The Laws guide to nature drawing and journaling

By Laws, John Muir

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 700

Call Number: 743.83 LAW

In straightforward text complemented by step-by-step illustrations, dozens of exercises lead the hand and mind through creating accurate reproductions of plants and animals as well as landscapes, skies, and more. Laws provides clear, practical advice for every step of the process for artists at every level, from the basics of choosing supplies to advanced techniques.

Celtic art: the methods of construction

By Bain, George

Publishing Date: 1973

Classification: 700

Call Number: 745.4 BAI

The construction principles of Celtic art were re-discovered in the middle of the 20th century by George Bain. Until his writing, the intricate knots, interlacings, and spirals used in illuminating The Book of Kells and in decorating craftwork and jewelry seemed almost impossible, "the work of angels." In this pioneering work, George Bain shows how simple principles, no more difficult than those used in needlecraft, were used to create some of the finest artistic works ever seen. He also explains how you can use these principles in re-creating artifacts and in creating your own Celtic designs for art and craft work or even for recreational use. Step-by-step procedures carefully introduce the simple rules and methods of Celtic knot work and the well-known designs from the great manuscripts and stone work. Later chapters build up to complex knot work, spiral work, and key pattern designs, with special coverage of alphabets and the stylized use of animals, humans, and plants. Altogether over 225 different patterns are presented for your use, with hundreds of modification suggestions, 110 historical and modern artifacts showing designs in use, a great number of letters including six complete alphabets and 25 decorative initials, and a number of animal and human figures used in the original Celtic works. Artists, students, craftspeople, even children can work with these patterns and instructions for creating dynamic designs for use in leather work, in embroidery and other needle work, in metalwork, jewelry making, card design, borders, panels, illuminations, and in countless other ways. Mathematicians will find a great deal of pleasure in the geometric principles on which the patterns are based. Art historians and others interested in studying Celtic art will find a great number of outstanding art works and the best presentation in English for understanding Celtic design.- (Dover Pubns)

On the fringe: a life in decorating

By Taylor, Imogen

Publishing Date: 2016

Classification: 700

Call Number: 747.092 TAY

"Imogen Taylor started work at Colefax & Fowler in 1949, and spent many years as assistant to John Fowler. She went on to become one of the most prominent interior decorators of the latter part of the twentieth century, working in Britain and the Middle East and extensively in the United States. She retired in 1999, after fifty years at Colefax & Fowler. On the Fringe is a unique chronicle of the twentieth-century decorative scene and the changing social world"--Cover.

American canvas: the art, eye, and spirit of pioneer artists

By Tyler, Ronnie C.

Publishing Date: 1990, ©1983

Classification: 700

Call Number: 759.13 TYL

Paintings, drawings, prints, and excerpts from the accounts of artists, writers, and travelers offer a description of the United States, both wilderness and town, prior to 1876 - (Baker & Taylor)

No way but this: in search of Paul Robeson

By Sparrow, Jeff

Publishing Date: 2018

Classification: 700

Call Number: 782.0092 SPA

Paul Robeson was an actor and performer, a champion athlete, a committed communist, a brilliant speaker, and a passionate activist for social justice in America, Europe, and Australia. Hailed as the most famous African American of his time, he sang with a voice that left audiences weeping, and, for a period, had the entire world at his feet´ and then lost everything for the sake of his principles. Robeson's storied life took him from North Carolina plantations to Hollywood; from the glittering stages of London to the coal-mining towns of Wales; from the violent frontiers of the Spanish Civil War to bleak prison cells in the Soviet Union; from Harlem's jazz-infused neighbourhoods to the courtroom of the McCarthy hearings. Yet privately Robeson was a troubled figure, burdened by his role as a symbol for the African American people and an international advocate for the working class. His tragedy was to battle ambition and uncertainty, ultimately clinging to his beliefs even as the world changed around him. As optimistic ideals of communism turned to repression under the Cold War, his public decline mirrored that of the world around him. Today Robeson is largely unknown, a figure lost to footnotes and grainy archival footage. But his life, which followed the currents of the twentieth century, reveals how the traumas of the past still shape the present.

Little weirds

By Slate, Jenny

Publishing Date: 2019

Classification: 700

Call Number: 791 SLA

Contains short autobiographical essays, musings, stories, observations, and advice.