1 comments about Crimson Embrace 6 - A Gallery Girls Book (Gallery Girls Collection).

1. Wow...hard to believe that the Crimson Embrace series is now into its 6th volume collecting the art of female vampires from some of the top fantasy artists in the world. I enjoy all of the Gallery Girls collections since they provide such a wide diversity of talent with very different artistic styles. My favorites, though, have always been the ones that celebrate the dark female such as the witches of the Coven series and the vampires of Crimson Embrace. As with the other Gallery Girls books the art here is presented in black & white pencil, pen & ink illustrations. Joe Jusko gets things started with a great, full-color cover. Other artists featured in Volume 6 include: Arantza, Pedro Cuevas, Tomas Giorello, Brian Le Blanc, and Jim Fern.
   
   Anyone who has read my previous reviews knows that I am a big fan of Spanish artist Arantza so it should come as no surprise that one of her drawings is among my most favorites in this latest volume. Her depiction of a Victorian era blonde vampire bursting forth from her tomb, dressed in a sexy negligee is simply breath-taking, as is most of her work. Another Arantza example is of a bat-winged, blonde vampire resting atop a tomb in an ancient grave yard. Enric presents a horrific vision of a brutish, demon like vampire tormenting a near-naked blonde woman who is chained and at its mercy. Marcelo Fleitas contributes a truly dark and gothic illustration of a vampire shepherdess walking through a cemetery while a subservient male kneels at her side.
   
   A pair of erotic vamps, frolicking in a pool of blood is Federico Ossio's contribution to this volume and it's a gem. Lorenzo Lorente provides the most gruesome illustration this time out with a modern day vamp that has just taken her latest victim in a men's room and holds a ghastly trophy in her hand...the man's severed head! Beheading is also the theme of a piece by Javier Lara as a short-haired vamp returns to her tomb clutching another poor victim's head, as blood flows down her faced and chin. Another favorite of mine, Paleaz shows a vampire creeping up on her next victim who is sleeping and wearing only panties. Will the crucifix around her neck save her? Lorente, yet another rising star, has a second outstanding, and darkly sensuous piece in this book, this time showing a nude vampire, a trail of blood flowing the length of her body, clasping her breasts in front of a mountain of skulls.
   
   This is one of the best volumes I've yet to see in the Gallery Girls collections. The art is uniformly fantastic throughout. Darkly atmospheric and moody, all of these artists set a great tone. A Goth fan's dream!

5 comments about Staffordshire Figures: History in Earthenware, 1740-1900 (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. What a great read! This is a study of not only Staffordshire figurines but the people who made and decorated them and the life and times that these people existed within. It is a wonderful fresh social history and commentary of especially Victorian times based around ornamental objects that were produced for the masses, rather than the elite and wealthy. It is a fascinating book to read and requires on previous knowledge of the subject. Chapters include an excellent introduction to "the potteries" and the makers, modelers and decorators followed by indepth studies of predominately Victorian life as reflected by chapter headings such as Never-never land : children; rogues and renegades : the criminal element; country life : a rural romance; and entertainment : streets, spirits, sawdust, spotlights and stirrups.
   The book is extremely well written and beautifully illustrated (often with previously unpublished figures). The index is prolific and all en-compassing. It is elegantly produced by the publisher Schiffer. This is a fascinating reference work that one just wants to sit down and read from cover to cover-unlike most reference books that are just "dipped into". It is not simply a catalogue of Staffordshire figures but an engaging study of the period.



2. As a long-time Staffordshire collector, I was delighted when my copy of this book arrived. My personal library contains numerous Staffordshire figure catalogs and "studies," but I've never read anything like this incredible book before. The authors have brought the Staffordshire figure-making era into remarkable focus with an immediacy that takes the reader into that long-ago time when Staffordshire figures were first placed on the mantelpieces of homes and inns throughout Britain. This is clearly a book about Staffordshire's earthenware figures and groups, but it is also a book about the era in which they were crafted and the people who made and owned them 100-260 years ago. Kenny and Moriarty have gone where the "catalogers" and previous Staffordshire authors have failed to go - directly and comprehensively to the essence of the Staffordshire figure era. This is a wonderfully readable "history" book, abundantly illustrated with Staffordshire figures and groups, and filled with the vitality and drama of the dawning Industrial Age. A long forgotten potter once stated, "No art with potters can compare, we make our pots of what we potters are." It may now be said of this new and exciting book's authors, Adele Kenny and Veronica Moriarty, "No other authors can compare, they made their book of what the figures are."



3. This fabulous new book has been flawlessly researched and written, generously illustrated, and elegantly produced in a hardbound edition complete with a very attractive dust jacket. It is a reference that provides inclusive historical information on the social, cultural, economic, and religious conditions that provided the backdrop for earthenware figure production in North Staffordshire from the mid-eighteenth century through 1900. In this volume, Staffordshire figures are not merely catalogued and illustrated - they are presented as historical "documents" that illustrate various aspects of British life during the time of their making. The 240-page book contains twenty chapters, an introduction, a conclusion, a very complete bibliography, and a comprehensive index. Over 565 illustrations complement text that is written in an intelligent and lively style that draws the reader into the changing, turbulent, gritty, and gutsy world of the Staffordshire figure. The authors have skillfully designed each chapter as a separate content area that may be read and savored individually or studied and enjoyed within the larger context of the whole book. Detailed captions provide descriptive data that adds to the already substantial text. The value ranges noted are honestly wide and reflect the current market. Kenny and Moriarty have created a masterwork that is destined to become a standard reference in the field.



4. If you are looking for the WHOLE story of Staffordshire figures, this is the book for you. Written in an intelligent, literate style, here is a reference text that draws the reader into the world of Staffordshire figures as well as into the world of the potters who made them and the people who purchased them. This book presents a new reading of Staffordshire figure history through highly engaging and compelling text that is enhanced by hundreds of superb illustrations. The authors' carefully researched and insightful study is powered by the highest standards of scholarly, yet eminently reader-friendly, writing.



5. I'm an avid reader of "antiques" books, as well as being a collector of antiques. It's not very often that a book about antiques comes along that not only gives you the information you want to know about your antique, but also manages to let you into the world of the people who made that antique.
   Not only did I find this work a way to help me better appreciate where the pottery of Staffordshire was coming from and why it happened when it did, but I ENJOYED reading it! The work is entertaining - a real surprise for a book about antiques. I found it a breath of fresh air for Staffordshire figure and antiques writing in general.
   Congratulations to the authors. Informative and entertaining and comprehensive text and great pictures to support it.
   I highly recommend this work not only to those who collect Staffordshire figurs, but to anyone interested in 19th century history and society.

No comments about Mosaic Basics: Everything You Need to Know to Start Making Beautiful Mosaics.

2 comments about Into the Nature: Of Creatures And Wilderness.

1. I bought Into the Nature as a resource book for senior painting students. It has a wide collection of images but very little writing. If you liked Wonderland and Romantic you will probably enjoy this book. It is excellent as it has a wide variety of approaches to a single theme / subject matter. A number of the images are very challenging so don't buy it if you are easily offended. My students loved it and were very inspired by the images.
   So yes I'd recommend it as part of a resource collection but don't purchase it as a be all and end all book.
   lm



2. I'ts really very nice, and thick; It's a big book. Full of interesting photography and illustration.

5 comments about In the Studio.

1. This was my second encounter with Tom Bianchi's work. It was more sexually changed than his first black and white foto collection, and in no way could it disappoint. Bianchi can make the male body so erotic with a subtle camera angle, or a gesture of the photographic subject, or the look on his subject's face, without making him appear pornographic. I am awed by this man's talent with a camera! This is no coffee table book, but definitely something for the night stand next to the bed!



2. It is impossible to fault Tom Bianchi's work. This collection, and its companion piece, OUT OF THE STUDIO, is a pictoral delight. Men in all of their glory are cleverly and artistically posed. There is in this book, a sense of innocence that makes Bianchi's work even more important. Their is NO attitude here, just handsome men being themselves.



3. "In 1991, with the release of Out of the Studio, Tom Bianchi revolutionized the way in which artists conceptualize and photograph men. The unselfconscious and affectionate contact between men that is characteristic of his photographs was a reality that had rarely been reported in art." - text excerpt from Stoneweall Inn



4. I was hoping for much better from a photographer that had done such good work in his previous books. I am not Virginia, and you would probably have to be excessively slow to not realize that there is sex in the studio, you don't have to prove it. Previous books showed beauty and emotion. "In the Studio" had the beauty of the physical body but lacked the emotion. If I was intrested in this style, I would go to an adult bookstore. Not all of it is borderline pornographic. There were some that were worthy of him. I feel Tom Bianchi has strayed from the ideals of "Out of the Studio" for no good reason



5. I have watched Tom Bianchi's images find a broader audience as the years have gone by. And I must say that I was really disappointed with "In the Studio". I understand that Bianchi "pushes the envelope" on images of gay men in photography, but these photos were just poorly done, in bad taste ( a semen shot is not my idea of art), and generally tired. Unlike Ritts, Weber, or Mapplethorpe who give a knowing wink to a gay sensability/audience, Bianchi utilizes a style that one would find in some pornographic rag off the street. While Bianchi idealizes his men, claiming beauty=worthiness, his photos do everything to not be beautiful, to show his men as solely physical gay men (as opposed to emotional AND physical gay men) who seem to be there for his keyhole voyeurism.

   I used to feel proud looking at his images, the blatant tenderness between two men that was apparent for all to see. Now I feel like I am flaunting pornography.

3 comments about Sylvain's Tahiti.

1. This might be the most exciting publication of the entire year! It's certainly one of the most thrilling books published in recent times. It recounts the life's work of Adolphe Sylvain who visited Tahiti in 1946 and, enchanted by the landscape, the people, and a girl named Tehani, decided to stay. He settled in, married his lover, and dedicated himself to photographing the island's many delights while working as a correspondent for magazines such as Paris Match, Life, and National Geographic. His black & white photos are spectacular visions of the earthly paradise that is Tahiti and showcases the splendid beauty of the landscape and its people, especially its girls (...).



2. Contrary to what Mr. Mitchell mistakenly states, most of the models in this book are not Madame Sylvain. They are women of Tahiti plain, simple and beautiful. I actually bought this book while in Tahiti and each time I leaf through it I remember the wonderful moments I had in Tahiti. Tahitian people are quite possibly the most beautiful people in the world and Sylvain captures this perfectly.



3. Summary: Adolphe Sylvain had an eye for the images that people in developed countries imagine about a fairy tale South Pacific. Many of our ideas about what a tropical paradise is come from his photographs. For a few minutes, you can imagine yourself to be part of a local village of people who fish for a living back in the 1940s and 1950s. This book is dominated by scenes of native Polynesians enjoying the natural beauty of Tahiti. The model is most frequently M. Sylvain's Tahitian wife, nee Ms. Jeanine Tehani Vidal, whom he married in 1946.

   Content Caution: Before proceeding further, please realize (as the cover image indicates) that this book is filled with photographs of topless and nude female models, usually the photographer's wife. These images would earn this book's material an R rating if it were a motion picture.

   Review: M. Sylvain's photography makes unusually good use of black-and-white contrasts for capturing lush tropical landscapes, lagoons and beaches, nudes, and everyday scenes in Tahiti. His work benefits from the frequent use of his wife, Tehani, as a model. She is remarkably relaxed and happy in these images, and helps to set a mood of natural enjoyment of nature that will have the viewer yearning for Tahiti. Lest you think these scenes are very overposed, I saw scenes very much like these during a vacation in Tahiti in the mid-1980s.

   Some of the images are ragged around the edges, which reflects the terrible loss of much of M. Sylvain's work during a fire in his studio. Some of these images were rescued from the debris that remained. As a result, these images almost all date from 1946-1957.

   Ms. Sylvain will remind you of a sea otter in some of the images, as she glides effortlessly through the crystal lagoon water. Her connection with nature is direct and joyous. Her apparent pleasure in what she is doing is infectious.

   The images themselves are well composed, technically very fine, and the reproduction quality is excellent.

   Towards the end of the book, you will also see some photographs of famous visitors to the island like Brigitte Bardot and Charles de Gaulle.

   My original interest in visiting Tahiti was tied to having watched a television series, called Adventures in Paradise. The stories related to a schooner captin operating out of Papeete. When I read the book, I was interested to see that M. Sylvain had been an adviser to that series as well as other major filming in Tahiti over the years.

   Many people also know Paul Gauguin's paintings of Tahiti, which have also helped form expectations about the islands and their people. In particular, James Michener with his Tales of the South Pacific helped created an image of beautiful, winning Polynesian maidens that is echoed here. Ms. Sylvain observes that her husband played a key role in creating the myth of the vahini, as a result.

   After you look at these dreamscapes of Tahiti, you should sit back and think about what your ideal image of life is. What would you be doing? Where would you be? Who would be with you? What does that picture tell you about yourself?

   Dream boldly . . . and recognize the opportunity to life your dreams as Adolphe Sylvain did!

1 comments about Horn Please: Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art.

1. As with China, contemporary art in India is becoming more and more popular in the world art market with India's growing role in world affairs. "Horn Please" gives attention to the array of contemporary styles and mediums from the ages' old medium of painting to the latest installation art. The title "Horn Please" is taken from a notice to drivers written above the entrance to a well-worn brick building. As a sort of found art, this simple phrase along with its location work together to exemplify the distinctive joining of preexisting culture and modern-day realities; which realities can be like intrusions.
   
   Like the new genre of Bollywood movies from India whose name combines the city of Bombay (now better known as Mumbai) where many of them are made and Hollywood, contemporary Indian art readily, expediently-like, mixes incongruous elements. In Indian art, however, this is not basically juxtaposition as with collage in Western art; which collage and such often have a formality with their abstract or graphic elements. By contrast, the colorfulness and heterogeneity in the contemporary India art approach a riotousness suggesting the energy, a dizzying sense of change, and wish to bring together diverse aspects of the culture. The cliche "teeming life of India" with its huge population, vast and diverse geography, and complex class and caste system comes to mind. But one cannot help but use the word "teeming" to apply to the Indian art found in this art book.

No comments about Collage.

5 comments about Raku: A Practical Approach.

1. Long considered a handbook of raku, Raku; A Practical Approach details a myriad of topics pertaining to this method of firing.
   
   *Glaze recipes for many different raku effects
   *Extended chapter on kiln design, construction and operation
   *Information on how to do raku safely in a school or workshop environment.
   
   Raku, a ceramic process originating in Japan, involves taking a pot from the kiln with special tools at the height of the glaze firing, and putting it into a metal container filled with combustible materials. This is a dramatic operation, requiring a team of people, all garbed safely and moving in time to the firing schedule. It results in red hot ware clutched in tongs being carried from place to place- often bursting into flame as the pots contact the combustible leaves, sawdust or shredded paper. As you might imagine, there is much preparation that leads to this firing.
   
   Raku; A Practical Approach details the whole process of producing raku pottery.



2. A complete resource for raku firing. Specific technical information for kiln construction, as well as photos, glaze recipes and much discussion about experimental materials for reduction. If you had only one book to learn about raku tecniques,this should be the one.



3. This is the second Raku Bible that I have used and referred to repeatedly over the years. There is a short section on what Raku is and the history of Raku, but then it quickly moves into the guts of technical information on Raku. Branfman includes clay recipes (for those who are interested in actually mixing clay) and several glaze recipes with some details on how they perform.
   The real meat of the book is on kilns, building kilns, and firing a Raku kiln. Branfman covers firing in both an electric and a gas kiln. He also details many plans and techniques for building your own Raku kiln. Branfman also details many variations of firing methods including reduction firing, piece removal, and post firing reduction methods. Sprinkled throughout the book are great examples of finished pieces using many different styles and techniques that I have used as a repeated source of inspiration. Overall, the book is a very excellent text that covers the practical aspect of the Raku art form.



4. Recently I got the idea of replacing my current electric kiln, and converting the old kiln to a gas-fired rake kiln. I posted a question on the ClayArt mailing list asking for advice on how to do this. Every single reply refered me to Steve Branfman's book! I quickly bought a copy, and found it to be every bit as good as advertised. In an readable, conversational style, Steve covers a wide range of topics, including some history, glaze formulations, types of kilns, firing advice, and health & safety. Where needed, he gives very detailed and specific technical information (the section on determining BTU requirements for burners was *exactly* what I needed). He also provides great recommendations on sources and suppliers. For anyone who wants to get started, or go further, with raku, this is a great book.



5. A very good resource for anyone who is interested in the Raku process. I would not recommend this book for novice Raku artists because of the technical terms used in the book. The author does expect you to know varios technical terms. I found this book very hepful to me as I have been a Raku artist for 2 years. This book is easy to read and the photos are great. There are also a few glaze recipes that I enjoyed experimenting with.

1 comments about How Children Make Art: Lessons in Creativity from Home to School.

1. An amazing account of childrens creative experiences and suggestions of how it can be adapted to the classroom. A wonderful guide to the understanding and supporting of childrens home art and how to encourage the creative ideas children bring to school.