Book Description
Encourage your kids to express their creativity as they discover, collect, sort, arrange, experiment, and think with found and recyclable “stuff.” The real-life experiences of teachers and children will inspire ideas that you can try at home: choose objects and turn them into a display, transform materials into a face, build and glue wood scraps to make constructions. Appropriate for children four years of age and older.
Customer Reviews:
I like this book.......2006-11-10
I took a lot of ideas for working with my kids at school.
New to Reggio Emilia approach - loved this book.......2003-12-12
I am not a teacher and I was not experienced in the Reggio Emilia approach to preschool education (project approach) before reading this book. I sought this book for handwork ideas with the items my girls collect on their nature walks. I could not put this book down!
Beautiful stuff outlines the projects developed with found materials at the pre-school in Reggio Emilia, Italy. It starts at the beginning with the ideas of the teachers, the method of including parents and increasing children's awareness of everyday objects. (This book is full of details - they mention how the teachers scan materials and remove inappropriate / dangerous materials).
The book is filled with photographs from beginning to end. The photographs themselves show the story. I especially like the different approaches to sorting suggested in this book and the amount of time the children were permitting to sort, touch, feel, enjoy, and organize the materials. I also liked the three-dimensional project where the children first drew what they were going to build.
The children are quoted throughout the book. The quotes are memorable and sweet and show the children's enjoyment of this entire project.
I would recommend this book to pre-school teachers, day care centers, people who baby-sit in their home or parents looking for ideas for found objects. I loved it!
A wonderful book for caring teachers of young children!.......2001-08-07
This book is a great way to ease yourself into Reggio or to inspire others on your team. You do not have to be "Reggio inspired" to know that young children love small, collectable items. They find such wonderful treasures, but classrooms are not often set up to make good use of this "Beautiful Stuff". This book has great photos and easy to read text showing readers the process that children and staff went through in developing this long term project. I particularly enjoyed the summaries at the end of each chapter on what the adults learned during the process. My only complaint would be that I wanted MORE!
Beautiful Stuff! Learning with found materials........2000-08-12
If you are a Reggio inspired teacher as I am, you will love this book. It takes you through the wonderful process of sharing the joys of all those little treasures that young children find and love. You will be amazed at how clever the children in your class become at sorting and classifying through the kinds of experiences that working with 'Beautiful Stuff' involes. I just love this book, it has changed the way I view the materials that I put out for the children, and how I use them. My friends also love this book and all ask, "where did you get it?" Thank you Cathy Topal Weisman and Lella Gandini you are inspiring.
A marvelous, practical, inspiring, easy-to-read compendium........2000-04-06
In Beautiful Stuff!: Learning With Found Materials, Cathy Topal and Lella Gandini collaborate to share how real teachers in Reggio Emilia, Italy use ordinary and diverse materials found in any home to stimulate their student's imaginations, inspire storytelling and interactions between children, and serve to launch children into such creative activities as drawing, collage making, sculpture, and construction. Beautiful Stuff! is a marvelous, practical, inspiring, and easy-to-read compendium of ideas and suggestions for nurturing the innate creative of a child and adapting within the context of a classroom.
Book Description
*Combines two popular topics--assemblage and found objects
*Pairs gorgeous photography with a creative design to help it jump off shelves
*Features an artistic style that's proven popular with countless magazine readers and workshop students
Secrets of Rusty Things takes readers behind the scenes to show them each step in the assemblage art process. It covers everything from gathering found-object materials to putting them together in a way that tells a meaningful story--all presented in the author's warm and humorous writing style. This book provides the perfect challenge for collage enthusiasts or anyone looking for a new way to express his or her creativity!
Customer Reviews:
in the artist mind.......2007-09-09
This book is not a how-to-do book. This book is great to enter into the mind of the artist while he is creating a piece. i really recommand it to the ones who like Michael Demeng art. the book also have lots of pictures of the pieces during the creative process.
Disappointed.......2007-08-31
This book was not at all what I expected it to be. I have been doing
art for quite a few years,and thought I would understand how to reproduce
art like this, but still find the pictures very distracting.
There is just too much going on, and if you look closely at each page,
it becomes too confusing.I enjoy assemblage, but this is not to my taste.
Who are you? Find Out in this Book!.......2007-08-26
As a child, I spent many hours reading fairy tales and myths. The myths I read and studied were ancient. I loved them and they came from all over the world. I related to each one of them intuitively. I couldn't help it! Many readers, like me, begin as children, loving myths.
Possibly you agree that the human condition, our joys, trials, everything, is distilled myth, be it Inuit, Hindu, Greek.
Myths can seem grand and off-putting. However, when you pair them with the writing of the often humorous, occasionally mystical (I am thinking of his walk in the woods where he found some stove pieces, way away from any house, and wrote a lovely and visually elegant vignette about it) and frequently charming style of assemblage artist/teacher Michael de Meng, they are lively, full of energy and fun to view as potential subjects for artworks!
Read this book and you are reading two books side by side: de Meng recounts the myth he is concerned with, then begins to discuss the process he goes through when he creates an art piece representing that myth. Simultaneously, he comments in journalling script form on the side of each page about what is going on in his real life with a different sort of emotional immediacy, as he is making the art piece, or recalling something to do with it.
Both segments of the book intersect and cross over in certain ways...but the main segment essentially deals with the original myth and his work on creating the piece he makes inspired by it, using bathroom scales he alters, or funky "Brady Bunch '70's clocks", the insides of irons, and things he likes. You read a vaiety of discussions and tales of the processes he goes through in order to do create his art pieces.
The notebook part basically discusses life stories: where he was when he found something, how he was feeling, why it was great.
What is super unique and good about this book?
Without being "grand" about it, Michael de Meng explains that artists are the people who climb to the top of the pyramid...who get that chance to look all around with that "all seeing eye" (he mentions eyes quite a bit and uses them in his work frequently), and then, when inspired, they climb back down to earth and, without being frightened by being judged, express themselves through creating.
Some readers have commented that the photography is too dark in this book. I disagree. This is a mysterious book and the photography is perfect for it. It is extremely cool.
I don't want to be Mr. de Meng, however, if I lived near him, I would certinly take a class from him, because I believe he really has a lot to offer, and he offers up his heart and soul, in an incandescent manner, in this remarkable, fascinating book.
If I were teaching a class on found objects and altered art, I would insist that this book, The Secret of Rusty Things, by Michael de Meng, be on the reading list. It is illuminating.
Deception.......2007-08-25
I didn't see anything that was beautiful or that was worthy of my comments. I found it horrible. I don't know the artist. I haven't seen other of his work. I was about to return it, because I found it horrible and a real deception. I cannot get anything from it. Gloria
Fascinating artist, disappointing book.......2007-08-22
The title of this book seems to promise instruction on transforming found objects into art, but as the other reviews here have pointed out, there are no projects and no instructions, just the artist writing about his work. This is one of a few books I have purchased lately with high hopes which don't contain instructions or technical information, but instead are full of the artist's ruminations and thought processes, which I often find banal and slightly self-congratulatory. It is definitely more work to write a book which actually contains instructions and well-thought-out projects from which readers can learn the techniques and then take off in their own direction, and I think that is why there have been quite a few of these stream-of-consciousness books lately - they provide tasty illustrations and aren't much work to write. I have admired Michael Demeng's work for a long time, and I'm dying to take a workshop with him. But since in his classes he teaches very specific projects step-by-step, I was frustrated that he didn't share any of these in his book.
Book Description
Inside readers will find more than a dozen innovative techniques and step by step demonstrations of 12 different collage projects specifically designed to help them achieve the modern, eclectic collage effect that's so popular today.
Collage Discovery Workshop shows readers how to rust or antique any object for collage and includes four recipes for creating amazing collage backgrounds from peeling paper to textured paint and so much more. In addition, five different image transfer techniques--for layering vintage photos and other art--along with creative excercises, journaling prompts and tips on altering books are included. Projects consist of the following:
*Collaged tin refrigerator magnets
*Heritage collage to honor a friend or relative
*Miniature candy tin assemblages
*Shadowboxes
*Beeswax collages
For stampers, paper and altered books artists--crafters of any skill level--Collage Discovery Workshop opens up whole new worlds of creativity.
Customer Reviews:
What A Fantastic Book.......2007-09-06
I just so love this book. It gets straight to the point, It is incredibly detailed plus for beginners like myself who are new to collage it makes perfect sense.
Thanks!.......2007-08-11
Book was in great conditon, but I purchased the book for a project and by the time it came... we were done with the project.
Lots of ideas in this one.......2007-08-10
Without a question Claudine gives great advice and instruction in this book. Lots of ideas for scrapbooking, collage and just crafty folks. I would definitely recommend her other book "Beyond the Unexpected" as well. She also has DVDs that are awesome for those of us who learn by watching. She's a hoot!
Incredibly Informative Guide.......2007-07-12
Claudine's information is so inspiring, I wanted to stop reading and try each technique immediately. The instructions are easy to follow, the techniques are real creative and the personality she blends in with her writing style made me feel like I was one of her best friends having a coffee break right there in her studio!
Very useful and inspiring!.......2007-06-04
This book is a great source for techniques. Instructions were clearly explained, with photos showing how to do everything. I would definitely buy another book by this author.
Book Description
Recycling of found objects is taken to the level of art form is this creative book-an homage to the wondrous world of artists who create extraordinary objects from what were once very ordinary things. Inside are hundreds of examples showing trash transformed into fascinating sculpture, collages, furniture, jewelry, and clothing -- some items functional, some not. Meet the artists who count themselves among an exclusive club of dumpster divers and garbage pickers from all over the United States. And watch as other people's junk finds new life as treasure. This book, and the innovative artisans inside, will profoundly influence the way you view life and its everyday detritus.
Customer Reviews:
eye candy for artists...........2007-06-18
Page after page of wonderful artists (one behind bars!) that found something considered old and worthless and turned it into a piece that inspires, amuses, teaches, and leaves me in awe. It's creativity at its best. Wish there were a dozen more books like this in print! Must have book for collage, outsider art, and mixed media artists.....throw away those Somerset Magazines and think different like these people did...
I was disappointed.......2006-10-29
It may be a matter of personal taste, but I felt the book was a jumble of mostly overdone product without a sense of relationship between materials that were chosen for the finished piece. It is possible that the photography played a part in this - was color accurate? I have used a lot of found materials - many discarded and worn with much more subtle results. Where is the mystery?
Ingenius and exciting images.......2006-07-02
The breadth of artists, materials and objects featured in this book is impressive. Ms. Spencer knows her stuff and this book can be considered a primer on "Found Object" art.
Book Description
What makes a piece of jewelry special isn't the cost--it's the creativity, novelty, and originality that go into the design. And this imaginative and informative compendium of jewelry-making techniques, packed with more than 700 color images and written by the noted jeweler and instructor Carles Codina, features a range of contemporary alternative materials. From paper, wood, and polymer clay to glass, new metal formats, and plastics, each material receives detailed attention, with the key techniques demonstrated in a single, finished project. Mold and embellish paper clay to create a whimsical brooch. Fold rice paper into a sculptural bracelet. To finish in style, there are six additional items to make that build upon earlier skills, including a necklace of hollow ceramic orbs.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Have for your library.......2007-01-07
Well done Carles Codina, this is a great "one stop shop" book that gives you a clear taste of many of the myriad of media available to the multi media artist. Resin, Polymer,Paper Clay, Enamelling, Glass, Wood, ceramic, PMC and many more. I had never used Egyptian Paste before and this book gave me the confidence to try it and use it in a few designs. The photos are top quality, incredibly easy instructions and photos to assist you. All in all one of the best project based books I have purchased.
Expand your jewelry skills with new materials.......2006-12-12
This is a valuable book for any jewelry making enthusiast or professional, looking for ways to expand their skills and explore new design horizons.
To my knowledge there is not another book available that addresses so many alternative materials so clearly, with step by step projects and fantastic gallery photos by contributing artists. See what you can do with polymer, paper, glass, resin, wood and more!
I'm a bit picky regarding eye strain I abhor books with dense type and small pix... I like open clear pages high contrast and sharp images- this is my kind of book! It's oversized with well laid out text and loads of photos of projects and gorgeous gallery pieces.
There is a great section on various glass beadmaking techniques for those curious about the craft. The section on making molds for resin bangles alone is worth the purchase.
This book covers a lot, but is not an in-depth exploration of any one subject. I feel that the purpose it serves is one of inspiration with plenty of information for a jeweler to get started working with any of the materials featured. Where you go after that is up to you!
One important thing to note: the author refers to products available in Latin America or Spain. Some products may have to be searched for a bit, but with Google I think it should be easy enough to do. However, if you're a person who has to be able to get all your supplies at Michael's you may want to skip it.
Tips on using alternative materials to produce professional-quality results.......2006-07-09
A range of modern alternative materials are used for producing the works in The New Jewelry: Contemporary Materials & Techniques, differentiating it from other jewelry-making books which focus on old standards. Here are jewelry creations made from rice paper, paper clay, wood, polymer clay and plastics. Here too are tips on using alternative materials to produce professional-quality results. Step-by-step color photos accompany finished product photos to review every step of the process.
Another must have winner.......2006-04-13
This is another must have art metal/jewelry book. Covering in depth the use of contemporary material and with just enough of the techniques. That will allow you to do the project you are trying out to a fine conclusion. It is done in the visual learning style with short descriptive texts along with the clear concise pictures.I think this is another instant classic that will rightfully be around for a long time to come. I own it I have used it and plan on keeping it
Book Description
Working with found objects, pages from old books, and dime-store trinkets, self-taught artist Joseph Cornell (1903–1972) transformed everyday materials into extraordinary universes. By collecting and carefully juxtaposing his treasures in small, glass-front boxes, this pioneering artist invented visual poems exploring themes as varied as the night sky, the romantic ballet, glamorous movie stars, and bird habitats. A lavishly illustrated and collaged book presents Cornell’s life and art, his sources of inspiration, and artistic process, along with six project ideas. Housed in a sturdy keepsake box with a see-through front window and removable grid, the package also includes materials to jump-start the creative process—printed sheets for collage, a metal ring, antique tags, and a magnifier.
Customer Reviews:
a lot of opportunities.......2007-06-10
I think the book/kit is beautifully put together. It's a wonderful way for children and adults to learn about Cornell's life and work, gaining a sense of clarity about an artist whose personal mythology could so easily be considered inaccessible.
Frightened and appalled..........2007-04-04
One of my design students brought the box part of this set into class as a base for a prototype this evening... the concept of it is frightening. Reducing Cornell's -- or any other artist's -- vision into an ersatz how-to kit not only undermines the brilliance and significance of their work, but completely defeats the process of artistic self-discovery and exploration. A better route would be to read-up on Cornell and other self-taught artists in more robust texts (Howard Finster, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Jacques Henri Lartigue... all of whom have books on Amazon) and use this insight to forge one's own artistic path in life... one that derives inspiration from the artist themselves rather than from a $25 kit.
Great Introduction to the Artist.......2007-02-21
I wouldn't recommend this book necessarily to serious artists, but for a person beginning their first tentative steps toward collage and assemblage, this kit would be a good introduction. It includes a full-color book with lots of images and descriptions of Cornell's works and life. The kit itself provides materials for taking a first step toward creating found art. This would be particularly good for a young person as a way to introduce them to Cornell.
Looks better online.......2007-01-16
Interesting example of artists work but carboard box is flimsy and not as authentic as I expected. Looked better online.
Average customer rating:
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Irreplaceable Artifacts: Decorating the Home with Architectural Ornament
Leslie Blum
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Decorating
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Decoration & Ornament
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0517704862
Release Date: 1997-10-21 |
Amazon.com
The wonderful architectural details salvaged from 19th- and early-20th-century buildings are often readily available and frequently affordable. But many of us don't know quite how to use the iron grille work, wooden lintels, carved terra cotta, or other beautifully crafted items we find at antique shops, flea markets, garage sales, and salvage yards. This gorgeous volume by the owner of the renowned New York City store of the same name explains how to utilize all these rich rescued ornaments, often in inventive ways other than those originally intended. Column capitals, for instance, make terrific table bases; a wrought-iron gatepost becomes an elegant light fixture; stained-glass panels can be made into a room divider; an elaborate stone surround camouflages an ordinary stove hood. Many magnificently crafted stone, metal, or wood items succeed simply as dramatic sculptural pieces hung on the wall or set on a table. The joy of using these things, as we learn from this wonderful book, is threefold: they enhance our homes; they reduce the need to expend new resources and energy, since they recycle preexisting items; and they help to preserve our magnificent architectural heritage. Rather than being tossed into landfills (as was formerly the case), these elements can become part of our present, enriching our lives with the power of the past and lending a timelessness that graces the present. --Amy Handy
Customer Reviews:
Need to Have!.......2005-09-01
This book is wonderfully put together, with great ideas and stunning photography. The book not only shows you fantastic architectural pieces, it tells you where they come from, the history of the building they were saved from, but also gives great suggestions on how to incorporate the pieces into your home. On top of all that, it is well written. Worth the price, and then some.
Book Description
For most folks, creating a home where the decor reflects their personal style and taste requires more than just simply perusing the pages of a catalog. Unique style comes with successfully blending the old and new, the unexpected with the familiar - a white antique stove and modern chrome refrigerator placed side by side, or a 50s kidney-shaped coffee table accented by an Adirondack chair. Enter Found Style, the modern-day guide to the mix-and-match aesthetic. From vintage treasures to contemporary furnishings, family heirlooms to flea market finds, authors David and Amy Butler take a friendly approach to creating spaces that are courageously unique - and undeniably stylish. Illustrated with 200 inspiring color photographs, Found Style offers up a host of innovative ideas, as well as tips for honing one's flea market savvy, and blending old and new with unexpected dash. Found Style is a celebration of creating eclectic personal style and a resource for those who live for the hunt.
Customer Reviews:
Finally, a MODERN vintage syle book.......2005-08-21
I own 2 decorating books, and this is one of them. What separates this book from the other "vintage" or "flea market" books is that the syle is MODERN and artful, not the shabby chic-ish or country styles that I detest. These looks are for people who love the look of vintage and flea-market finds, but with a hip, modern, and arty spin.
Nothing Creative.......2005-08-16
The book placed vintage items in houses vs. looking at vintage items and creating new functional things with them. I was looking more for ideas for projects. This book did not spark anything creative in me. I can purchase vintage items and place in my home just like they did. This book was just a bunch of pictures...things that anyone can do.
Decorating for those with more creativity than money!.......2005-03-08
This book is full of wonderful, artistic ideas; each page better than the last. I wistfully moved from an old, 1920's bungalow into a brand-spankin'new townhome and have referenced Found Style many times for ideas. This book isn't for the cookie cutter, Christopher Lowell set; it's for creative people who prefer to have homes that reflect who they are artistically. I don't want my home to look like a Pottery Barn showroom. I want to create a comfortable and cozy, yet clever environment that you just can't find at a home decor store. Just as the name implies, the book imparts creative ideas for found objects, salvage and thrift store finds. For those of us who love frequenting flea markets and thrift stores, Found Style is the perfect book for giving us ideas on how to use our finds in clever and unique ways. It has enabled me to turn my suburban, builder beige townhome into something distinctive with vintage character.
My new design bible.......2004-04-19
This book really made my day: full of fabulous, inspiring photos of the exact style I aspire to in my home: vintage but never cutsey, a little edgy and raw, but still cozy and natural and playful. Ingenious ideas here, and a great blend of folksy, country and urbane and sophisticated. I only wish there was a whole series by these two.
I love this book!!!.......2004-02-06
This is one of the best decorating books out there if you love the vintage look and mixing new with old. Ideas in how to use what you may already have and how to incorporate antique and "junk" items in new ways. This book includes chapters on living rooms, home office/art studio, kitchen, bedroom, bath, etc. I look through this book again and again and see something new each time. I hope David and Amy are working on another book!
Book Description
What’s weird around here? That’s a question Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman have enjoyed asking for years—and their offbeat sense of curiosity led them to create the best-selling phenomenon, Weird N.J. But why should they stop at New Jersey when there’s so much that’s strange, odd, and utterly nutty all across the U.S.? So they’ve expanded their universe, taken their act on the road, and found stories of weirdness in every state in the nation. The result is a travel guide of sorts, but to the kind of places voyagers will never find on their everyday maps. Instead, it’s chock full of the local legends, crazy characters, cursed roads, abandoned sites, and bizarre roadside attractions. So come along and visit such unique spots as Midgetville, explore long-empty insane asylums, and go through forgotten tunnels—but keep in mind that the maniacal Bunnyman just might be hiding out in one of them. Some of what’s out there is disturbing, some of it's hilarious, but all of it is unforgettably…weird.
Customer Reviews:
Don't leave this book lying around!.......2007-05-13
Totally freaky and as far as I know, 100% true. The book opens with case after case of Satanism, portals to Hell, etc. After you pass this "test" then the authors and contributors let you onto some really cool and unbelievable stuff, like, who really has Royal claim to the North American continent. Ha!
Very Informative!.......2007-03-09
This is a great book if you plan to travel. It shows all the great places to stop at.
Hooray for weird!.......2005-10-07
Apparently, I must be somewhat weird, because this last Christmas, I was given four copies of this book by four different people. (And then, coincidentally, three of my friends got this book for their birthdays....)
This book is loaded with weird facts, legends, lore, people, photographs, ghost stories, haunted places, supernatural figures, terrifying ruins and tunnels and forests and abandoned buildings, tall tales, odd museums, and answerless mysteries.
I've travelled a lot around America, and I've come across a lot of strangeness that's not in this book--I always ask people, "What's the strangest thing you've ever seen?"--but what it is here is entertaining and unique, if occasionally doubtful. The book deals more with the East than with the West, and as a result of that a lot of cool stuff is never even mentioned that could be. There's only one or two items from New Mexico, and nothing at all on skinwalkers--the creepiest lore there is.
Some parts of the book are actually frightening though--like phantom clowns!--and would be even scarier if read during an actual visit to these places.
I recommend this book highly--it's very readable, though I wish it had maps or directions to the places it describes--and I will probably buy any sequels.
goosebump reading!.......2005-08-07
This is the kind of going down a deserted road and then-AHHH!! reading, not Hollywood, this is what we have all experienced at one time or another.It will keep you up reading it all night,but maybe not on Halloween? Must have all the other books in this series, a must read!!
Fun coffeetable book; not a guidebook.......2005-06-23
If you buy this planning to go on a wierd US tour, you'll be disappointed, because the directions to each place aren't very well documented. If you want to visit any of these weird attractions, plan to make copious use of the Internet to search out better directions so that you don't get lost on the way.
The layout of this book is gorgeous, and while it may not be worth the original B&N price, the Amazon marketplace price makes it a steal. The pictures are just fabulous. I love the personal narrations by different authors, but some other reviewers have noted mistakes, so they need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Amazon.com
Tired of buying your furniture in giant warehouses an hour's drive away and struggling with assembly instructions once home, only to see the same table on the same rug in your friends' houses? Well, don a neckerchief and white blouse, pour a glass of plain old red table wine, put on some Billie Holiday, and prepare to reject "the dull conformity of mass taste and manners."
But first, read the opening chapter of interior designer and author Elizabeth Wilhide's Bohemian Style, "Artists in Residence." It's a succinct, erudite history of bohemianism as seen through the lives and often communal homes of 19th- and 20th-century artists such as William Morris, Augustus John, and Dora Carrington. The walls, floors, ceilings, light fixtures, fireplaces, and everything else in these artists' domiciles--country cottages, studios, even gypsy caravans--not only kept body and iconoclastic soul together, but also became surfaces to paint, tile, sculpt, drape, and draw. So--no money for canvas this month? Paint the landscape on the kitchen wall, then. Anything, except the status quo, goes here.
The remainder of the book is devoted to the how of bohemian style: how to paint (including how to make your own paint), applique, mosaic, tile, collage, dye and drape textiles, even turn found objects into art and light fixtures. The emphasis here is on the quick and easy--how to dash off a wall treatment in an afternoon, say. That said, it should be clear that type A personalities may very well find the decorating ideas in this book frustrating, even a shade slapdash. They're not bohemians.
A book delineating how to decorate in a style that is by its nature personal and idiosyncratic may seem a contradiction in terms, and in many ways it is, but the how here really consists of seed ideas, ruminations on how bohemians would do it, and tips for making your own visions come to life successfully. Note that there are no step-by-step instructions here; beginners will have to go elsewhere for those. Or make up their own.
With its colorful, full-page photos of historic and modern rooms that exemplify the bohemian aesthetic and its intelligently written text, this is a book that can change the way you think about home décor and even how you live in your home. --Stefanie Durbin
Book Description
As lively and spirited as the style it discusses, this exuberant documentation of interiors by the new Bohemians will appeal to anyone who loves to see and be inspired by homes that are full of passion, ingenuity, and, above all, intensely personal and decorative settings. Tracing the history of bohemianism, the book focuses strongly on the 1920s and 1930s, when the lifestyle of artists presented a provocative challenge to conventional society. The homes and work of members of London's famous Bloomsbury group are shown and discussed--artists such as Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, Aubrey Beardsley, Augustus John, and Cecil Beaton, who with writers Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, D. H. Lawrence, and others, lived surrounded by masterpieces of applied art. Today, based on a rejection of minimalism and a return to artistic freedom, Bohemian style often means decorating on a shoestring with improvised furnishings from cast-offs, conjuring idiosyncratic magic from the eclectic and the everyday. This book's colorful pages offer a treasure trove of easily applied decorating ideas: fast and inexpensive painted embellishments for furniture, floors, and walls; surface adornments using simple collage, mosaic, and other sculptural forms; informal fabric treatments to enliven windows, chairs, and sofas; and great tips on how creative junk shopping can produce inspired touches of bohemian style for every room of the house. 90 color illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting introduction to the Bohemians.......2007-06-28
I found this book to be very informative on the famous Bohemians, like the artists William Morris and Augustus John, and some interesting tidbits on the other artists and writers that rebeled agaisnt the social and political norms of their time.
The photographs are nice and very colorful. This is not a book for the person looking for a how to "Martha Stewart" take on bohemianism.
A quote from the book says it all.
"This book provides an introduction to what is less a decorating trend and more away of life. By definition, bohemians are true originals, mavericks,even rebels, and the interiors that display their passion and creative impulses resist rigid categorization."
Lots of History.......2007-02-16
Less practical advice than I had hoped for, but many beautiful images.
book browsing verboten!?.......2006-08-20
I can't buy this book. Because unlike the time when I could go into a local bookstore (now locked and shuttered for good) and look through it, and even unlike Amazon's old system where we could see a lot of whole pages, only a few pages are available doe a buyer's inspection - too few, for a book which is primarily a picture book - to impress me enough to prompt me to buy it. If bookstores used this same policy, the books would be under lock and key, and little or no browsing would be permitted.
Too bad. It sounded interesting.
Great idea!.......2006-07-04
Move from mass consumerism and furnish your home with interesting and found objects. Make your place different. Laugh at the " keep up with the jones" set and make your point.
unique, beautiful, colorful decorating.......2006-02-23
My husband and I are both artists of sorts, and like a profusion of handmade and vintage things in our home. Being a newly married lady having to set up housekeeping for the first time, I have read whatever books I could find on decorating. I found most advocated the kind of stiff, minimalist, store-bought look my husband and I so strongly wanted to avoid.
This book has been a great help to me. It has practical instructions for making things yourself, giving different alternatives for unconventional wall treatments and floor coverings, and other methods you can use you can make your space your own.
It provides interesting historical background on everything from the embroideries William Morris had in his house to the historical use of floor cloths. It has some very lovely pictures of how artists have chosen to decorate their homes.
The book does not advocate chic modern minimalism, nor does it advocate a fluffy country style of decorating. So far, it has been one of the most useful books on the subject of decorating I have found. It is one of the few that give practical instructions on how to make things to suit your tastes, rather than simply advice on where to buy them.
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- Beckett Baseball Price Guide #29 (Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide)
- Beginning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar (Book and Audio CD) (Guitar Books)
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Bud Hastins Avon Collectors' Encyclopedia: The Official Guide for Avon Bottle & Cpc Collectors (Bud Hastin's Avon and Collector's Encyclopedia)
- Bud Hastins Avon Collectors' Encyclopedia: The Official Guide for Avon Bottle & Cpc Collectors (Bud Hastin's Avon and Collector's Encyclopedia)
- Bud Hastins Avon Collectors' Encyclopedia: The Official Guide for Avon Bottle & Cpc Collectors (Bud Hastin's Avon and Collector's Encyclopedia)
- Bud Hastins Avon Collectors' Encyclopedia: The Official Guide for Avon Bottle & Cpc Collectors (Bud Hastin's Avon and Collector's Encyclopedia)
- Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
- Coaching Youth Softball: A Baffled Parent's Guide
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Books Index
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