Game of Pokémon

Winter is coming, and I am hoping my Pokémon can last more than five minutes in a gym when the outside temperature is well below freezing.

Book Recommendation: How to Make Art Dolls with Fabric

I found a fantastic how-to book on making art dolls in cloth in the library, Introduction to Making Cloth Dolls by Jan Horrox. These two dolls in this blog post are art dolls I made using this book. The photographs in the Horrox book are gorgeous and the patterns are for larger 14 – 16 inch tall dolls. If you can sew, you can make art dolls with these patterns. The author uses wonderful, rich colors and textures in her pieces that will give you ideas for your work.

Download Free Art History Books

The Met NYC has a collections of art history books you can read online or download for free here. Exhibit catalogs are also in the collection. This would be particularly sweet if you have a tablet like an iPad. I downloaded a PDF of Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings. Now I can have more art history books without trying to figure out how to fit them on my jammed book shelves.

Read Mail Art Book Online for Free

 

You can read a copy of an eBook titled Art Through the Letterbox by Mail Art Martha (mailartmartha.org.uk) on this site here. The eBook is a short work (98 pages total) collecting mail art received from all over the world. A majority of the works are mixed media and collage art, with some paintings, digital pieces and printmaking works. This online eBook is an interesting way to document,  preserve and share a mail art collection. Make a cup of tea and settle in for a while!

Book Recommendation: Americus

 

Americus is a graphic novel by M.K. Reed and Jonathan David Hill. The plot is analogous to the censorship debates surrounding the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling and book censorship in the U.S.A. in general, citing prior conflicts over Judy Blume and other authors whose works faced censorship. The authors devised an imaginary young adult high fantasy series that religious members of the local community take offense to and try to remove from circulation at the public library. The main character and supporters of the book find themselves in the minority in a heated ongoing conflict where the main character has the opportunity to defend the books he loves. The authors show many facets of the conflict and treat it with more complexity than just a clash of opinions. The characters in the community are given the depth to show their different viewpoints and why they have them. The art is consistently good throughout the book and the sympathies lie with the main character who is in the process of growing up.

Book Recommendation: Printmaking in America: Collaborative Prints and Presses 1960 – 1990

 

Printmaking in America: Collaborative Prints and Presses 1960 – 1990 (editor Elaine M. Stainton, 1995) is an exhibition catalog with a highly detailed history of printmaking from as far back as the 18th Century and the revival of artistic printmaking through specific efforts and studios from 1960 onward. Many studios and presses throughout the USA are named and have their specific histories chronicled. The fine art market for prints during this time, the role of foundations and universities in creating studios, and how various studios lead to the creation of others across the nation are all interesting aspects of this history. The prints included are a collection from many well recognized contemporary artists. Some favorites of mine were from Ed Ruscha, Barbara Kruger, Robert Longo, Chuck Close, Helen Frankenthaler and David Hockney. If you geek out on printmaking, definitely read this book cover to cover.

Book Recommendation: A Year in Japan

A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson is a painted memoir of her stay.  Line art and watercolors with short excerpts of things she experienced, learned or noticed make up the book.  It starts out wonderfully:

As soon as I walked out of the train station on my first day in Kyoto, I knew that I would love Japan.  I passed the ground floor of a department store on my way to the street.  To my right, next to purses and scarves, was a wall of color and pattern – windowpane plaid, polka dots, orange and turquoise, red and magenta, lime and navy.  Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a display of washcloths, the most beautiful washcloths I had ever seen.  Unlike their American counterparts, usually relegated to some fourth-floor linen department, these squares of terry are not used for washing but are kept in purses for drying one’s hands in public restrooms.

The washcloths were my first exposure to the attention to detail that characterizes much of Japan – both visually and socially.  I soon came to realize just how much thought lies behind appearances and actions there, and that these details of beauty and nuances or word and deed are both expected and appreciated.

 

The Photographer’s Eye

 

The Photographer’s Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman [2007] is a short 187 pages but it is packed with images that illustrate techniques.  If you are someone who learns better by seeing examples, this may be the best possible photography how-to book you can read.  I learned way more from this book than I ever did from a college class and feel anyone can learn something from the book regardless of prior experience or skill level.

Photographs are broken down with descriptions on what elements make them successful, such as colour, framing the shot and internal composition.  Different shots are shown alongside the most successful example for comparison or a stream of shots will be shown to illustrate the subtle variations and which shots are more successful.  The book is older so it is retailing online for $20 or less however you are getting a terrific education for the price.  The visual demonstrations paired with the written expertise makes this a veritable text book that supersedes any other class or tutorial in value.

Book Recommendation: Rosa Bonheur: A Life and a Legend by Dore Ashton

 

This biography tells of the amazing life an artist, one lived through warfare, political and artistic upheavals in one of the most turbulent times in France.  Rosa Bonheur [1822-1899] was known for her animal paintings including The Horse Fair.  I had bought a small etching mimicking The Horse Fair and wanted to known more about her life and work.  The short two hundred page book gives a very detailed overview of her life and career in  two hundred pages loaded down with events, aspects of her personal life and many recognizable names from history crossed paths with her.  There are a number of source documents, etchings, lithographs, photographs and paintings included; they are all in  lack and white yet many of the paintings can be found and referenced online.

Being one of the last traditional Salon style artists prior to the arrival of Impressionism, Bonheur had lived through the struggles of  her time and had been a successful career artist.  There had been initial acclaim in the Salons when she was younger, yet overall her work was more popular in England and America.  The author avoids speculation about the artist’s contemporary social significance regarding (to quote the wiki) “academic criticism to locate Bonheur as a proto-Feminist and as a pivotal figure for Queer theory” and sticks to the facts and sources  for her information for the complex and varied life of Bonheur.

Anna Pavlova with Jack

This studio portrait of ballet dancer Anna Pavlova shows her with a pet swan named Jack.  She left behind so many wonderful images and dance photographs; this one is fitting for Pavlova who had danced portraying a swan so many times.  This plate is from Anna Pavlova: In Art & Life [1932] by spouse Victor Dandré and he indicated Jack as her favorite swan.  There are many warm stories of the couple’s pets and the dancer’s love of nature and animals.

The book is laid out in sections detailing her career, impact on dance, personal life, tours, charitable works and final hours.  It’s a bit heart wrenching in its loving tribute as Dandré took to writing it after her death in 1931.  He meshes what had to have been a lifetime of notes and records as her manager with his personal recollections in such an engrossing manner.  What I know about dance would not fill a thimble but I do love a good biography.