Arts Books

I was surprised at how many "finishes" you can give Poly Clay. This book explains it all . She does show alot of "specialty tools" you can use - but they can be substituted with your own tools or simple copies. GREAT BOOK - Great Pictures and easy step by step instructions.

As with all of Donna Kato's books it is well written and her explanations and photos are geared for all level of artist. It is a must have book if you love working with polymer clay or just love to look at innovative Asian influenced design ideas.

I had worked with polymer clay years ago and abandoned it as a medium. While watching reruns of Carol Duvall shows I would sketch and make notes about inspiring crafters and artists. I knew nothing of Donna Kato and as I looked back through my notes her name appeared again and again as work I had admired. This new book is an excellent addition to my resource library and I refer to it again and again as I practice polymer clay techniques with a new appreciation for the medium. The techniques are well described complete with specific brands of materials and clearly well-tested. A must-have.

This is an amazing book and one that you should really get to add to your collection of polymer clay books. There are soooooo many things in here to try. I just can't wait!
Plus, buying it from here saved me lots of $$ over the local craft store cost and even ebay.

Donna Kato's new book, with photographs by her husband Vernon Ezell and a foreword by Carol Duvall, covers a wide range of techniques and styles. Kato's work defies categorization, covering nostalgic pieces, modern pieces, whimsical items, Asian-inspired items, and even sculpture. Her versatility is amazing. Her teaching ability is wonderful, and through the many photographs we get to see her flawless craftmanship in action. I was especially intrigued by her Brocade Technique and by a watercolor-y bead, done with alcohol-based inks and a rubber stamp of some handwriting.

Always breaking new ground, Kato gives us a collection of stylish, artistic and creative techniques. She carefully explains each one, along with reasons why she chose the materials she used. She includes work from other artists as well, making this a well-rounded and extremely useful book. It doesn't get any better than this!

I am a professional trainer who follows the literature in the presentation field.

I am also skeptical of the advice you find in "how-to" books on presentations. The material is either too academic lacking life experience, self-serving from an author on an ego-trip or simply not relevant to my experiences as a trainer.

Steve Rapson's book is entertaining, honest and educational. Steve's unusual combination of professional experiences in the corporate world and as an entertainer produce valuable insights and advice for all trainers or presenters.

The Art of the Soloperformer is the best book I have read in the field.

Jack Smith
The Smith Group

"Training for Public Organizations"

This book has some "ok" parts in it, but overall it didn't seem very useful; could've been much better.
Besides using up a page with a cartoon that really doesn't say much, there are several pages with large font section titles, then one or two lines related or not so related to that; for example on one page in big letters it says "Should I accept Tips?", then a little line "Yes, with grace and gratitude". Apart from this being a useless piece of advice, it's a waste of space.
Most of the stuff in the book is common sense. There are some things that are helpful, that most of us who've been in the entertainment business for years tend to forget about, such as eye contact and pulling your audience in, making it about them. I will give the book that.
In some places where the author could've really given some great advice, he recommends a book by someone else. Wow, a book recommending other books to do its job!
The part I did enjoy was the section "An Open Letter To Myself" by Mary Gauthier. So I guess I should find a book by Mary Gauther and send this one back.
Much of the advice doesn't really seem to be aimed at helping solo performers in small venues. It looks more like stuff for people in front of large auditoriums. You know, guys working in small clubs need a little help too.
Over all the book is way overpriced for the small amount of useful info it contains. I wish I could recommend something else, but as of yet I have not found any good written material on the subject.

Steve Rapson's book helped me enormously as a beginning guitarist/vocalist performer. I have even bought this book as a gift to other performer friends who were similarly in need of a helping hand, direction and moral support.

Please make no mistake... everything you need to know about performing music, lecturing or whatever you may do as a solo artist before an audience - from getting started and gaining confidence to getting an agent and getting gigs, it's there .... in the book.

Beautifully written in an easy style and interspersed with cartoon drawings. I love this man for writing this book and am only dismayed that he will never know how much I owe him for the confidence his book gave me .... buy this book!!!

Steve's book is a godsend to people like us. As a beginning performer, Steve's book talked to me in a percise and easy to understand manner. He explains how to deal with people, how to deal with booking, and money. This is an invaluable resource to me and I certainly reccomend it to anyone thats going to be taking any sort of people facing position.

This book is a must-have for any solo performer, with practical and essential tools for anyone trying to get out there and make it on their own.
Mr. Rapson has given an incredible gift to any aspiring performer, with years of experience and wisdom packed into an easy-to-read and fun book. His advice on a broad range of topics is perfect for musicians, entertainers, and public speakers alike.
I have been entertaining people for 15 years and I can't tell you how much this book has helped me improve! There is something here for pros and beginners alike, and it definitely helped me get started as a solo musician after years of playing in different bands.
Get this book and you will not regret it!

Creighton M.

THIS BOOK IS WORTH FIVE TIMES THE COST. THE AUTHOR NAILED THE HUMAN SPIRIT ON THE HEAD. FOLLOW THE TEACHINGS AND YOU WILL LEARN THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE EGO CENTERED, ILLOGICAL AND GREEDY. LESSONS THAT HAVE TAKEN ME DECADES TO LEARN.

The book contains 300 field-tested behavioral rules for an honorable and successful life. The credibility this Jesuit needs in order to tell us how to live comes from his instant truth and usefulness. Most of the maxims have the urgent clarity of tough times, but some show you how to enjoy your adventures best. His perspective is balanced and subtle.

When you use this experiential knowledge you deliberately err on the side of caution, graduating to reality faster than your peers. All of life is covered. Some maxims are explanations on character and common sense, while others advise on how to deal with people. For example, he tells us to keep matters in suspense and to be skilled in conversation. You essentially learn how not to screw up in a complex world without fairy tale endings.

A few readers will say that this "prudent" Spaniard from the 17th century is outdated, and I agree that nowadays you could survive without him. But then don't complain when your superficial person is ignored, your illusions are painfully shattered and former friends leave you in the mud. You could have saved the day if you had only listened!

This knowledge was hard won, like gold, by a reflective man who's life's work was to tell you how not to be a fool. If the advice was bad, this book would have gone out of print a few centuries ago.

This is a beautifully produced book, and on the whole the translation is at least satisfactory, and frequently elegant in its own right. But the oracle's original train of thought within each half-page aphorism (probably hard enough to follow in the original Spanish) often becomes totally unintelligable in translation.

Perhaps annotations would have helped, but without either the original Spanish or any notes to refer to one sometimes has to simply give up trying to understand the gist, and move on to the next aphorism.

Overall it's a rewarding read, and certainly a book to keep at hand and dip into again and again, but also somewhat frustrating. This is not the ultimate translation.

Throughout the years, I've read various philosophers and grasped their differant ideologies. I haven't read too much of Gracian. After reading the Art of Wordly Wisdom as traslated by Maurer, I feel as though I've been deprived of this great Philosopher. I wish I had read more of Gracian's work earlier on. This book details various compilations of conduct and thinking. It truly is a gem. It is a Highly recommended book.

a modern trasnlation that loses none of the fine qualities of early editions....recommended

This book is ok... but you will purchase it with "Foggy mountain banjo" CD to have some samples. The CD included show some techniques to improve the right and left-hand rolls and tips, and some licks, but that's not a how-to-play earl scruggs songs. Tablatures are right, and the history of bluegrass banjo and scruggs' biography is superb.

This is a good book to get a solid right-hand, learning all the rolls and pattens used in Earl's songs, but remember to get a CD with the songs listed in tablatures.

This is definitely the package for those with a desire to learn the Earl Scruggs method of playing the 5 string banjo. It does not make you practice, but it does encourage you to do so. Great product!

Very Good Responce received product quick and perfect condition
Amazon one of the best in the business
Rohi Emran

This book was exactly what they said it was prior to my order. I will continue to do business with amazon.

I began playing and tinkering with music in 2003. I finally purchased my own guitar in 2004 and have had a few instruments since then. I bought my banjo 1 month ago, have taken 2 lessons and absolutely...with loss of words, love this instrument, the way it is played, how it sounds and its history and how I plan to take my skills with assistance from this book. This book has changed my way of playing and I plan to study it thoroughly. I purchased the book/cd combo and it has over 50 tracks of practicing techniques that Earl has worked out for us. As said before, the history, over 40 tabbed songs, many techniques including scrugss style rolls and much more. The book is filled with every bit of useful information for the banjo player or enthusiast. Please consider purchasing if you are a beginner or finding yourself troubled with no instruction. My theory is that it is never too late to start a new instrument. The banjo and this book have changed my life. I feel as though I will devote the majority of my time towards the banjo and mastering scruggs style with this particular book. Start with this one for sure. Good luck.

Just started scrapbooking and it was very confusing to try and decide what I needed and how you go about it. This book explains in detail and gives great ideas and examples. Each sample scrapbook page tells exactly what was used to create the page and has given me lots of ideas!

This book provides great ideas for a beginner, I really like this book. When I'm stuck I can just flip through the book and find some good inspirations. I also picked up several new techniques that I didn't know before. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who is just picking up scrapbooking.

I purchased this book for my wife and daughter who are just beginning scrapbooking. We looked through the entire book in one day, and to be honest were overwhelmed by the volume of ideas photographed in this book. It is also packed with detailed descriptions of all the different techniques that they will be using for quite some time. I read all the reviews before purchasing this book, and understand that there are probably a lot of advanced techniques that hard core scrapbookers use, but since my ladies are new to this, I imagine that it will be great for them as they learn this art.

If you are new to scrapbooking like me I strongly recommend this book. It is full of great info that will familiarize you with the oh-so wide world of scrapbooking. I love this book because it first introduces you to all of the tools that can be used in scrapbooking, and is then followed by hundreds of how-tos with wonderful sample pages. Even after you've read this book all the way through you will still be able to constantly refer to it for more page ideas. Get this book and hold onto it, it is definitely a great purchase!

I recently purchaced this book, and i was very disappointed. I have some of the other Creating Keepsakes books, such as the "Scrapbooks tips" and "Scrapbooking Family heritage" (I'd give all of them 5 stars). But, the Creating Keepsakes Encyclopedia has half the images and examples as the other books. After about 1/2 an hour of reading through it I was done for good; whereas with the other books every time I open them I see something new that I didn't notice before. I was extremely disappointed with this book. I would not recommend it to anyone. And it shouldn't be called an "encyclopedia"-it only explains the MOST BASIC of scrapbooking techniques. I mean, it takes 4 pages just to show you how to tear paper!!! PLEASE don't waist your money on this-instead, try some of the other "Creating Keepsakes" books. This one is the worst of the bunch. All the other "Keepsakes" books I own or have read are terrific.

This book was very well titled and illustrated. It looked as if my own cat ERNIE posed for many of the pictures himself. If you have a black and white(tuxedo cat), I strongly urge you to purchase this book. It will mean so much to you later when you lose your cat(to death) like it did with my ERNIE. I highly recommend it.

I was recommended this book by a colleague as I was starting to get into photography. My first thought was that it'd be boring - I mean photos of cats?! If I wanted that I'd buy a calendar. However I ordered it and it is brilliant. The photos are outstanding - nothing like your typical cat-calendar shots, but rather they capture the essence of the subject, which in this case just happens to be a cat. Add to that, the fact that it is beautifully presented, it could only be 5 stars.

I encountered Ernie while visiting the Tate Modern bookstore here in London over the weekend, and was instantly won over by his crazy, self-possessed ways. The genius of Mendoza's work lies in his ability to faithfully capture the personality of his feline subject, with the same amount of detail and devotion one would expect to see in photographs of people. As a filmmaker and photography enthusiast, I have accumulated a library of photography books by those renowned in their field, and Mendoza's masterful memoir deserves its place amongst them. Sure, he is not a Pulitzer Prize winning war photographer, the subject is light-hearted but it is also sincere, which is the most you can ask of an artist. Ernie is a fine example of what photography and portraiture should be: an engaging and revealing insight into its subject, one that compels the viewer to revisit the photographs again and again, delighting and inspiring with each subsequent reading.

I love this book. As a cat lover the book captured this cat's character perfectly. Loved the narratives of both the photographer and especially when he wrote on behalf of Ernie!! If you love cats, you will definitely enjoy this book and its pictures. I love Ernie!

This little book is a personal favorite. After spotting it at a bookstore a couple of years ago, I've given it as a gift to several friends and family and all of them have loved it too.

The book shows its star -- Ernie the cat -- in a variety of poses: being playful with the author, fighting with another cat, yawning, stretching, sleeping, growling, chasing bugs, perched on the fridge, watching people from the window, and exploring the world. Each of the great black and white photos shows another side of Ernie, making him a lot more complex than one would consider a feline.

This book is a must for any cat lover. If you like cats, buy it. I think after you're through you will find yourself looking at it again and again. Definitely the mark of a classic.

If you want to explore ways of colouring clay, mixing,streaking, blending for surface effect. This book is a great start for ceramists and clay artists as the contents illustrates some patterns they can easily be applied to clay material.

I just want to add my praise for this book. I have tried many of the recipes and they work very well. The recipes are written in a step-by-step format -- very easy to follow. This book is far superior to others I have looked at. Highly recommended.

I totally agree with Babette> this book was purchased mostly because of her revieuw and she has not said a word too many
If I would have to pick only one book on working with PMC this would be it!

Very Easy to Follow Directions for Making Faux Stones!!! Why Pay Big Bucks to use Turquoise, Tiger Eye, Marble, etc., in your Jewelry Making when you can make it?

I was hopeful that this book would have some interesting new techniques for faux work. It does have techniques but they're sometimes scanty on the instructions and the projects tend to take up more space than the techniques themselves.

I find it odd that amber is mentioned early in the book and shown in the gallery but there's no instructions for making it.

I'm a huge fan of Sue Heaser and I think I'll stick with her books going forward.

Felt Wee Folk is a lovely book filled with photographs and easy directions for making pipe cleaner figures, some as small as 1.5 inches. My daughter loves playing with the flower fairies I've made for her. There are other felt projects as well, although I haven't tried any yet. I'd give the book five stars if I didn't have to flip back and forth across a couple pages for directions, but the more dolls I make, the less I have to do that.

Felt Wee Folk is one of the most inspirational books I have come across in a long time, I just love it. Readers can't help but be captivated by these little Wee Folk and their magical world. The book contains lots of ideas for different characters, including ideas for both boys and girls. Also included are other projects made from felt like badges and purses that are equally enchanting. I can't wait to start some projects from this book for my children. Highly recommend this book to other craft people, particularly hand sewers.

This book was an excellant purchase. It is detailed in showing you how to created these lovely little dolls, with exceptional patterns for clothing in such a wide variety. The possibilities are endless limited only by your own creativity. This book is a must for anyone caring to create these adorable little collectible dolls.

I loved this book. It was very complete in its instructions. You may have to rely on your own imagition if you do not have all the materials, but that is part of the fun.

The artwork in this book makes it worth having even if you do not attempt the projects! I picked this up on a whim and flipped through it to find the most beautiful felted scenes. It's absolutely inspiring. I made several little fairies before I moved onto my own ideas. This book is wonderful to have for anyone looking to get creative with felt! It teaches you basic stitching techniques, material suggestions, pretty much all the basics. I read that someone was having trouble deciding what kind of hair to use. I actually use wool roving, which works beautifully. It's so fine and you can actually style it several ways, even into tiny braids and pigtails. I just glue it onto the heads and top it with the little acorn. When dry, I go back and style the hair a little. Hope this helps! =)

I had no appreciation for Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) until I read this book.
He is an incredible human being.
And this book carries along that incredibleness so people like us who have never met the man can learn and bask in his example of perfect friendship.
Truly an inspiration.

I'm Proud of You was a great read. It is the story of one man's personal journey of pain and self discovery and also of his precious friendship with Fred Rogers. It was a treat to read of "Mr Rogers" and the personal integrity and selflessness he had. Definately recommend it.

I recently finished reading I'm Proud of You. I must say, Tim Madigan did an outstanding job with this book. One small book has made me think about so many different things. It has reminded me in such a profound way that we must live life as if tomorrow will not be. Treasure your family members as if you will not see them tomorrow. These were lessons we need to have repeated again and again.

Tim Madigan has also used the art of writing to reinforce the notion that men have feelings which should be expressed. Society has taught men to be stoic and hard. Tim reminds us that men are also individuals with emotions that need to be felt, appropriately released, and reckoned with. These emotions if not dealt with can and will often manifest itself in other forms within the lives of men.

Lastly, it was a privilege to read the story of a reporter in search of self and finding a man who uncompromisingly shared part of his self and his love. I had to pause from reading at least twice to give my emotions a minute.

It's a extraodinary story. Thank you so much Tim Madigan for sharing. I am also proud of you. Since this was such a personal experience that was unselfishly shared with the reader.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It's a wonderful book about the author's friendship with Mr. Rogers. The author really shares his heart with the reader and reveals the incredible person that was the television icon and child psychologist: Fred Rogers. It's also a book about struggles that we all face: anger, depression, family disagreements and grief.

There are also a great many references to other inspirational material that I plan to also investigate. In a society where most men must deal with so many stressful things, this book is a testimony to the comfort that can come from a genuine male friendship and fellowship.

All of this is particularly meaningful to me, since it was a friend who gave me my copy of this book. I would really like to buy about ten more copies to give to more of my friends and family members.

Moving tale of love, growth and (sometimes) Fred Rogers

In "I'm Proud of You, " prize-winning journalist and author Tim Madigan takes us on very personal journey of growth through his personal pain. His Virgil for the journey was television's Fred Rogers of "Neighborhood of Make-believe" fame. Madigan tells of his unexpected friendship with the celebrity, whose unconditional caring, vulnerability and startling offer of friendship provided solace during times of crisis and pain for the author. Much of the book is related via published emails, letters and telephone calls that the two exchanged over a ten-year period. Madigan shows Rogers as the same completely genuine, gentle and quaint man seen on his TV show. Rogers is overtly religious (Christian, specifically) in his approach to others. As Madigan relates not infrequently, Rogers evinces an almost divine sense of love, non-judgment and complete acceptance. According to Madigan, these qualities were exactly what he needed as he struggled with childhood hurts, difficulty in his marriage and a death in his present-day family. While much of the book relates Tim's own crises, Rogers -- in the form of a gift, card or phone call -- often pokes his head into the narrative. These encounters help Tim validate and express his feelings, an extremely difficult task for males in general. In turn, Rogers bares his own soul, in the kind of mutual friendship that he often established with others.

Fred Rogers is a paradox for our modern culture. "Gentle" and "man" are nearly oxymoronic in our aggressive and high-testosterone culture. Fred took his share of knocks as people questioned his manhood and mistrusted his devotion to children. Madigan shows Fred as a man with his own difficult moments and pain, who found a path to healing through his extraordinary personality and his faith in God. Madigan highlights Rogers' friendship with Henri Nouwen, the Catholic spiritual writer, showing that gentleness and a belief in God's love for all His creatures need not be limited by denominational lines. My only criticism of the book is that it did not live up to its subtitle, "My Friendship with Fred Rogers" since much of the book transpired in Fred's absence, or was carried on at a distance. The subtitle was changed for the paper version to the more-appropriate "Life Lessons from My Friend Fred Rogers". Still, the book is a moving testimony to Fred Rogers' ability to transform another human being simply by affirming him, believing in him, and by extension, to reach out to those in that person's circle of family and friends. Madigan's moving recounting of the end of his brother's life was also quite beautiful and instructive in showing us a way to die that is courageous, healing and deeply imbued with an awareness of everyday graces.

By relating his journey to us, Tim makes his readers the indirect beneficiaries. of Fred Rogers' love and specialness. By doing so, makes his readers his neighbors, something that Fred as "Mr. Rogers" would have dearly appreciated.

If one has read Campbell's other work, then this is like a great pick me up book. Readers who have not already experienced the scholar's work would be best served by reading those before they decide to tackle this one. It's not all too often that one comes across a book that you can't put down and I can say that this is one of the few times that I can say that. I read this in only a matter of days and would think about reading it when I didn't have time to. This collection has a very intimate feel and really gives the sense that you have almost comes across a secret journal that had been written long ago, but was written just for you. It's like having a private conversation with Campbell himself. The majority of this volume has been pulled from lectures and journals which perhaps have never been published and gives the sense that Campbell is letting you in on secrets that only few in the world have ever been gifted with, all from the comfort of your living room. As a scholarly work this doesn't hold up to "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" but as an entertaining read it is a wonderful book. Joseph Campbell the teacher gives way to Joseph Campbell, the friend. Biased as I am in that I admire him so much, I would recommend this book to any who love his ideas. It feels like a talk with an old friend, letting you in on all those little glimpses of his experiences.

"So that's what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system." ~ Joseph Campbell from "A Joseph Campbell Companion"

This book is a must-have.

Packed with a wide range of Campbell's musings, it's the perfect introduction to the man who helped us understand the hero's journey and what it means to follow our bliss.

We are each living our own Hero's Journey in life. This book is a guide on that journey. Wonderful quotes that inspire. For the price of movie ticket, you get a weekend workshop on how to live a life that you're destined to live.

I've been a Joseph Campbell fan for years, and this book is a perfect one to give as a gift to someone who isn't quite up to reading his more scholorly works. It's a guideline for life gleaned from his in-depth study of cultural myths from which he developed his own wonderful philsophy of life.

As a fan of Joseph Campbell's writings I was excited to see a book titled "A Joseph Campbell Companion", especially prefixed by the words "Reflections on the Art of Living". It sounded like something right up my alley. How could you possibly go wrong with a title like that?
The short answer is that this book is not organized in a helpful way. I was expecting something akin to Anne Charter's "Portable Beat Reader" where each section is well organized and documented and each entry is titled and dated so you know where it came from -much like an encyclopedia. Instead what you get is a long series of sound bites and miscellaneous quotes that you have to look up in the reference pages in the rear of the book for clues as to how to put things into any sort of context. Although much of the writing is superb, it is often hard to tell where passage starts or stops.
The result makes me think of the sort of book that's good for the bathroom. You can pick it up and read a random passage and get something out of it, but reading it from front to back is often frustrating.