A Rainbow of Stitches: Embroidery and Cross-Stitch Basics Plus More Than 1,000 Motifs and 80 Project Ideas


Agnès Delage-Calvet - 2009
    Begin by choosing a motif from this extensive collection, which ranges from elegant alphabets to 1970s-inspired flowers and leaves, from sweet fairies to vintage-chic ladies in classic Dior dresses. The "Get Stitching" section gives you the basics you need to get started, along with an illustrated how-to of the simple stitches that are used to create all of the motifs. Each of the following sections, which are arranged by color–fresh greens, pretty pinks, timeless blues, rich reds, and elegant white and taupe–presents ideas for embroidering motifs in single colors, showing how much can be achieved with just one color of embroidery floss on a plain background. Includes more than eighty beautifully photographed, inspiring ideas for stitched embellishment, from wearables and personal accessories to a variety of decorative items for every room in your home.

The Quilts of Gee's Bend


Susan Goldman Rubin - 2017
    In the only photo-essay book about the quilts of Gee’s Bend for children, award-winning author Susan Goldman Rubin explores the history and culture of this fascinating group of women and their unique quilting traditions. Rubin uses meticulous research to offer an exclusive look at an important facet of African American art and culture.   In the rural community of Gee’s Bend, African American women have been making quilts for generations. They use scraps of old overalls, aprons, and bleached cornmeal sacks—anything they can find. Their traditions have been passed down through the decades. Much to the women’s surprise, a selection of the quilts was featured in an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in 2002. The exhibition then traveled to the Whitney Museum in New York City. “Eye-poppingly gorgeous,” wrote a critic for the New York Times about the exhibition. He continued, “Some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art will exhibit its newly acquired collection of Gee’s Bend quilts in 2017.   Rubin is known for producing well-researched, highly praised, and sophisticated biographies of artists and other important figures. Through similar research, The Quilts of Gee’s Bend shares specifics about this rare community and its rich traditions, allowing children to pause to consider history through the eyes of the people who lived it and through a legacy that is passed on to the next generation.   This book should be of great interest to classrooms, libraries, and those interested in African American art in the United States, in addition to quilting, life in early emancipated colonies in the South, and Gee’s Bends importance in the Civil Right’s movement. The quilts and the incredible stories behind them are powerful motivators for anyone who wishes to accomplish anything. A map, directions on how to make a quilt square, endnotes, and an index round out this stunning nonfiction book.

Gelli Plate Printing: Mixed-Media Monoprinting Without a Press


Joan Bess - 2014
    Simply apply paint with a soft rubber brayer, make your marks and pull your print. It's that simple! Wipe the plate down with a spritz of water and a paper towel, and you're ready to go again.In this premier guide, artist Joan Bess--inventor of the concept for the Gelli plate--unleashes the fun through more than 60 step-by-step techniques. Create intriguing patterns using tools like sponges, textured rollers and homemade combs. Learn how to incorporate stencils and rubber stamps. Experiment with metallic paint, dimensional paint and gel medium. Become a texture-hunter, creating a wide world of effects using embossed papers, natural objects, rubber bands, lace, corrugated cardboard, metal tape, die cut letters...anything goes!Even beginners can enjoy immediate gratification--just grab a textured surface, smoosh it into your painted Gelli plate, and you'll have a stack of amazing prints in no time. For experienced printmakers, the inspirations in these pages will push you to experiment, adapt, combine and layer. It's easy, fun and totally addicting!Printmaking just got easier!- Expert tips from the creator of the Gelli plate - 60+ awesome step-by-step techniques - Ideas for incorporating stamps and stencils, using ghost prints, salvaging uninspired prints, and more - 26-page gallery shows the many wonderful ways artists are incorporating Gelli printing into their work

A Different Kind of Intimacy: The Collected Writings


Karen Finley - 2000
    The writings include text from the infamous performances that brought her to the Supreme Court in Finley vs. NEA, a battle that became a mainstay of the culture wars and which has made Finley an icon in the struggle for freedom of speech. Included in this volume will be the never before published, Obie Award-winning The American Chestnut for which she received a Guggenheim; such works as We Keep Our Victims Ready, A Certain Level of Denial, The Return of the Chocolate Smeared Woman, and an excerpt from her forthcoming film Shut Up and Love Me. Also appearing will be previously unpublished short stories, photos, artwork, and an essay on censorship. In 1998 Finley was named Woman of the Year by MS. magazine; she posed for Playboy the following year. She has appeared in numerous films including Philadelphia, and will soon be directing her own first feature film, Shut Up and Love Me, produced by Forensic Films. She has recorded albums including a collaboration with Sinead O'Connor. Finley is a regular on Politically Incorrect and can be seen giving her opinions on Exhale, a new show hosted by Candace Bergen on Oxygen. She will be hosting The Naked Players, a "nude Candid Camera" as well as Shock Video, both on HBO. Finley has written four books: Shock Treatment, Enough Is Enough, Living It Up, and Pooh Unplugged. "We need Finley: she doesn't duck the bullets, she keeps her eyes peeled on the artillery aimed at women, and she continues to push against her own boundaries as an artist" -- MS. Magazine

Jazz In The Bittersweet Blues Of Life


Wynton Marsalis - 2001
    Set in the studio, on the stage, and in great cities and small towns across the country, this book captures life on the road for Marsalis and his musicians, evoking its ritual and renewal, energy and spirituality. Describing the art of improvisation, the book's two voices mirror the interplay at the heart of jazz. "On the road and on the bandstand," Marsalis writes, "something great may happen at any moment, something that might even change your life." Alternately luminous and boisterous, often poignant, and always passionate, Marsalis and Vigeland's extraordinary dialogue is a must for fans, musicians, and anyone curious about America's only indigenous art form.

The Embroidery Stitch Bible


Betty Barnden - 2003
    From basic cross-stitch and chain stitch to more complicated couching, laid work, and drawn thread work, this is the stitch bible for embroiderers wishing to improve their technique and add new dimensions to their work. Stitches are arranged according to their use, including outlines, filling stitches, isolated stitches, motifs, edgings, hems, insertions, flat stitches, backgrounds, and textures. Concealed spiral binding allows embroiderers to read and practice simultaneously.- 200 photographed stitches accompanied by 400 illustrations- Stitch selector for easy reference to all 200 stitches- Glossary of embroidery stitches and techniques

Unstill Life: A Daughter's Memoir of Art and Love in the Age of Abstraction


Gabrielle Selz - 2014
    What followed was a whirlwind childhood spent among art and artists in the heyday of Abstract Expressionism. Gabrielle grew up in a home full of the most celebrated artists of the day: Rothko, de Kooning, Tinguely, Giacometti, and Christo, among others.Poignant and candid, Unstill Life is a daughter’s memoir of the art world and a larger-than-life father known to the world as Mr. Modern Art. Selz offers a unique window into the glamour and destruction of the times: the gallery openings, wild parties and affairs that defined one of the most celebrated periods in American art history. Like the art he loved, Selz’s father was vibrant and freewheeling, but his enthusiasm for both women and art took its toll on family life. When her father left MoMA and his family to direct his own museum in California, marrying four more times, Selz’s mother, the writer Thalia Selz, moved with her children into the utopian artist community Westbeth. Her parents continued a tumultuous affair that would last forty years.Weaving her family narrative into the larger story of twentieth-century art and culture, Selz paints an unforgettable portrait of a charismatic man, the generation of modern artists he championed and the daughter whose life he shaped.

Nagel: The Art of Patrick Nagel


Patrick Nagel - 1985
    More than 100 4-color plates; 25 black-and-white illustrations. Shrink-wrapped.

The New Crewel: Exquisite Designs in Contemporary Embroidery


Katherine Shaughnessy - 2005
    This book offers a fashionable, contemporary update of crewel embroidery with designs and a colour palette that will have every crafter reaching for their needles and thread.

The Painterly Approach: An Artist's Guide to Seeing, Painting and Expressing


Bob Rohm - 2008
    More than painting an appealing landscape, it's about making your viewer feel the wind, experience the dance of shadows and sunlight, and admire the wondrous intermingling of colors that attracted you to your subject in the first place.In this gorgeously illustrated book, Bob Rohm shows you how to see the world from a painterly perspective and translate it into expressive, poetic paintings that elicit an emotional response from your viewer.Clearly illustrates how to choreograph color, value, composition, texture and other fundamental elements to achieve those elusive qualities of mood and emotionFeatures 9 step-by-step demonstrations (in oil, pastel and acrylic) on capturing a vivid sense of time and placeCovers brushstrokes, painting with a palette knife, edge control, shadows and other advanced art techniquesThis book focuses primarily on landscape painting but offers valuable lessons for approaching any subject in a personal and engaging way.

Bun B's Rapper Coloring and Activity Book


Shea Serrano - 2013
    Described by the Washington Post as “what every hip-hop head wishes they had as a child,” this imaginative work started as a series of printable rap-related coloring and activity images. The 48-page, fully interactive book of coloring pages, unbelievably clever activities, and smart plays on rap culture brings these stars and their music right into your living room.<!--?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /-->Featured rappers include: Bun B Queen Latifah Drake Talib Kweli Ice-T Common Wiz Khalifa Ludacris LL COOL J Big Boi Childish Gambino Questlove B.o.B Mac Miller And many, many more! Praise for Bun B's Rap Coloring and Activity Book: “A star-studded cast of some of the biggest names in rap, all in one book.”  —Fast Company’s Co.Create blog “It’s 48 pages long, and that’s the exact same number of pages the Bible has, and that’s not an accident. That’s a little thing called God’s will.” —Vice.com “The book is funny, smart, and as kid-tested, mother-approved as some of these guys get.” —Vulture.com “Hilarious…razor sharp.” —XXL “If you've spent any kind of time on the Internet, chances are something Shea Serrano has written, drawn, or created has made you smile . . . The book’s a load of fun, and is sure to please rap nerds and crayon-wielding tykes alike.” —Village Voice   “There’s art, humor and education, fun for young and old.” —Paste magazine   “This is one of the few Tumblr-to-book projects that doesn’t make me want to punch my computer in disgust. If the phrase ‘see if you can build a Budden’ doesn’t make you chuckle, then you should stay away from hip-hop or jokes.” —Christopher R. Weingarten, SPIN   “Bun B’s Rap Coloring and Activity Book is gangsta!” —Mass Appeal.com   "48 pages of MC worship mixed with a generous measure of the kind of casual dissing of its star players that hip-hop excels at.” —Esquire   “When I’m listening to Drake, I sometimes feel blue. Now, thanks to Bun B’s Rap Coloring and Activity Book, I can make Drake blue, too. And for that, I am eternally grateful.” —Ryan Dombal, Pitchfork.com   “The hip-hop coloring book is the single most important thing to happen to color since Cam’s pink Range Rover. Everyone should want a Serrano in their baño.” —Nate Erickson, GQ   “Like the old saying goes, the crayon is mightier than the sword. Bun B and Shea have assembled a perfect collection of today’s brightest hip hop stars for fans of all ages to create, color and remix. The Rap Coloring and Activity Book is like your own personal mixtape that you can hang on your fridge and impress everyone with.” —Mike Ayers, Rolling Stone “Fans can now color inside the lines of hip-hop greats.” —LA Times’ Jacket Copy blog “It’s gotta be a first—for rap and for coloring.” —Houston Chronicle   “For rap aficionados young and old.” —GQ.com “You may want to buy two copies—one to color, and one to keep fresh and new.” —Buzzfeed “The perfect coloring book for any hip-hop nerd.” —Complex magazine “If you have not already purchased a copy, put down this magazine immediately and go buy Bun B’s Rap Coloring and Activity Book.” —Kindling Quarterly “A playful celebration of rap

The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes: Glazing Firing at Cone 10


John Britt - 2004
    Author John Britt, who served as Clay Coordinator at the respected Penland School of Crafts, has personally tested many of the recipes, and carefully reviews every one. He offers a thorough examination of glaze materials, chemistry, and tools, and presents the basics of mixing, application, and firing procedures. There’s a wealth of information on various type of glazes, including copper, iron, shino, salt/soda, crystalline, and more. An exhaustive index of subjects and a separate index of glaze recipes will help ceramists find what they need, quickly and easily.

Cats, Cats, Cats


Andy Warhol - 1994
    This book, filled with drawings culled from the archives of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, collects images of one of his favorite subjects - cats - in an irresistible small-format edition. Here are sleeping kittens, regal felines, and a cat named Sam - all accompanied by playful quotations from Warhol's books and diaries, such as "The important thing is to infuse everything with as much drama as you can" and "As I always say, one's company, two's a crowd, three's a party." Beautiful and charming, this book will make a perfect gift for anyone who loves cats or Andy.

Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia


Casey Loe - 2013
    The "Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia" celebrates Capcom's 30 years in the industry and gives fans concise information about every major Capcom character, their key artwork, statistics, background information, and interesting notes on the history of each character and game franchise. Including almost 200 characters from the Capcom family, this "Character Encyclopedia" sheds new light on these characters in a way nothing else does!

Fabritius and the Goldfinch


Deborah Davis - 2014
     Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel, The Goldfinch, introduced millions of readers to a painting that becomes a lifelong obsession. Painted in 1654 by Carel Fabritius, the work is of a small bird, chained to its perch. This mysterious portrait, a masterpiece of the Dutch Golden Age, has been lost and found, adored and abandoned, for nearly four centuries. Now more famous than ever, this painting is the subject of its own book—a look behind the scenes at its creation and the tumultuous life of its creator. This gripping, true story of adventure, romance, and artistic fervor has never before been told and will enthrall readers of the now famous novel. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Holland in the seventeenth century, when it was the economic capital of the world, the book is populated by a glittering crowd of the wealthy and young, high society with appetites for success and excess. Holland was the center of the art world as well, boasting both Rembrandt, (Fabritius' mentor), and Vermeer (his rival). And there is Carel Fabritius himself—handsome, talented, hell-bent on greatness, but unable to escape tragedy. Yet through The Goldfinch, he achieves immortality. Deborah Davis is the author of the best-selling Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X, Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball, Gilded: How Newport Became the Richest Resort in America, and the prize-winning Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner that Shocked a Nation. Cover design by Adil Dara