3 comments about The Complete Pebble Mosaic Handbook.

1. This book contains spectacular photography through-out: both photos that highlight the artistry of finished works and the close-up, clear, work-in-progress photos that highlight techniques for successful projects. Accompanying text is very readable, and contains a wealth of information about pebble mosaics. I bought the book for the photographs, but was also fascinated by the information about the people and communities that came together to create stunning mosaics to enhance public spaces in their towns.



2. Good overview of pebble mosaics with very helpful information on materials and techniques. The book also has good examples of works by professional mosaicists in the field of pebblework.



3. Maggy Howarth's COMPLETE PEBBLE MOSAIC HANDBOOK provides a review of pebble mosaics which can be used in gardens, patios and public places. Artists, landscapers, and any with a special interest in the design qualities of these mosaics will find this a beautiful collection which not only provides step-by-step insights, but includes a survey of traditional works by contemporary pebble mosaic artists.

5 comments about Making & Installing Handmade Tiles (A Lark Ceramics Book).

1. I have been interested in learning how to make tiles and this book is clear and precise on everything you need to know. If you are interested in learning how to do this in any way, shape or form...get this book. It will definitely help you on your way to making some wonderful artwork.



2. Well done. Confidence inspiring for a first time tile maker. Good also for any clay enthusiast wanting to learn new techniques. The method of this author's teaching style is fabulous. You feel as if she is personally teaching you step by step how to custom make tiles. The entire process, not just the painting and glazing. A good value for the price. It is easily worth at least $10-15 more. A bargain. Get your copy before they raise the price!



3. I have been accumulating ceramic tile books for some time, and this one is very good as a beginner volume showing several differing techniques on how to make your own tiles, as well as paint and fire existing tiles. It shows how to make differing shapes, how to glaze & carve, as well as how to properly install what you've created. There is a little bit of everything in this volume, as well as very clear instructions and photographs. I enjoyed reading this very much, and will refer to it more in the future as I work in tiles.



4. Anyone wanting to learn about making clay tiles and tile moulds would enjoy this book. A wealth of information. It gets the big tick.



5. Very good info, and enough of it was unique enough to make it well worth purchasing over some of the other Tile How-to books. Good source for anyone, such as myself, who is interested in delving into a new avocation.

4 comments about Start Your Engines: Surface Vehicle Sketches & Renderings from the Drawthrough Collection (Air Vehicle Sketches).

1. This is the other half of complimentary book "Lift off"
   
   Scott Robertson's unique vehicle designs are applied to things that drive in this book.
   
   You will see the process of firstly small quick rough sketches until he finds a shape and then develops the most liked shapes further. The next step goes into more detailed sketches with full vanishing points laid out.
   The final art is then revealed in amazing detail and believability.
   
   If you are learning about concept and design pick this up now, also look at the tutorial videos and other books.
   
   [...]



2. I love books like this and Scott Robertson is a great thinker. What love is that there is focus on Sketching which is not focused on enough in other books.



3. A very good book! It must be different, because Scott Robertson, is a phenomenal artist!
   Very good same!



4. This second book from scott robertson is just as amazing as his "lift off" book. This book has real world examples of the creative process that it takes to create a vehicle from a simple idea to a final render. Tons of amazing sketches are inspirational and just candy for your eyes. I love this book and never get tired off looking at it. I recomend it to anyone in the design field who is looking for fresh ideas and work for inspiration

2 comments about Collage, Assemblage, and Altered Art: Creating Unique Images and Objects.

1. I have only thumbed through this book so far, but it looks like it has the information I was looking for. I needed to know the basics of assemblage and materials to use and that was explained very well.
   Would reccomend this book.



2. The work profiled here leans more toward fine art than craft, which is a welcome diversion. Worth the purchase for some really fresh altered book depictions.

3 comments about The Potter's Book of Glaze Recipes.

1. This Book is a great book for any beginner Potter. It has over 400 recipes for glazes and it also explains how to adjust the glaze ifyou have a problem. I love my Book and I know I will use it for a very long time.



2. Easy to use and keeps open while I work on recipes.Great size . Great pictures on nice paper.



3. I am thrilled with this new book I recently purchased, I have had Emmanual Cooper's other books on glazing and recipes - and found them most informative and the glazes pretty true to explanation
   I also have found that they are quite stable - we fire in the higher 1260.C upwards catagory and the sometimes glaze recipes unless worked out correctly can be very unstable and uninteresting.
   All in all a very worthwhile book and easy to use, a definate "MUST HAVE" for your collection

5 comments about Airstream Living.

1. really great for airstream lovers. beautiful pictures and ideas for airstream updating and decorating. the binding, however, could not withstand the weight of the pages and loosened up pretty quickly.



2. JUST A TERRIFIC BOOK TO LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF THE AIRSTREAM. ENJOYED SEEING THE OTHER DECORATED "HOMES". SOME ARE TRULY AN INSPIRATION. CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY OWN 'TRAILER'.



3. We took this on a road trip to Seattle in our VW van and everyone in the van had a blast looking at the photos and dreaming about owning (and developing creative uses for) an Airstream one day. Great fun.



4. This book is an awesome look into the interiors of Airstreams and a few other brands (very few). I enjoyed the book thoroughly. However, the glue binding on the book was very stiff and the binding has broken, letting some pages go free.



5. The creative interior designs that Airstream owners have done over the years are highlighted, from actors, to retirees, to even restaurants. Lots of photos and an interesting read for anyone that loves to RV.

5 comments about Mosaic Art and Style: Designs for Living Environments.

1. This is a great book not only as an admirer of the arts but also it gives you ideas for your own projects. I have been doing mosaics for the past 2 years, visited Gaudi's houses in Barcelona and the book shows different kind of projects which resemble those from Barcelona, Spain



2. I bought this book as an afterthought while buying another mosaic book - one of those Amazon "twofers" deals - and found it to be more impressive than my original choice. It highlights individual artists over several pages so that you can get a feel for the work of the creme de la creme of mosaic artists. Great photos and informative but brief bios and brief descriptions of the pieces - all at a great price - make this a book worthy of study and a source of inspiration. I'd love to see future books in this same format covering additional artists.



3. The beautiful images in this book show the full potential that mosaic works can be. As a beginner to mosaic art I found the pieces in this book to be a bit intimidating, but I also got some great ideas to use in my own work. This book did a great job at showing how mosaic work can be used to spice up any area in everyday spaces.



4. Every page was full of beautiful examples of great mosaic variations. Great for countless home decor ideas for every room, outdoor and even commercial too. The pages are high quality print and vibrant color. I marked so many pages with inspirational project ideas. I've been cracking, gluing and grouting like mad. It's surely motivational. A Great find!



5. A view of a wide range of mosaic art both public and private. To enjoy for the art itself and an inspiration for your own craft ...

5 comments about Altered Books Workshop.

1. Altered Books Workshop by Bev Brazelton is a wonderful collage of techniques and ideas that can be used for altering books. The book is a beautiful collection of work, with each page looking like a work of art. It is an easy book to read that is lots of fun to look at. The techniques are explained in simple format with photos to lead you through each step.
   
   The basic techniques section covers collaging, stitching, cutting doors, cutting windows, adding tags, folding pages, and adding inserts. Rubber stamping on tags is one of the many wonderful samples used in this section. These are so much fun and add so much character to the page! Pages are filled with variations and tips, and the art work on each page deserves the time to be studied.
   
   The intermediate techniques include cutting shadowboxes, glazing, adding texture, collaging covers, and cutting covers. Cutting shadowboxes and covers was fascinating to learn. The easy to follow directions with photos makes the procedure sound easy enough for anyone to succeed doing, but the final results look like an experienced artist was involved. Brazelton suggests gluing your pages together before you begin cutting out the shadowbox. When the glue dries, you use a craft knife and change blades often to achieve the cut out that you are looking for. She recommends that you cut the whole area and not worry about how clean your edges are until you are done. Then you can go back and clean up the pages. You can then fill your cut out area with little trinkets to create 3-D collaged art.
   
   This book achieved its goal. Not only did I enjoy reading and looking over each page, but it made me want to alter a book immediately.



2. I really like this book a lot! It covers everything for the beginner: what is an altered book, choosing a book, supplies and tools, developing a theme, and then there are some great step by step photos of the whole process of starting the book and doing a double spread. Then is covers 18 different techniques. Some of the basic ones are collaging, stitching, cutting doors, windows, adding tags, folding pages, and adding inserts, all with wonderful examples and photos. Next, are intermediate techniques: cutting shadowboxes, glazing and adding texture, and working with your book cover. Lastly, there are the techniques that Bev calls "creative". They are designing with words, adding a drawer, hanging embellishments, adding fibers and beads, transferring images, and adding pop-ups. All of these subjects in one book is wonderful. That is why I highly recommend this book for a beginner.



3. For under five dollars, this book is a great investment for beginners or even those who are just intrigued by altered books. As the author explains, her focus is not to teach her specific style, but rather, some techniques for altering books. For example, she discusses different uses for various glues, how to fold and cut pages, and how to insert shadowboxes. The step-by-step photos and tips are very helpful. For more of an eye-candy, awe-inspiring book, try Terry Taylor's Altered Art. For detailed how-to's and encouragement, Bev Brazelton's book is valuable introduction.



4. I'd been wanting to purchase this book for awhile before finally buying it - and I'm so glad I did! This is a fabulous book to add to any artist's collection - whether you are into altered books or your focus lies in creating different mixed media/altered art projects. The author (herself a well-known altered book artist) takes the reader from very basic ideas and explanations, to much more advanced information. She accomplishes this in such a way that the reader - independent of skill level - never feels talked down to, or is left trying to figure out what she's talking about. The examples in the book are glorious eye candy, and it's easy to forget you're looking at the flat page of a book - her texture seems to jump off the page. This is a great reference tool to use during those times your Muse has taken a vacation, or you're looking to try a process you don't normally incorporate into your work. I really appreciate the way the book is laid out - the photography is scrumptious and the writing is concise.
   
   Altered Books Workshop is a book that will stay on the front section of my bookcase, where I keep my favorite "go to" books. This book is definitely money well spent!



5. This book is filled with inspirational ideas and all the techniques needed to complete projects. Excellent for someone new to the craft.

5 comments about 500 Bowls: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Design.

1. This is a great book for inspiration. I love the photos and descriptions. This is not the book for the how-to lessons, but is great eye-candy for any artist working with a bowl form.



2. Beautifully presented, with 500 timeless ideas and references. If you are a potter and looking for inspiration - this book is a gold mine.



3. I'm a clay artist who does hand building...My teacher brought in this book to share with our
   pottery class. I and the rest of the class were simply blown away by the originality and brilliance of these clay artists. We spent half the class passing the book around and saying to one anothr "how about THIS one?"
   None of us wanted to put the book down and get back to working on our own pieces.
   
   The book is quite reasonable in price and I was so captivated by these beautiful photographs that I went ahead and bought the the other two books in the series which are specific to animals and teapots...The photographs on each page are simply spectacular...memorable....something I wouldn't directly copy in my own work, but much of it is just insipirational...and informative. Description of how the piece was fired...the method for it's execution (whether hand or wheel built). These books are a collection of the most original works I've ever seen. Although I don't build animals of out clay, I'm as thrilled to own each book from this series as I am
   "500 Bowls".



4. This book is beautifully photgraphed, like all the 500 series books, and weather you put it on your coffee table or in your studio, it lights up the imagination and inspires the artist.



5. It is the simplicity of the bowl on the cover that draw us in, though it is difficult, as there is no cover credit in the edition I own, to find who that artist is. Deep inside we find that bowl and another by potter/artist Judy Motzkin. Patient searching pays off. This elegant little book, with this elegant saggar fired bowl on the cover is a treasure.

5 comments about The Mosaic Artist's Bible: Over 300 Traditional and Contemporary Designs.

1. Absolutely LOVE this resource. Teaches you how to do mosaic, (different types of tiles, grouts, glues, tools, surfaces, techniques, color theory etc.) and then provides tons of design inspiration so you can start creating.
   Spiral bound - lays or stands flat, so you can reference it while working.
   Absolutely BEAUTIFUL designs of all types, with instructions for how to do each one yourself if you want to copy, - or - plenty of inspiration for creating your own designs!
   What I love most is that, through using different photos of different pieces, they show you so many different styles of mosaic design. Different ways of placing the tiles - and how that affects the design. The photos themselves are teaching tools.
   
   It's true that it uses mainly glass, but it does inform you about different types of materials. If you are creative in the first place, you can look at the photos and imagine different types of materials anyway. You don't really need your hand held.
   AWESOME resource. It's the only mosaic book I've ever owned.



2. This book's title and the publisher's description of it are misleading. This little tome would more accurately be touted as a brief first book about mosaics for a child who has not yet made a mosaic. It is certainly not a bible (which implies comprehensive as well as authoritative) and it is certainly not a mosaic artist's bible. No one who considered herself or himself a mosaic artist would require the guidance proffered.
   
   Change the title and change the description and you have a very fine product.



3. Excellent book on mosaics for both beginners and advanced crafters. Contains a great selection of designs ranging from simple to more complex. Also includes a well constructed technical section. Highly recommended to anyone who wants a mosaic book at their fingertips that has it all.



4. This is a great book for newbies to the world of mosaic art and designs. I highly recommend it.



5. A mosaic artist's "bible" should cover, or at least refer to, all things mosaic. I found this to be more of a craft-oriented, paint-by-numbers book of patterns, not geared to artists. I suppose the patterns may be helpful for those who do not create their own designs but if that's not what you're after, this book not only doesn't offer anything new, it doesn't even touch on many of the most important mosaic materials and techniques, so the title is very misleading. This book never once refers to smalti, the most basic and historic of tesserae, not does it discuss any artistic techniques, such as visual flow(andemento) or outlining. The words "bible" and "artist's" should not be in the title, maybe more "how-to" for beginners.