church and boom I had orders. I've sold enough cranes to pay for the book a dozen times.
   
   And if you want to know if the book is clear enough for kids. I showed it to a lady at church. Her 9 year old daughter borrowed the book, made a baby swan and took first place in a regional art contest.
   
   One of my favorite things to do is to keep a bowl of prefolded peices handy. I play with them like Legos and when my friends come over their kids spend hours "buidling" with them.
   
   My only regret is that the author has not released even more books.



2. I bought this book for my 14 year old son who has done origami for the past three years, he found the instructions very clear, and was delighted with both the variety of shapes that were given, and how easy it was to modify the shapes to create different designs.



3. I first saw a swan in a japanese restaurant and was interested in learning where they got it from. The owner of the restaurant said he had made it himself and reccomended this book to me to learn for myself.
   This book has really good explanations and step by step instructions to start with. the diagrams are very useful and the initial pages teach us how to fold the paper and all that.
   it does get difficult to make the more complicated objects like the swan which requires about 600 pieces...it is better to start of with something small...
   also it is pretty time consuming,,and as they say in the beginning of the book it is really nice for someone to have espescially if he is recovering from an illness...
   i wud absolutely reccomend this book...



4. I first saw completed 3D origami projects of the dancing crane and peacock done by an older Japanese gentleman, who had lots more origami years under his belt than I, and said, "WOW".

   He handed me his 3D origami book to look at and within a few moments I realized that I could do any one of the projects shown too.

   The instructions are very easy to follow. You might find it more difficult to find the exact paper you want.

   You are folding the same size paper into triangles for projects then assembling them into rows to create your 3D project.

   Be patient, some of the larger projects require hundreds of triangles. The good-luck hyotan (gourd) takes 762. Looks great when complete in gold or silver foil. I used gift wrap and cut it to the appropriate size because this required so many triangles.

   In the end, you'll be very pleased with a completed project and your friends will be amazed.




5. This book is nothing like other origami books. My friends even offered to pay for one of the swans I made from this book. Of course, it's alot more work than ordinary origami foldings (like cranes, and other single paper folded origami) but it's worth the work. Once you finish making one of those swans, you'll be looking at it and go "wow...did I make that??" You'll draw alot of attention and be very popular!
   Finished origami looks very sophisticated, yet it's very easy to make (just need little patience).
   Buy this book, you won't regret and it's worth every penny.

2 comments about Yayoi Kusama (Contemporary Artists).

1. I love this artist, she is such an innovator, she rocks my world and as a young Japanese canadian artist i am highly influnced by her.



2. This book is absolutely gorgeous. I didn't know many of the artist's works before I bought this book - and it gave me a good understanding of her life and work. Chock full of beautiful colour photos. It's cool too because so many quality art books cost a fortune, but since this one is a softcover it's reasonably priced. As you can tell, I HIGHLY recommend this book.

3 comments about Zuni Fetishes and Carvings: The Compete Guide, One-Volume Expanded Edition.

1. The book is very informative, compact and well illustrated.
   It invites one to visit the Zuni Culture as a whole!



2. Contains a great deal of information about the Zuni carvers and their carvings, but does not get quite far enough.



3. Zuni fetish carvings are fascinating and addicting. This new book by Kent McManis, who owns Grey Dog Trading Company, combines two earlier books into an expanded version with even more pictures of the carvings.
   
   I didn't see much new information in this expanded edition but it does have more photos than the earlier volumes combined. If you have the two earlier books, you probably don't need this new one unless you just like to look at pictures of the fetish carvings.

3 comments about Gunstock Carving: A Step-by-Step Guide to Engraving Rifles and Shotguns.

1. This book explains the specific use of ultra high speed pneumatic rotary engraving tools in the art of gunstock decorative carving.
   It contains a couple of hundred color photographs showing in great detail the layout and steps to create fishscale and basket weave checkering, oak and acanthus leaf carving, and a wildlife scene. The author does a great job of answering all questions you might have as he takes you through the complete process step-by-step and tool-by-tool.
   Also included are full page photocopiable patterns for all of the previously listed items and more. And to top it all off, for the reader's inspiration the author included 23 color photos of other finished carving.
   If you want to do decorative wood carving with an ultra high speed engraver, this book is a must have.



2. I ordered two books on this subject at the same time. This book was clear and to the point--and very helpful. The other "Custom Gunstock Carving" was a big disappointment.
   The Janney book was better illustrated, better written, and had better sequences of what to do next. Gunstock Carving had a list of suppliers which was extremely helpful especially for us beginners.



3. The results achieved on my first attempt were very satisfying. I was surprised on receiving the book that most of the work is done thru a pattern with rotary tools. The text is plain and complete, and the illustrations better than average. I was particularily happy with my results (after a bit of practice) with the fish scale checkering. A real bargain.

5 comments about Pornogami: A Guide to the Ancient Art of Paper-Folding for Adults.

1. It's not the easiest for the novice origami person (i.e., me), but the folks I bought it for who are origami gurus found it hysterical and fun. My new bar trick is making a winky out of a dollar bill because of this book.



2. This book is a novelty and the concept is funny. However, I'm not impressed with the models.
   
   The diagrams are pictures of somebody showing the folds - so the book does not use the "normal" symbols.
   
   I think a beginner folder would have some problems with this book.



3. I am a complete & total beginner at origami, I found many of these hard or impossible to make.
   
   I also bought 'Naughty Origami' which generally has easier figures - I was able to make almost all of them after a couple of tries each, after doing them I was able to make a few of the figures from Pornogami.
   
   The figures in this book are generally more 'interesting'.
   
   The origami were very well received by men and women alike at an adults only party.



4. I bought 5 of these to give a birthday gifts. Everyone has loved them.



5. I gave it as a xmas gift and it made a few jaws drop and brought on lots of laughter . A+

No comments about Water Library.

No comments about Liam Gillick: Proxemics Selected Essays, 1988-2006.

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...