Arts and Crafts Books

A very comprehensive book covering both English and American furniture of the classical to recant,evan having some of the author's own furniture on the front cover.This is a book that has created very favourable comments from visitors to our house who have browsed through it during their stay.

Rodel has crafted an excellent review of the Arts and crafts movement in America with many fine pictures.

The book provides an excellent introduction in the history of furniture at the end of the 19th century and the evolution of the Arts & Crafts movement. The nice thing about this book is that it's giving the larger context, showing the influence designers in England and continental Europe had on Arts & Crafts movement in America. The book has excellent pictures of representative furniture pieces.

Towards the end of the book, there's a small collection of contemporary furniture makers and designers that build classic pieces, or new ones inspired by the classic designs. You can google the name of the furniture makers to find showrooms and stores that carry their products, which is a very good way to start when you want to buy such furniture.

If you like this type of furniture, and you're technically inclined, it might also help getting a book that describes how this furniture is built. This helped me enormously to understand what is involved in producing good quality furniture.

As a librarian and a lover of all things relating to Arts & Crafts style, I recommend this book to anyone desiring a greater knowledge of this furniture's history and design evolution. With clear color photographs and just the right amount of text, this book illustrates the origins of Arts & Crafts furniture in England and its progression, first to our East Coast, and eventually Westward across America. In fact, my only 'complaint' about this book is that the photographs are good enough that they leave you wanting for more.

Because of the depth of information presented here, I would not say that this is a general interest read - rather this book is geared toward those seriously interested in the history of the Arts & Crafts movement and its recent revival.

I absolutely love this book. I nearly salivated when I saw the numerous drawings and photos of garden structures and architecture- So I'm a "Structure" guy, not a "plant" guy. My wife literraly told me to stop bothering her because I kept showing her pictures of stairs, walls and pergolas. This really is a tremendous resource. I refer to this book whenever I need a bit of design inspiration. I found the sketches, along with photos, to be tremendously helpful.

Gertrude Jekyll's expertise is evident in this finely written and illustrated book. It covers the Arts and Crafts era of fine gardening in extensive detail. She illustrates the garden relationship to the residence and outbuildings and what plants to use to create different effects.

First published in 1912 by `Country Life' as GARDENS FOR SMALL COUNTRY HOUSES, ARTS AND CRAFTS GARDENS by Gertrude Jekyll and Lawrence Weaver was republished years later as part of the Antique Collectors Club LTD, and now as a "revised edition with additional colo[u]r illustrations" by the Garden Art Press. More art book than instructive garden guide, the modern publication includes many black and white illustrations as well as layout drawings of the houses and grounds discussed, as well as detailed examples of other features, appearing in the earlier volume, along with beautiful color photos and illustrations depicting specific design elements as they appear today. Thus the reader can determine what the landscaper saw and planned, and how well her design worked then and years later. Jekyll's foresight and intuitive understanding of the "art" of garden design (which many of us learn about the hard way) as illustrated in this book, provides the modern reader with an idea of why Jekyll is still revered among garden designers.

The book title, `Gardens for Small County Houses', may appear ludicrous to the contemporary reader, as it provides an overview of selected examples of various gardens the authors developed in Surrey, Berkshire, and Guildford, which by today's standards are quite large. Chapters cover houses and gardens in their entirety, and at least one covers the "Treatment of Small Sites" such as Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, a gorgeous town house site. Other chapters cover selected design elements, such as "balustrades and walls", "steps and stairways" and retaining walls. Most of these elements are used by modern landscape designers in large public settings and on a few "estates", but many cannot be adapted to the small scale urban garden. Many features of these "country" gardens were lifted from Roman villas and most of us don't own villas, however, some of the elements, such as pergolas, arbors, and trellises can and probably should be adapted to a modern urban garden.

Because you probably wouldn't want to attempt to duplicate these designs on an average modern lot, the value of this book other than as a beautiful art book lies in its ability to inform. You will want to study it before you visit one of the notable "estates" where Jekyll worked in England.

This book is a great point of reference for anyone looking for formal garden inspiration. It is wonderful to see the way architecture and garden design can really complement one another so harmoniously. In these cases, neither would be nearly as interesting without the other.

G. Jekyll's garden plans are very interesting to look at. They are giving me many thoughts on good plant combinations & spacing. Also, while her designs are filled with a lot of material, she seems to have a keen eye for leaving space as well.

The attention to detail is wonderful and one can really see the benefit of meticulous planning. Rather than the plant and see what happens approach, it is actually possible to make very deliberate & specific choices.

Now I just want to know who the poor people are who have to do the weeding, watering and pruning in these giant gardens - eeeks!

I have built almost everything in the book. I made a few mistakes because I misinterpreted the drawings, but if you study the drawings very carefully before construction then you will truly enjoy this book. Author needs to write another book like this. Watch the interpretation of Dado and rabbet joints in particular.

This book was the first that I picked up when I started building my own furniture. The projects turned out great and the finishing process that he recommended was excellent. The diagrams and step by step instruction give you all the information that you need to complete each project even if you're an amateur like I am (you do need to have/buy some good power tools though). I've made two of the projects he describes and there are still a couple more I'd like to do.

I would classify myself as an intermediate level woodworker and a book expert (I am a librarian after all) and I can honestly say that this is one of the absolute best books of its type on the market. As I see it, the normal downfall of a book such as this is the authors either spend way too much time giving us all of the philosophical and historical background behind the furniture style in question, or once they actually get to the furniture projects section they disappoint by selecting such rare (and odd) pieces to reproduce that the book ultimately becomes more of a novelty rather than a useful tool.

I am thrilled to say that the authors of this book got the balance between philosophy and practical matters just right. There is just enough about Arts and Crafts fundamentals here to whet the appetite for the projects which follow. And speaking of the projects, this is good stuff! Out of the twenty two projects offered in this book, I can honestly say that I would be very happy to build fifteen of them and put them in my own home. In a book this size I am usually lucky if half of the projects are appealing enough to want to build them for myself, and keep in mind that I am a HUGE fan of this furniture style.

Bottom line is that the color illustrations (although minimalist to the beginner's eye) are compelling to the more skilled among us, the choice of projects is excellent, and the bibliography of suggested reading is very good. I highly recommend this purchase.

This is a good A&C furniture book for the intermediate woodworker. The authors cover pieces from the simple (wastebasket) to the more difficult (entry bench, sideboard). A nice touch is that besides covering the usual Gustav Stickley pieces there are items by other A&C companies of the time (Shop of the Crafters, Limbert, Greene & Greene [actually architects, but they designed the furniture for their buildings], L & J.G. Stickley, Roycroft). The introductory chapter covers a brief history of the style, next is an introduction to some of the general woodworking techniques needed, and then the various projects with good photographs and explanations (there are a couple of minor editorial glitches, but they cause no real problems). The projects also vary from a duplicate of the original to slightly modified interpretations. A useful technique is given for staining/glazing the furniture to achieve the traditional golden brown color without actually having to fume the pieces in concentrated ammonia (a smelly, dangerous, and potentially lethal approach). So if you are a somewhat experienced beginning woodworker, you should find some great projects here to move you on to the next level. And even if you are a very experienced furniture maker, you will find some nice pieces you might want to make too.

Love this book! Beautiful photography and good explanation of bakelite history. A must have for a collectors library. Wish I had been involved in the publishing of this book. It must of been a delightful ride to see all the vintage bakelite. Like being in a candy store. Corinne Davidov and Ginny Redington Dawes did a wonderful job. But please invite me next time, okay? :-)

This is a beautifully photographed book. Shows many wonderful pieces of vintage bakelite jewelry. I can't fault it except to say, I wish it had even more examples of bakelite to look at.

The Bakelite Jewelry Book by Davidov and Dawes was published in 1988 and it was the first book I bought when I started collecting Bakelite jewelry many years ago. Big and beautiful, with wonderful pictures, this book does a great job of showing the variety and personality of this fun jewelry while also educating the reader about the history of Bakelite. Unfortunately, the price guide in the back is now outdated. This book is a visual feast and, even though I now have a shelf full of books on Bakelite, it is still the first book I grab when I want to check on a piece!

This was the first book on Bakelite jewelry that I ever bought, and the mouthwatering pictures wheted my appetite to start collecting Bakelite jewelry. However, after this luscious introduction, I was in for a big disappointment out in the real world. Most of the stunning pieces in this book have long since been snapped up by collectors, and in the years since I got this book I have rarely found a piece of Bakelite that appears in it. In terms of seeing some of the best of the best, Davidov shows Bakelite jewelry at it's finest. She also does much to enlighten collectors about the Bakelite jewelry industry. Although there is a rudimentary pricing guide, it is completely out of date and is of little use to today's collector. None the less, Bakelite collectors will enjoy this book. It's not a collector's guide. Instead, this beautiful book is a glorious celebration of top of the line vintage Bakelite jewelry, and a guilty pleasure to just thumb through and savor....

Great book; found it very useful for a presentation on Bauhaus.

This is the book for people who are interested in design (i.e. buy things)
but don't read design magazines. Thought-provoking and funny.

Sprinkled liberally with the author's own pencil sketches of famous architects, buildings and other design icons, "The Bauhaus Ideal" is a small book chock full of unique perspectives on the history of design. It is pitched at the lay reader or college student - even someone with no interest whatsoever in Bauhaus or architecture would find this an absorbing read, which is why I think it would do very well in an intro liberal arts course for college freshmen hoping to pick up some ideas about modern art and architecture before they branch off onto the irreversible "med school" or "law school" track. It reads rather like the notebooks of da Vinci because of the deft pencil sketches; it also reminds me of John Ruskin's manifesto, "The Stones of Venice". Smock would very conversationally talk about an architect or a building, then throw in a little sketch - the effect is like dropping in on a professor who really knows his stuff but is cool enough to not beat you over the head with it. Smock is good enough to be a professional illustrator. In a few lead strokes he would capture the spirit of a real person's face, or the bare branches of winter. For the non-lay reader, the architect, or "those in the know", this book reaffirms one's thoughts about the giants in the architecture world and asks provoking questions about why things are what they are. All in all, a real treat and worth the price.

Today's design students are overloaded with too many skills and ideas to absorb. Unfortunately, as students race into the future, it seems that subjects like Design History are the first to suffer. This book addresses that problem. You could think of it as the 'cliff notes' of Modernism. It's concise, fun to read, and beautifully illustrated. You can read it in one sitting. It connects Modernist ideas across design, art and architecture from the Bauhaus until now. Along the way, Smock pokes fun at some of the more pretensious characters and positions of Modernism. Most of all, he puts the ideas and forms of Modernism in context for our time. The author clearly has a deep appreciation for his subject, and argues that we still have much to learn from the spirit and optimism of Modernism. For students, this book should help to inspire new interest in what Modernism was/is all about. It suggests that rather than seeing a dusty footnote in history, maybe it's something we should pick up, polish, and re-examine. As an intro, this book should inspire further study for young designers.

This is not a "how-to" book, but shows the bead work of many artists. These works were featured at the Beadworks '98 exhibit at the Dairy Barn, the Southeastern Ohio Cultural Arts Center.

Chris Allen-Wickler covers rocks with peyote stitch, leaving holes here and there. Kenneth A Arthur uses brass shells and plumbing parts to make a sculpture he calls "My Dad's Drawer." Joann Baumann found a use for her old Nymo beading thread bobbins, using the bobbins as beads. Several artists give credit to Joyce Scott for encouraging their fearless use of beads.

Our San Antonio Bead and Ornament Society member Alison F Whittemore found a use for all of her extra beads and tiny treasures. She covered a beanpot with them. I hope she buys raffle tickets for our bead jar. She would have a blast coming up with a use for that eclectic mix.

A fine illustrated survey of contemporary beadwork, with a helpful introduction and comments by the artists about their work. Particularly striking are the works by Manfredini, Meinhardt and my wife, Ann Mitchell.

This is a truly spectacular book. The artwork ranges from the elegantly beautiful to the bizarre & quite humorous. All the photographs are in vibrant full-color & are printed on glossy stock. The book starts out with a brief history of beads. Each item is described with details on how it was made. Background information on the artists is also included.

One of my favorite pieces is a sampler of 9 tiny toys made of seed beads. I feel in the love with the many gorgeous decorated dress forms, jewelry & masks. The beaded beads & eggs are adorable.

There is nude woman sitting on a cow & eating a banana. In another a green woman lifts weights. I had to laugh when I saw a doll standing doll on her head and an old lady with a funky perm.

I saw this book at an artists' booth at an art fair in Madison, WI. last July. I was so impressed with the artist and the book that I am ordering it. It is an exquisite look at contemporay beadwork...very inspirational.

I am not only a bag maker but a beaded bag maker and I did have to learn the hard way from the old 1900 books but if you have been wanting to learn how to accomplish bead knitting this is a MUST have book. It comes with a CD which for me is an invaluable tool to learning. I love everything about this book and CD. It is laid out very nicely and for me everything is very clear and easy to follow. Plus in my opinion the patterns are timeless again this would be a great addition to your knitting library.

This is a very nice little book on knitting with beads. I've been looking for a book on the topic of knitting beaded bags for quite a while and this one explains it very well. The DVD really shows you how to do it. My only complaint (a small one) is that the DVD is a little hard to figure out. It shows how to knit both from the left and the right which is confusing if you choose the wrong one. Also, there is no audio on the DVD, which is ok, as long as you're aware of it. The DVD also contains the patterns in the book so you can print them off to carry around with you and your project. She also provides you with graph templates so you can design your own. Really a useful book.

This book is beautifully illustrated. Backed up with a great dvd. Projects are exquisite. Very easy-to-understand instructions. It would help if some suppliers for the projects were suggested. Even a novice to knitting would be able to tackle some of the designs, with a little help from a patient friend. Very good basic knitting tutorials included.

Hey - I'm an old hippie - I also say groovy. Seriously, the book is fantastic. I have never worked with beads in my knitting and am looking forward to trying this out. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and am pretty limited on how much I can knit (been knitting since I was 18) - not sure I can even knit with such small needles, however, have enjoyed just looking at the purses with such beautiful beadwork and the directions look easy to do. I have not viewed the DVD yet, but will be doing so soon. I am having fun picking out beads and learning obout how to knit with them.

I thought the beaded collar on the front of this book was beautiful. The projects throughout this book are exquisite. One breathtaking design after the other.

As I looked through this book at each beautiful collar, they made me think of a pretty little white bead collar of my Mother's, from the 1950's. It was in two pieces, which I tried to repair, but it just didnt look the same. Now I can make her a beautiful new one.

This book is well written and helpful pictures to help you get started making collars. Bead work and different ways of making the collars are very helpful. There are alots of steps to make the collars but the book makes it very easy to understand how to incurperate different patterns into one collar. I recommend this book for any beader beginners and ones that have been beading for years. I am sure anyone that gets this book will really like it like I do.

I've greatly admired Julia Pretl's fantastic collars and pre-ordered this book. I hope that Julia considers putting out an advanced version - because I'd hoped to learn how she incorporated bead embroidered pieces into her collars and didn't find any reference to that here. Still, I give her book full marks as a reference and learning tool. The information is clear, the illustrations second-to-none and the projects are interesting. Although the concept of the collars is simple - learning how to construct and use a template, how to use one or two needle methods and her many tips are invaluable. I know I'll enjoy teaching myself her methods. Next book - my wish list is some additional embellishment techniques and a gallery section, but for now - I feel I more than got my money's worth from this excellent book.

What an eye opening book, a must for anyone who does art. This is a very finely illustrated book with great examples of finished items.

I bought this after reading two excerpts in two different magazines and I'm not disappointed. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the works featured are by some of the best artists around. The price on Amazon is so good that you can hardly go wrong, even if you buy it just for the pictures.

The reason I didn't give it four stars: I can hardly read it. The pages look beautiful visually, but when I "zoom" in for the details, I can't read them. In many cases the font is just too small. In other cases, the font is big enough but there is no contrast between the font and the page. Beige type on a white page is NOT legible when you are fifty. It's a popular way to design the printed page lately, I have the same problem with Wired magazine.

If the main audience for this book was under 30, it wouldn't be an issue. I feel like the book designers were more worried about how the page looks, and trying to cram SO much information onto the page that they forget who would be reading it.

I'm going to have to keep a magnifying glass next to the book. Interestingly, the excerpt in at least one magazine, the one I bought, were published in larger print.

The book really is nice though, and it hardly seems fair to criticize the small type, because there is just so much information crammed into it, but the low contrast type thing.... that wasn't necessary.

I just got this amazing book today. I loved Margie Deeb's other Beaders Color Book, and this one is a whole new world. Mostly inspirations for advanced beaders, esp. off loom work. This book has a very unique approach to a color palette of beads, using photos and paintings to inspire a piece of jewelry. And so many gorgeous works of beady art! Theres over 800 photos in here! I love it! I am inspired! And now, my year-long stint of "beaders block" is over. I HIGHLY recommend this mostly to an advanced beader, but all levels can most certainly use this book too for inspiration. Its that versatile.

I have been so excited for this book to come out that I was almost afraid that I had built it up too much in my head. Turns out I did not build it up enough!! Last year I read (and have continued to study) Margie Deeb's book, The Beader's Guide to Color (see link below). With Ms. Deeb's ability to show the properties and effects of individual colors as well as mixes taken from the color wheel, I discovered that what I thought was my natural eye for color was, in fact, just a tiny glimpse of what was possible. The Beader's Color Palette builds even further on that. It is true that there are amazing projects already in the book as well as dozens of prepared color palettes and these are fabulous and inspiring. The many photos are lush and rich and enthralling. However, I believe the best thing about Margie Deeb's books is her ability to share her gift of vision. Not only does she help reveal the color palettes in various landscapes, pictures, pieces of art, etc, but she helps beaders to learn to discern for themselves the color palettes in the world around them. This is not a book to just read once and then put it on the shelf. Nor is this just an instruction book for wonderful projects. The Beader's Color Palette is a text to be studied, absorbed, and treasured over and over. Because there is so much contained in this book, I have found thus far that I can study it for a while (30 min to possibly an hour)but then I have to go away from it to absorb what I have read. Otherwise, I find I am on "sensory overload."(And yes, my husband thinks that is completely nuts:) To restate what I treasure the most about this book - Ms. Deeb does not just share her gift for understanding color, but she helps the reader to develop his or her own vision. With that vision comes an even greater appreciation for everything in your world.

The Beader's Guide to Color

This is a fabulous, beautiful book as are many Rizzoli books. It is not perfect as to attributions etc, so scholars may quibble, but for inspiration and a wonderful overview of international beading with small beads it is terrific! I am going off for my first class in peyote beading this morning and this was a perfect source of ideas and information to get me charged up! It is not, however, a how to book. There is a technical section at the end describing how the various techniques are done but not in anyway sufficient to make any projects. The descriptions are clear but not detailed enough for that. To attempt any of these techniques the reader will need a good teacher and most probably additional books.

I'll start with a quote from the introduction "our aim is to draw attention to objects decorated with, and constructed from, the tiny glass 'seed' beads" (pg 8 introduction). I will attest to the fact that the authors have succeeded in the most magnificent fashion!

Divided into deceptively simple sounding sections, this book will take you on a trip around the world and through history. The six sections are: Bead Manufacturing Centers; Africa; the Americas; Asia, Oceania, and the Arabian Gulf; Europe; and Construction and Techniques. Then each of these sections is divided into the the various countries and regions covered with the broad section heading. There are photographs everywhere - color, black & white, historical, and studio quality. This is a very visual book for a visual medium.

I've always felt as a beader that I am carrying on a tradition that goes back centuries, this book pays homage to the traditions from around the world. It is an incredible resource that belongs on every beader's shelf for inspiration and rememberance of all that has come before. This book will be to beadwork what "The History of Beads" is to beads and bead collectors.

TWO NOTES:
ONE: The section on Construction and Techniques is not meant to teach you how to do a particular type of beadwork, but to give you an idea of what is involved. There are several excellent teaching books available.
TWO: On page 151, there is a set of beaded sleeves from a dress from Western Europe that are absolutely breath-taking.

i've just re-started beading after a hiatus of about ten years, so i am not familiar with recent beading books and can't compare this to any other overviews that might be out there.

however, in and of itself, this is a beautiful, well-illustrated, far-ranging work. africa is well-represented. north AND south american indian work is represented, including the work of the inuit and northwestern nations. there is a section on greenland beadwork, short, but more than i have found yet. asia, india, oceania, the middle and near east and europe have their sections. the final section is a brief but reasonably adequate, description of techniques.

the photos are breathtaking. and dangerous. i have already mentally designed at least five new projects. the only complaint i have is the lack of dating for some of what are probably 19th century postcards and photos and for what may be relatively recent photos.

i think this would be a worthwhile addition to even extensive beading collections.

This is a wonderful book. It is beautifully photographed with sumptuous examples of beadwork traditions from around the world. The text covers each tradition rather lightly, but the information the authors do provide is solid.

That said, some of the size and proportion choices for the photographs make no sense. Entire garmets will be tiny, while beaded trinkets will be magnified. The most annoying example is the Bagobo shirt on page 137. This garmet is worked in the unusual shell and bead embroidery found in the Philipines, and the technique is discussed over several paragraphs in the accompanying text. However, the picture is so miniaturized that if you were not reading a book on beadwork, you would have no idea that the design on the shirt is any kind of applied decoration, much less beads and shells. Meanwhile, a photo of an unremarkable (and undiscussed) purse covers half the page.

A huge disappointment is the complete lack of information about where any of these beautiful pieces may be. For those doing bead research or travelling (or both), it would be helpful to know which are in collections that the public can access either through web contact or museum visits.

Neither of these should deter buyers interested in beads or beadwork. This book is a keeper. If there is a second edition, however, I would hope for the addition of information about the collections from which the beadworks come.