Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Map Art Lab

Hold the presses!

Did you know that Jill Berry (along with her sister Linden McNeilly) has a new book out?

Yep, a wonderfully creative, awesome, fun yet totally usable lab art book entitled "Map Art Lab".
(say that fast three times)


The book is separated into 7 units that include a total of 52 map making labs or projects.
That's right...I said 52 projects.
One for each and every week of the year.

The units include -(some words copied directly from the unit descriptions in the book)

Map Basics- There are eight projects inside this unit that will teach you how to make cartographic components that will decorate your map.

Map Magic- You will explore creating map elements using ordinary materials. There are seven projects and one extra feature (making a pop-up and folded map)

Flat Maps-You will learn how to take elements of flat maps- line, form and color- in new directions. You will learn how to deepen your experiences as you play with color and pattern.
You'll also find eight projects and a featured mapper (not to be confused with a mapmaker that raps)(that would be a rapping mapper or a map making rapper, right?).

Mixed Media Maps- This unit includes seven projects that will hopefully open your eyes to the unusual materials that maps can be made from as well as a featured mapper (or multiple mappers in this case).

Personal Maps- Most maps ARE personal maps as they tell a story but this section is full of eight different map labs that take a stroll down memory lane or tell of a personal experience.
I am honored to have a map in this section called "The Journey Of You And Me".
It's a map of the journey of the romance of my husband and I, via the places that we lived, that lead us to the home that we live in now.
It's a smallish map (10" x 10") with lots of tiny details.
Evidently I have a problem leaving out details in a 2"x2" drawing...


 For all of you Clemson fans out there, look at Tillman Hall in the upper right-hand corner. The original drawing is about 3" x 2.5". I did leave out many details but it's still full of teeny tiny windows...

I love that the color in the book is as bright as the original is. Upon closer inspection, I saw that all of the colored maps in the book have great color clarity as well.

Cartographic Projects- This unit is all about creating projects out of pre-printed maps. There are seven projects (or labs) that include book making, jewelry, sculptures, mail art and collage. There is a quest mapper as well that uses  pre-printed maps to create the most amazing 3D sculptures.
It's a must see section!

Inspired By Artists- Imagine being surrounded by the people that you admire the most: artists, musicians, storytellers, relatives, and historians. You gather them in a village and they teach you everything that you want to learn. In this case, artists inhabit the village, and after we construct a place for them to reside, we will go about learning how each of them might fashion a map.
She has included seven different artists in this unit.


Jill and Linden have also included a page of resources as well as a page about the contributors.

I love that they used many young mappers work in the book!

This would be a fantastic tool in the classroom as well as for families.
Hell, this book would be an awesome resource for anyone interested in map making!

You MUST go now and buy this book!
There is NO OTHER book out there like it, I promise you.

Jill Berry has done it again (along with sis Linden McNeilly) .
They have created a one of a kind book in this day that we see a lot of copycat books.

I truly feel that Jill has a pure and authentic artistic voice that shines through in her work and this book proves that once again...

Friday, April 18, 2014

Modern Hand Stitching

My friend, Ruth Chandler, has a new book on the market.



"Modern Hand Stitching" is a great primer to ditching the tedious, perfectly reproduced (yet beautiful) embroidery of yesterday and allowing your creative muse to take over!

The table of contents is broken down into six different categories of stitches from the embroidery dictionary.

Straight stitches, Building Stitches, Cross Stitches, Knots, Chain Stitches and Couching & Wrapping.

Ruth has included tutorials on 38 stitches from the embroidery dictionary.There are step by step photos illustrating the traditional way to create each stitch.
Then she offers a plethora of free-form variations for each one, often showing completed pieces of artwork to showcase the stitch or combination of stitches.

While I do think that experienced hand stitchers will benefit from this book, it's the person that is wanting to approach free form stitching that will really get the most bang for the buck.
It's full of "food for thought" to get your muse up and running.

Check it out here and be sure to leave a review on Amazon after you receive it!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

New Journal!

Imagine my surprise this past week when I opened my mailbox to find a free book!

As a participant in Sue Bleiweiss' book "The Sketchbook Challenge", the Director of Publicity (Kim Small) for Potter Craft sent me a copy of "The Sketchbook Project Journal: More Than 300 Ways to Fill a Page" to enjoy.


Amazon says that "The Sketchbook Project is a guided sketchbook that offers the project's annual prompts and themes (as well as never before published prompts) posted on their website that participants of the project use for inspiration. The companion sketchbook also includes specific references to the digitized library for further sketching and doodling ideas. Meant as a precursor to the actual Sketchbook Project, this journal helps to get the creative juices flowing and references an impressive global community of artists."

Carol says that it's got a lot of blank space to doodle, draw and write in.
You can also customize the cover as the red cover you see above is actually a dust jacket just waiting to be removed so that your doodles can escape the inside pages to the outside pages.
The pages are not numbered but Amazon assures me that there are 192 pages to spill your creative guts on.
It's a great size as well- 7.4" x 9". Perfect for dropping into your sketching bag or leaving on your studio work table.

I can't wait to get started in my copy!
(I do not receive any compensation for your purchase, I'm just passing along a new & interesting product!)

Thanks again Kim!