The Dot (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards))

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A frustrated grade school artist, Vashti sits slumped over her blank piece of paper at the end of art class. "I just CAN'T draw!" she tells her teacher. Her teacher first uses wit, then subtle yet clever encouragement to inspire her student to go beyond her insecurities and become, in the words of a younger boy who "can't" draw either, "a really great artist."

Peter H. Reynolds crafts a quiet, pleasing story in The Dot--one that will strike a chord with children who have outgrown the self-assurance of kindergarten and begun to doubt their own greatness. His marvelous watercolor, ink, and, yes, tea illustrations are appealing in a Quentin Blakey way, especially as Vashti begins to go wild with her dots. The delightfully open-ended conclusion will have readers of all ages contemplating how they can make their own mark in the world. Highly recommended. (Ages 5 to 9) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark - and follow where it takes us.

Her teacher smiled. "Just make a mark and see where it takes you."

Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can’t draw - she’s no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. "There!" she says.

That one little dot marks the beginning of Vashti’s journey of surprise and self-discovery. That special moment is the core of Peter H. Reynolds’s delicate fable about the creative spirit in all of us.

Customer Reviews:

The Dot.......2007-10-18

The Dot is a beautifully illustrated book about a VERY good art teacher. I found it when I was already an adult, but in a way it is written for adults anyway. The book addresses those who are unsure of themselves, which occurs in adults just as often as in children. The message is clear but not didactic, and the illustrations underline the moral.

Big kids and The Dot.......2007-09-16

I'm a middle school art teacher. I read the book to every class on the first day. Then, I gave them a few different media to use, (watercolor, oil pastels, markers) and asked them to "make a dot and see where it takes you" We made two rules, you had to know where your original dot was and you had to work for 15 minutes. The results are great and we are off to a great start. I also own ISH by the same author and use it a little later in the semester.

Every kid and most adults ..........2007-03-07

... need the empowering message delivered in this book. Simple and straight forward with a zinger of a last line of dialog. You won't forget this book.

The perfect gift.......2007-02-14

Anyone who works with children and reaches out to give them a sense of self-worth deserves this book as a gift. It is simple, gentle and touching. The Dot is the story of a child who is frustrated with the artwork she makes until a teacher tells her simply, "sign it". That small interaction gives the girl the confidence to take chances and grow until, ultimately, she's the one saying "sign it". This book speaks to the idea that teachers really do touch eternity...they never know where their influence will stop. If you have a favorite teacher, give him/her this book.

Great confidence booster!.......2007-01-10

A beautifully written book to inspire all ages to be more courageous.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Julie Mehretu: Black City
Agustin Perez Rubio , Marcus Steinweg , Cay Sophie Rabinowitz , and Julie Mehretu
Manufacturer: Hatje Cantz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 377571863X
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Book Description

Life has taken Julie Mehretu from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to New York the long way. Now the New York Times writes that her canvases--multilayered, futuristic visual worlds where historical and fictional landscapes meet--"make history painting important again." Each one pulls from diverse sources, noteworthy among them Japanese manga, Chinese landscape art, Ethiopian illuminated books, Baroque engraving in the style of Durer, graffiti and the geometric abstractions of Kazimir Malevich and Vasily Kandinsky. And they are often structured on architectural drawing, which appeals to Mehretu "because there is no way that you could make architecture that doesn't work." Plans for buildings are metaphors "for systems, for rational efforts to construct the world that we exist within, even though so many things happen in a very organic or irrational way." These angular architectural spaces swarm with organic forms, with communities marching to war, confronting systems and creating elaborate new civilizations. Human relationships unfold, interacting with the built and controlled world. Of her interest in these warring factions and in the "aggressive and forceful nature of history," Mehretu says that, "most of my personal ancestry comes from different cultures that, at one time or another, were at war." This is the first comprehensive monograph on a strong new talent in contemporary painting.

Painting in Florence and Siena after the Black Death

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Art changes after the Black Death

Painting in Florence and Siena after the Black Death
Millard Meiss
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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ASIN: 0691003122

Book Description

Here-in a rich interweaving of considerations of connoisseurship, style, iconography, cultural and social background, and historical events-is the first extended study of the history of Florentine and Sienese painting in the later fourteenth century, in the period following the plague of the Black Death 1348.

Customer Reviews:

Art changes after the Black Death.......2007-04-27

Andrea Da Firenze, Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, "Christian Learning" 1365-67. Fig. 95, Old and New testament figures mixed on top tier. Often Old Testament figures have a New Testament saint associated with them. 3 Figures of heretics at feet of St. Thomas Aquinas. 7 Virtues are floating above them. From left to right are,3 up top are Faith, hope, and charity. 4 below are temperance, prudence, justice and fortitude. Row below, left to right are 7 theological sciences, 7 liberal arts is: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, logic, rhetoric, grammar. Firenze is anal retentive painter and very orderly in his composition.

Painting by Andrea Da Firenze Florentine school active, 1343-77 painting entitled "The Way of Salvation." Triumph of the Dominicans. In chapel of Cappella Spagnuolo, Santa Maria Novella, Florence, it is Dominican whose habits are black and white. Has 4 beasts representing the Gospels. Dominicans portrayed as teaching to the masses, giving absolution, St.Peter at the gates. Nude people in trees represent lust in church art. Figures are sized to show status. 3 Kings to right of Pope, Cardinal to the left. 3 Jews shows how Dominicans are responsible for trying to convert Jews, dogs depicted black and white like the habits because they are known as Domini Cannae, "Hounds of God" which is what the word Dominican means, they are attacking wolves who represent heresy. From 1231 on Dominicans are in charge of the Inquisitions in Europe. This painting is done to celebrate and teach of their successes.

1498, picture of landscape of city square of Florence, plague kills 70% of population. Paintings "Palazio Vechio which is the city hall. Signori have 2-month terms, they live there and don't get visitors so that they can't be bribed. Housing is densely packed walled city. Florence is known for Sodomy. 14 century artist and most famous painter is Giotto. He worked in wet fresco. Arena chapel in Padua "Joachim Expelled from the Temple" Fig. 35. 1305-12. Figures are real, they have weight and are standing on a surface. Figures are full and not emaciated like Middle Ages figures. Still people not to scale to surroundings. Giotto is considered the "Master" by his contemporaries. Uses good skin tones, figures have depth. He shows emotion and physicality, it foreshadows Renaissance of man in image of God.

Giotto's "Madonna" Enthroned Uffizi, Florence Fig. 10. is more realistic, looks like she is sitting and not floating. People are looking at Madonna, real sense of depth. There is real veneration of Virgin before the plague. Panel painting is big in Italy. Tempura (egg yoke) painting is used on wood panels allot.

Giotto's "Death of St. Francis" 1330's Art historians say it may be first Rennaisance painting. Figures very real, full figures, expressive faces, lots of emotion in painting. St. Francis had stigmata, monks, kissing his wounds.

Giotto di Bondone (Colle di Vespignano, near Florence 1267 - January 8, Florence 1337), better known simply as Giotto, was a Florentine painter and architect. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to and developed the Italian Renaissance.
Giotto was born in poverty in the countryside near Florence, the son of Bondone, a peasant, and was himself a shepherd. Most authors believe that Giotto was his real name, and not an abbreviation of Ambrogio (Ambrogiotto) or Angelo (Angelotto). Giotto's master work is the Arena Chapel cycle of the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua depicting the life of the Virgin and the passion of Christ completed around 1305. The scheme has 100 major scenes with the heavily sculptural figures set in compressed but naturalistic settings often using forced perspective devices. Giotto's major innovation was to conceive of a painted architectural framework or grisaille using trompe-l'oeil effects that directly influenced Masaccio and in turn Michelangelo in his scheme for the Sistine Chapel. Famous panels in the series include the Adoration of the Magi in which a comet like Star of Bethlehem streaks across the sky and the Flight from Egypt in which Giotto broke many traditions for the depiction of the scene. The scenes from the Passion were much admired by artists of the Renaissance for their concentrated emotional and dramatic force, especially the "Lamentation over the Dead Christ", and studies of the sequence by Michelangelo exist. The Ognissanti Madonna now in the Uffizi and the sole surviving major panel work by the artist also dates from this period. In the fourteenth century Pope Benedictus XII was selecting artists to work for the Vatican, requesting from each applicant a sample of his ability. Although the Florentine painter Giotto was known as a master of design and composition, he submitted only a circle drawn freehand, the famous "0 of Giotto." Yet he was awarded the commission. Giotto's simple circle has been described as an ideal of elegance and perfection. At the request of the Pope, Giotto spent ten years in Rome. He was then employed by the King of Naples but little work remains from this period.
After 1320 Giotto returned to Florence, where he completed two fresco cycles and a number of altar pieces for the church of Santa Croce. Both of the fresco groups were badly damaged, though they show that in later years Giotto's style had become more ornate, perhaps as a response to the emerging International Gothic style. In 1334 Giotto was appointed chief architect to Florence Cathedral of which the Campanile bears his name, but was not completed to his design.

In his final years Giotto became friends with Boccaccio and Sacchetti, who featured him in their stories. In The Divine Comedy, Dante acknowledged the greatness of his living contemporary through the words of a painter in Purgatorio (XI, 94-96): "Cimabue believed that he held the field/In painting, and now Giotto has the cry,/ So the fame of the former is obscure." Giotto died while working on a "Last Judgement", including a portrait of Dante, for the Bargello Chapel in Florence.

Giovanni da Milano- not as intimate as Giotto's. His pictures not as intimate as Giotto's. His "Expulsion of Joachim 1365, Fig. 36 in Santa Croce Florence, all the women look the same, figures have no heft. No realism, it is a hierarchial piece not intimate. Giotto's "Meeting at the Golden Gate" 1305-1312 Fig. 26. Anna and Joachim have real emotion, embrace and kiss. Milano's same work in 1365 Fig. 27., Anna and Joachim not even looking at each other.
Giovanni da Milano (Giovanni di Jacopo di Guido da Caversaccio) was an Italian painter, known to be active in Florence and Rome between 1346 and 1369.

His style is, like many Florentine painters of the time, considered to be derivative of Giotto's. Vasari misidentified him as a student of Taddeo Gaddi, a noted Giotto protégé.
Hailing from Lombardy, the earliest documentation shows Giovanni in Florence on October 17, 1346, under the name Johannes Jacobi de Commo, listed amongst the foreign painters living in Tuscany.

Amongst Giovanni's most significant works:
* A polyptych with Madonna and Saints (c. 1355), the oldest known signed work by Giovanni da Milano, painted for the Prato Spedale della Misericordia
* A polyptych made for the Ognissanti of Florence (c. 1363), now dismembered and scattered, depicting saints and scenes of the Creation
* Man of Sorrows panel (c. 1365, Accademia, Florence), the oldest known signed and dated work
* Frescoes decorating both sides of the Rinuccini Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence. Each side consists of five scenes - one side depicting the Life of the Virgin and the other the Life of Mary Magdalene. Giovanni is credited with the upper two registers of each cycle. The bottom register is credited to Matteo di Pacino.

The latest extent documentation of Giovanni's career comes in 1369, when he is known to be working in Rome for Pope Urban V with Giottino and the sons of Taddeo Gaddi
Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo altarpiece of The Redeemer with the Madonna and Saints (1354-57) in the Strozzi family Chapel. Fig. 1. Florence Meiss does a lot on this piece in his book. This work is very Byzantine in nature. No depth Jesus is iconic, flat. A lot of gold. Jrsus giving the keys to St. Peter, scripture to St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John the Baptist always with ratty clothes and hair, virgin Mary always in blue, she has crown making her "Queen of Heaven, painting has Trinitarian reference.
Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c.1308-1368), better known as Orcagna, was a Florentine painter, sculptor and architect. A student of Andrea Pisano as well as Giotto di Bondone, his brothers Jacopo and Nardo di Cione were also artists. His works include the altarpiece of The Redeemer with the Madonna and Saints (1354-57) in the Strozzi Chapel, Santa Maria Novella and the tabernacle in Orsanmichele (finished 1359 which was regarded as "the most perfect work of its kind in Italian Gothic". His fresco The Triumph of Death inspired Franz Liszt's masterwork Totentanz, by general consent the finest of his concerto works.

Taddeo Gaddi- Florentine, very surreal look in his work The Angelic Announcement to the Shepherds 1328-1330 very real and detailed.

Taddeo Gaddi (c.1300-1366) was an Italian painter and architect, active during the early Renaissance. As a painter, he created altar-pieces and murals and is primarily noted as a pupil and follower of Giotto. As an architect, he is credited with the design of the Ponte Vecchio.
Life and Art Son of Gaddo Gaddi, an artist of whom little is known, Taddeo's art education came primarily as a pupil of, and assistant to, the painter Giotto di Bondone. Cennino Cennini referred to Taddeo as Giotto's godson and claimed that their relationship lasted 24 years.
Early works such as the The Stigmatization of Saint Francis (c.1325-1330, tempera on wood panel) demonstrate a subtle recasting of Giotto's style. Perhaps his most famous works are the series of frescoes depicting the lives of the Virgin and of Christ in the Giugni Chapel (neé Baroncelli Chapel) at Santa Croce in Florence (1328-38). The Angelic Announcement to the Shepherds (depicted at right) illustrates Taddeo's interest in light and its effects. His study of solar eclipses in particular would eventually lead to serious eye injury in 1339. As an architect, Taddeo Gaddi is credited with the design of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, as well as the Ponte Trinita, which was destroyed in the 16th century.

Two facts point to Taddeo Gaddi's importance as a Florentine artist:
1. Giorgio Vasari included a biography of Taddeo Gaddi in his Lives.
2. Taddeo's name appears atop a list of 'the best masters of painting who are in Florence'.

Styles of Florence vs. Sienna- Duccio most famous 14 century painter in Sienna. "Entrance into Jerusalem" 1308-11 Sienna painters were more conservative for a longer period of time. Face are not individualized, do more miniature works, no depth.

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1255-1260, Siena - c. 1318-1319, Siena) was the most influential Sienese artist of his time and one of the key figures in the development of European painting. Duccio is considered to have had a major influence on the formation of the International Gothic style, and to have influenced Simone Martini and the brothers Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti, among others.

His works include the Rucellai Madonna (1285) for Santa Maria Novella (now in the Uffizi) and the fabled Maestà (1308-11), his masterpiece, for Siena's cathedral. Originally carried through the streets of Siena in a religious ceremony, the multipaneled Maesta represented a major step forward in painterly style and narrative storytelling through visual art. His Madonna and Child, painted on a wood panel around the year 1300, was purchased in November 2004 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for an estimated sum in excess of 45 million USD, the most expensive purchase ever by the mueum. In 2006 James Beck, a scholar at Columbia University stated that he believes the painting is a nineteenth century forgery; the Metropolitan Museum's curator of European Paintings has disputed Beck's assertion.
Simone Martini- Sienna painter famous "Annunciation" 1333 is famous. International Gothic school. Slender figures.

Simone Martini (c. 1284 - 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena.
He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a pupil of Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leading Sienese painter of his time. His brother-in-law was the artist Lippo Memmi. Very little documentation survives regarding Simone's life, and many attributions are debated by art historians. Simone Martini died while in the service of the Papal court at Avignon in 1344. Simone was doubtlessly apprenticed from an early age, as would have been the normal practice. Among his first documented works is the Maestà of 1315 in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. A copy of the work, executed shortly thereafter by Lippo Memmi in San Gimignano, testifies to the enduring influence Simone's prototypes would have on other artists throughout the fourteenth century. Perpetuating the Sienese tradition, Simone's style contrasted with the sobriety and monumentality of Florentine art, and is noted for its soft, stylized, decorative features, sinuosity of line, and unsurpassed courtly elegance. Simone's art owes much to French manuscript illumination and ivory carving: examples of such art were brought to Siena in the fourteenth century by means of the Via Francigena, a main pilgrimage and trade route from Northern Europe to Rome. Simone's major works include the Maestà (1315) in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, St Louis of Toulouse Crowning the King at the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples (1317), the S. Caterina Polyptych in Pisa (1319) and the Annunciation and two Saints at the Uffizi in Florence (1333), as well as frescoes in the Chapel of St. Martin in the lower church of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi. Francis Petrarch became friend with Simone while in Avignon, and two of his sonnets make reference to a portrait of Laura de Noves he supposedly painted for the poet.

Bonaventura Berlinghieri 1235 vs. Giovanni del Biondo 1366, styles are the same frontal figures conservative depictions.

The Complete Guide to Painting & Decorating : Using Paint, Stain & Wallpaper in Home Decor (Black & Decker Complete Guide)

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painting book
Complete guide, indeed!
black and decker complete guide to painting and decorating

The Complete Guide to Painting & Decorating : Using Paint, Stain & Wallpaper in Home Decor (Black & Decker Complete Guide)

Manufacturer: Creative Publishing international
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1589232623

Amazon.com

A good choice for those who want to add a little flair, depth, and sophistication to their interior painting and decorating efforts, Black & Decker: The Complete Guide to Painting and Decorating will encourage you to do more than just slap on some paint. After flipping through the pages and seeing more than 700 color photos, you will want to play with paint, experiment with it, and control it. The first section of the book--Color & Decorating Principles--explains color theory as well as the use of colors and patterns to create moods in a room. (Warm colors, for example, help make north-facing rooms more inviting, and the people in them warmer.) The second section of the book--Basic Painting & Wallcovering --explains the process of preparing surfaces for finish paint, choosing the right materials, and estimating quantities. (This portion also notes how small patterns help make close spaces seem larger and more open, while large patterns are stimulating and look best in active areas such as a child's room or a large kitchen.) The book's final section--Advanced Painting & Decorating--looks at how to embellish walls and floors with faux designs and decorative accents, and how to add elegant touches with wallcovering cutouts, cornices, and wall frame moldings. Specialty painting tools are also discussed, including paint gloves for contoured surfaces such as pipe and wrought-iron, bendable paint pads for window shutters and cast-iron radiators, and mixer bits. Knowing that some of the designs and color combinations may spur people to wilder-than-normal decisions, the authors wisely advise that people first get samples of their preferred wallcoverings or paints, and then take them home and subject them to the 24-hour test, checking from time to time over the course of a full day to see how the colors change under varying lighting situations. --John Russell

Book Description

Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Painting & Decorating is a comprehensive source of information on all do-it-yourself techniques for home decor: interior painting, wallpapering and staining. In addition, it provides a practical introduction to the basics of home decor design and color theory.

This major revision of an all-time home decor best seller updates all the tried and true techniques from the original book. These classic projects have now been revised to feature the latest tools, today's most popular patterns and colors, and new, in-demand techniques.

Expanded from 256 to 288 pages, this revised edition of Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Painting & Decorating also adds 20 all-new projects, showing do-it-yourselfers how to achieve popular new painting and decorating effects. New projects include: Plaster Skim-Coating, Geometric Paint Effects, Trompe l'eil Wallpaper Installation, Antique Staining, Rub-on Stencils, Wall-lettering, and more.

Customer Reviews:

painting book.......2006-11-15

Not worth the price - bought another book at the same time that is indispensible.

Complete guide, indeed!.......2002-12-21

I can do a passable paint job- but this book helps me assess color and patterns, select type of paint and tools specific to the job, prepare the surfaces and apply the paint. It even guides me through complicated patterns and uses I wouldn't have contemplated at all, without a clear guide. This book takes you through it all with clear advice, excellent step-by-step color photographs. You'll save lots of money and time, and best of all, get easy-to-follow advice to do it right the first time.

black and decker complete guide to painting and decorating.......2000-06-06

this book is written so one can get many interesting ideas and easy to follow instructions. a varity of ideas for everyone pocket book pictures demoastrate beautifully the techniques i really enjoyed this book and recommend it to everyone redecorating thier homes and or giving a room a fresh look

Black Paintings: Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella

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Black is Light

Black Paintings: Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella

Manufacturer: Hatje Cantz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3775718605
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Book Description

In the late 1940s, several prominent artists of the New York School--among them Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko and Frank Stella--were intently studying the color black. That work, interrelated but not collaborative, resulted in an astonishing number of almost monochromatic black paintings, which today are considered treasures of many major collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art's. For the first time, Black Paintings gathers all of the best of the title artist's black works together: textured black, striped black, blue-black, brown-black, black-black. In thorough illustration and thoughtful analysis, it sheds light on the differences between these postwar works as well as their commonalities. For Frank Stella and Robert Rauschenberg, black was a way to disappear into something new, a way to a new artistic vocabulary. For Mark Rothko, it stood for emptiness and nothingness; it asked the spectator to reflect back on it. For Ad Reinhardt, it offered denial and invisibility. Each artist's black portfolio reflects a breakthrough or transition in his own work, and, combined, they represent a larger moment of transition. The Black Paintings marked both a beginning and an end: the end of painting as illusion, as a window onto the world, and the beginning of painting as the mode for the creation of self-sufficient perceptual objects--a change that granted new roles to both artist and viewer.

Customer Reviews:

Black is Light.......2007-09-13

Black Paintings offers a unique view of the creative process of image making among some of the prominent painters of our time. The book has an unusual format - the font used and layout of the text, almost as though it was done on a typewriter.
The quality of the reproductions is very good although some of them require taking a hard look to see the nuances of tonal differences within the dark shades of black.
I highly recommend this book to anyone seriously interested in the art of painting.

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Baseball Bonding
Book Review
Painting The Black Review
Painting The Black Review
Tom's Review

Painting the Black (Avon Camelot Books)
Carl Deuker
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0380731045
Release Date: 1999-03-01

Book Description

When a hard ball is coming at you fast, and when it's dancing, too, every single nerve in your body is alert and ready. Your eyes are wide open, and the adrenaline is pumping. It's not a feeling you want to give up, any more than you want to get off a roller coaster.

In his senior year of high school, late-bloomer Ryan Ward has just begun to feel the magic of baseball: the magic of catching a wicked slider, of throwing a runner out, of training hard and pushing limits. But when one of his teammates clearly pushes the limits too far, Ryan is face with a heartbreaking dilemma: he must choose between his love for the game and his integrity.

Customer Reviews:

Baseball Bonding.......2007-07-01

Ryan is in the summer before his senior year in high school, and he still feels like he was just visiting school this whole time. He never joined a team or organization, does okay but not great in his classes, and isn't sure where his life is going. When he was younger he used to love baseball and he was really good at it, but when he was twelve he fell out of a tree and broke several bones, including his ankle, which never quite healed right. Since then he hasn't played baseball.

One day in the middle of the summer a new family moves in across the street. There is a guy Ryan's age named Josh, who is a real athletic superstar. He and Ryan become friends, and Josh convinces him that he would make a great baseball catcher. Josh tells him that teams always need catchers, because it's not a job with much glory and not many guys want to do it. Ryan gradually regains his love for the game of baseball and is eager to play again. He is thrilled with his new friend, whom he admires a great deal.

At school, though, Ryan doesn't feel like he really fits in with Josh. Josh is always in the spotlight and he thrives on it. Furthermore, he often acts like a dumb jock, harassing girls and being loud and boisterous with his athlete friends. When both Josh and Ryan make the baseball team, though, things are at least good between them on the field. That is, until a confrontation between Josh and a female classmate puts Ryan in a bad position.

I liked reading about baseball from a catcher's point of view. The author did a good job of explaining why it was such a good position to play. I liked Ryan's grandfather and the quiet way he affected Ryan's life. I also liked how Ryan took control of his life when Josh's focus shifted.

Josh's character was obviously trouble, though, and Ryan knew it from the start of school. I didn't understand why Ryan continued to be loyal to him for so long after he saw what a jerk Josh was.

Book Review.......2007-01-18

The title of my book is Painting the Black. The author of my book is Carl Deuker, who is my favorite author. This book is realistic fiction.
The two main character, Ryan and Josh, are teammates on a baseball team and they are going to the state tournament. Josh, the star pitcher, did something bad to a girl and he got suspended from baseball.
I loved this book and it was the best book I have ever read. It is my favorite book because it is a sports book and is written by my favorite author. This book is suitable for anyone who likes sports and for teenagers.

Painting The Black Review.......2006-12-19

Ryan Ward Falls out of a tree at a very young age putting a halt to playing baseball. In Ryan's senior year a new kid Josh Daniels moves on to his street. Josh is great athlete he is the star quarterback on the football team and is the beat pitcher on the baseball team. Ryan soon becomes friends with Josh and they start playing ball together. Josh convinces Ryan to try out for catcher on the high school team, which Ryan does. The team is cruising along until Josh makes a decision that could alter the season.

I think that this was a very good book. I think this is a good book because it teaches life lessons and trying to deal with peer pressure. I think that Carl Deuker does a great job at getting across to young readers in his books about dealing with peer pressure and being a teenager. I know that I am going to try to use the things that Carl Deuker talks about in his books like when Ryan did the responsible thing by telling the principal and the detective that his best friend Josh was the one who did the crime. I also think anyone who enjoyed reading this book should read other books by Carl Deuker. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys sports and also for every teenager.

Painting The Black Review.......2006-12-19

Tom's Review.......2006-05-03

The book was superb one of the best I've ever read. I liked this book so much because the action really never stopped. And one other thing, you could think that this book was through the catcher's eyes and that High Heat was through the pitcher's eyes. High Heat is another one of Carl Deukers books.

After the accident, Ryan never tried baseball again until Josh came. Josh was the one who inspired him to at least to try again. So that's what the 2 of them did all summer long. They practiced baseball every day until one day Josh said, "This is my last day of baseball till January because of football season is starting". So come January, they start practicing again. When tryouts come for varsity team, Ryan makes the team as the third string catcher. But with all that hard work he does he becomes the starting catcher. Then his team goes somewhere nobody thought they would.

I think the book would be for a reader between the ages of 11 and up and they definatly have to like sports because thats all its about. The genre is definatly realistic fiction.

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Snail-Trail
Language that sings
Landscapes of devotion & desolation
Open To Interpretation
Captivating language.

Athena
John Banville
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Irish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0679405216
Release Date: 1995-05-16

Book Description

From the internationally acclaimed author of The Book of Evidence and Ghosts comes a mesmerizing novel that is both a literary thriller and a love story as sumptuously perverse as Lolita. "A strange and dreamlike book . . . Banville has a breathtaking style."--Boston Globe.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Snail-Trail.......2006-12-13

Yet another book by John Banville that one can only characterise as a work of art - Why this is so is hard to explain to the uninitiate. Banville's prose is both subtle and oceanic. Above all, it is seductive. Things always seem to begin simply enough in his works. But, somewhere along the way, one is taken suddenly by the realisation that s/he is under the spell of a virtuoso, a master craftsman, nay, a magician of sorts who turns every subject that falls under his pen into a work of high literary art.

The plot, such as it is, has been covered by the other reviewers. I have just a couple addenda: I'm not so sure that this book and Ghosts are sequels, as such, to The Book of Evidence or if it's particularly important if they are. Banville's narrator, especially in Ghosts, is much-taken with the notion of multiple or parallel universes. That seems to me the best way to read these works, as following Mr. Montgomery into entirely different worlds. ----Also, a bit of a personal peeve, one wishes one could get through a Banville work without his using the term "flocculent" to describe everything from clouds to pubic hair (herein). But this is a quibble.

Below a couple citations of Banvillian prose here:

The light in the room, the colour of tarnished tin, was the light of childhood. I would see again afternoons like this in the far past and myself as a child at a window watching the day fail and the rooks settling in the high, bare trees and the rain like time itself drifting down. p.151

But this is how I want it to be, all smeary with tears and lymph and squirming spawn and glass-green mucus: my snail-trail. P.220

And so it is, a lulling, seductive, dark snail-trail of poetic prose to the narrator's beloved. Follow it!

Language that sings.......2006-01-10

One common adage in books about writing is to "kill the babies," in other words, get rid of those eloquent and delicious similes or turns of phrase that are will arrest the reader and pull him or her out of the story. Well, Banville violates this principle left and right, much to the delight of at least this particular reader. There is hardly paragraph, much less a page, that does not stop you cold you with image or simile or metaphor or simply brilliant construction, and you gladly forgive him each and every time.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the English language. It is written by someone who probably loves it even more.

Landscapes of devotion & desolation.......2005-12-07

I read this after "The Book of Evidence" had introduced Freddie Montgomery, in this sequel of sorts out of prison and under an assumed name continuing his forays into the art world's underworld. Descriptions of various paintings he analyzes in the style--at least in the first few--of a catalogue raisonne make for a challenge, as it forces you as the reader to imagine what FM conjures up by words from what he only sees as art. It makes for a great distancing effect, one that another novelist might have undercut if he had insisted upon including (cf. W.G. Sebald's entries of prose, postcard, photo within his similarly undefinable free-floating books of associations--the comparison is not meant to criticize Sebald) reproductions themselves.

This book's less witty, and brims less with black humor, than "The Book of Evidence." Reading it for the erotic bits would be akin to picking up Joyce's "Ulysses" or Beckett's prose for their sexual scenes. Like his Irish predecessors, Banville chooses to focus not on the act so much as the desire, and this makes for more elusive, if more realistic--a word not otherwise applicable to this mise-en-scene--sensation. You do hang suspended in the introspective, self-absorbed, obsessively ruminating realm that Freddie creates. Perhaps only the philosophically or aesthetically rarified few readers will persevere. Still, Booker Prize winner that Banville now is, perhaps more will make the effort to explore his past fictional landscapes of devotion and desolation.

The ending, as with many of Banville's novels since the 1990s, gives a twist, here only in the very last pages. It did surprise me a bit, but not that much, for Banville's narrator throughout's a slippery character among many just--if not more--as chameleonish. This does make for some imprecision that weakens slightly the storyline in its final resolution. This shape-shifting milieu I wished had been clarified a bit more than it is, and the welcome reappearance of Inspector Hackett is not as sustained as this character deserves. Yet on the whole, readers of Banville will be satisfied again by this installment. His character of Aunt Corky, in her slow decay, is as funny and as harrowing a figure as he has ever attempted to sketch out and then fill in on these pages.

As I have in my other responses via Amazon to Banville's books, I want to include a couple of my favorite snippets to show you his command of what he evokes in his spare but detailed style. First, as he delves into "this Bermuda Triangle of the soul," he addresses his appeal to A., the recipient of this book-length outpouring of longing. Freddie's extended letter of love and loss and lust, who represents the "ineffable mystery of the Other (I can hear your ribald snigger); that is what I have plunged into again as into a choked Sargasso Sea wherein I can never find my depth. In you I thought my feet at last would reach the sandy floor where I could wade weightlessly with bubbles kissing my shins and small things skittering under my slow-motion tread. Now it seems I was wrong, wrong again." (47)

Later as he recalls his embraces of A., now speaking to her as in the third person: "devouring her slowly, minutely, as in an enraptured cannibalism of the senses. How palely delicate she was. She glimmered. Her skin had a grainy, thick texture that at times, when she was out of sorts, or menstrual, I found excitingly unpleasant to the touch. Yes, it was always there, behind all the transports and the adoration, that faint, acrid, atavistic hint of disgust, waiting, and reminding. This I am convinced is what sex is, the anaesthetic that makes bearable the flesh of another. And we erect cathedrals upon it." (121)

Certainly the polarities of attraction and repulsion have been diagrammed in so many books for so many millennia, but here once more I believe Banville shows his skill in making such magnetism and rejection fresh and as powerful as they have been expressed in Joyce or--here especially--Beckett.

Open To Interpretation.......2001-01-01

This is the 4th work by Mr. John Banville that I have read, and I am nearly finished with his fifth. There is much that is factual about this writer, amongst these would be, his intellect, his range as a writer, and the competency he writes with while ranging through very different subject matter and material. As others have noted he is adept with metaphor. I feel his talent is not that he uses the device so frequently, but does so with such a subtle touch, it is more akin to absorbing his thoughts, as opposed to checking them off, or making a list.

This is easily the most difficult of his works that I have been through. This is not because he is vague, or style overrides substance. He is clear in what he says; placing it all into proper context and order is another matter. I do not suggest this book is an exercise in chaos. I do feel it is a reading experience that is in fact as far from definitive as the book jacket suggests it to be. Another reader has suggested that prior to reading this book that, "Ghosts", and "Book Of Evidence", should be read first. I am sufficiently unsure that I came away from the book with the Author's entire message, so if you can read the other two first, it may help.

Primarily written in the first person in the voice of, "Morrow", a new name to distance himself from a past, allows the reader to listen in as he recounts his period of time with, "A". At times we witness events in the present, but more frequently we are told of what has already taken place, what decisions were made and why. Just the explanation of how Morrow arrived at his new name will either bore you, or entice you into Mr. Banville's narrative style. For Morrow nearly everything is the result of, or likened to another, be it an event, a person, a name, or a moment in time. The relationships he devises are indicative not of a man who was an unsuccessful felon, but more of a mind bordering on that of an Oxford Don.

Regardless of how well educated our narrator is, he is also willing to engage in a relationship with "A" that evolves into what some may compare to Nabokov, although this time age is not the issue. And then there are the balance of the cast all that are creatures that might be termed, "Banvillian", just as Marley and Drood are classified Dickensian. Dickens players had their kinks just as Banville's do, although Banville's are closer to seriously bent than kinked.

The plot line that is sketched on the jacket of our Morrow and some paintings of dubious status together with a mention of "A" does not begin to explore the depths of this work. As has been the case with all the books I have read, his writing is so well constructed, his characters so well detailed, that even if the surface storyline is as far as you choose to go, you will be rewarded. However, to do so would cheat you, of all that is there to be interpreted, and all that is almost there, or almost definitively referred to.

This Author's more existential work may be more of an acquired taste, than, "Doctor Copernicus", or, "Kepler". In any event any reader who enjoys talented writing will find time well used that is spent with Mr. Banville's work.

Captivating language........2000-04-20

Banville writes exquisitely. Athena should be read slowly, like a fine meal. Interested readers might be advised to read his Book of Evidence, then Ghosts, before turning to this one.

Carving and Painting a Black-Capped Chickadee With Ernest Muehlmatt

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There's just one problem with this book...
Ernie's little critters.....

Carving and Painting a Black-Capped Chickadee With Ernest Muehlmatt
Curtis J. Badger
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0811724239

Customer Reviews:

There's just one problem with this book..........2007-05-15

The author carves the entire bird including feet and branch out of just one piece of wood. Nice trick if you can find a piece of wood big enough! The photos and directions look great, but I would have appreciated it if I'd been given information on making bird feet and legs. A lot of bird carvers just order commercially cast pewter feet and legs, but if you want to enter your bird in competitions you need to make your own feet and legs. Most bird carvers use a combination of metal rods and plastic wood to have a structure strong enough to support the bird's body. Mr. Muehlmatt's chickadee has carved toes that do not support the body, but just blend into the tree branch. So, if you aren't working with a big hunk of wood that is large enough to include the wood branch you are out of luck for bird legs. I do think his chickadee is stunning and I'll use this book for his insight and information. I also like the clear and copious photos, I'm just disappointed that it is unlikely that I'll have chunk of wood big enough to make a bird relying solely on his directions.

Ernie's little critters............2007-03-19

I enjoyed this book particularly since I have taken carving classes with Ernie Muehlmatt several times and believe that he is a wonderful, giving and natural teacher.

Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals

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An outstanding, lavish display
Justice Done to Great Art
A Book for Current and Future Enjoyment

Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals
James Prigoff , and Robin J. Dunitz
Manufacturer: Pomegranate Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Signs from the Heart: California Chicano Murals

ASIN: 0764913395

Book Description

Two hundred African American murals representing the breadth of the country's urban landscape--from New York to Los Angeles, Milwaukee to Atlanta—are gathered for the first time in this striking collection. Recounting a tradition of thirty years of mural art, from the creation in 1967 of Chicago's landmark "Wall of Respect " to the hip-hop renderings of the nineties, the book also introduces many new works--some published for the first time.

Walls of Heritage showcases the work of such renowned artists as Charles White, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, and John Biggers, as well as the work of extraordinary muralists such as William Walker, Calvin Jones, Mitchell Caton, and Dewey Crumpler. The book also brings the voices of the muralists to the fore, including descriptive narratives by the artists themselves. The book includes artist biographies, an extensive state-by-state listing of the murals in the United States, and informative essays by art historians Floyd Coleman, Ph.D. and Michael Harris, Ph.D.

By James Prigoff and Robin J. Dunitz. 280 pages, size: 12 x 9". 225 full-color reproductions. Casebound book, with dust jacket.

Customer Reviews:

An outstanding, lavish display.......2001-01-16

This lavish display of Afro-American wall murals gathers three decades of murals by the nation's leading artists, presenting these urban wall paintings under one cover for the first time. Over 200 paintings explore the works, history and themes of Afro-American urban wall paintings and focuses on thirty years of mural art from 1967 to modern times. Outstanding.

Justice Done to Great Art.......2000-11-08

This is a treasure. It combines first-rate photography and exemplary scholarship with the splendid production values of a publisher reknowned for sumptuous printing. It is a work that recovers and preserves a rich, scattered and often perishable art. It should inspire young artists to new efforts.

"Walls" reaffirms the power, beauty and humanity of public art-- art in libraries, schools and along neighborhood streets, art readily accessible to people as they go about their daily life. It proclaims the values of their work, their community-involvement and traditions.

"Walls" demonstrates that Afro-Americans have their own independent tradition of mural art that emerged at the same time as but separate from the modern Mexican tradition. Although later it sometimes was influenced by Diego Rivera and his colleagues, it arose during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s inspired by African sources.

The creativity of Black murals is also noteworthy for providing continuity between the New Deal murals of the 1930s and the community-based art since the 1960s. When art on social themes was driven from public walls during the witch-hunts of the '50s, Black murals were being painted in Black colleges across the South, and the artists who gained experience here initiated the mural movement of the '60s when Black neighborhoods organized against racism. These Black artists and their untrained community assistants thereby created a movement that professional painters and local people of all races joined which continues to this day.

The horizontal format of "Walls" is especially fortunate in doing justice to paintings that have a like layout. The introductory essays by reknowned African-American art historians, the comments of the artists themselves alongside their works, their biographies at the end and a list of murals throughout the country enhance the value of this volume.

"Walls" is a major resource of US history and art and as strong proof that there is of the contribution of African-Americans to our shared culture.

A Book for Current and Future Enjoyment.......2000-10-29

"Walls of Heritage / Walls of Pride," which I first browsed, then read, reread, and loved, has greatly added to my understanding of the background and context of African-American murals. The essays, the time chart, and the comments by the artists on their own works, in addition to the beauty of the paintings and the presentation, have added to my enthusiasm for and appreciation of this vibrant art form

In the past I have enjoyed visiting sites of public art. I now intend to carry this book with me as I travel, along with my maps and travel books, and when possible visit the murals shown in "Walls" seeing to what extent I believe the artist accomplished his goals.

I urge that you do the same, and you may come to find that your best travel time is spent outdoors viewing painted walls. And sometimes indoor walls and canvasses.

And later the book will be an impressive and useful addition to your library.

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