Best Ceramic Arts

The Ephrussis were a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who "burned like a comet" in nineteenth-century Paris and Vienna society. Yet by the end of World War II, almost the only thing remaining of their vast empire was a collection of 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox. Ephrussi and his cosmopolitan family were imprisoned or scattered, and Hitler's theorist on the "Jewish question" appropriated their magnificent palace on the Ringstrasse. Amazon Best of the Month, September 2010 : At the heart of Edmund de Waal's strange and graceful family memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes , is a one-of-a-kind inherited collection of ornamental Japanese carvings known as netsuke. He's also drawn to the story behind them, and for years he put aside his own work as a world-renowned potter and curator to uncover the rich and tragic family history of which the carvings are one of the few concrete legacies. Beginning with his art connoisseur ancestor Charles (a model for Proust's Swann), who acquired the netsuke during the European rage for Japonisme, de Waal traces the collection from Japan to Europe--where they were saved from the brutal bureaucracy of the Nazi Anschluss in the pockets of a family servant--and back to Japan and Europe again.

There is enough material here, from the most basic to fairly technical and advanced, to get any potter started in this most exacting of glazing and firing techniques.

In The White Road , bestselling author and artist Edmund de Waal gives us an intimate narrative history of his lifelong obsession with porcelain, or "white gold." "The history of porcelain, as told in The White Road , is a constantly surprising, sometimes absolutely staggering, coming together of art, craft and commerce, politics and religion, national identity, larger-than-life characters and wild, sometimes ruinous obsession . Polyglot, steeped in art and literature and history, able to throw a pot and turn a sentence with equal skill, endlessly curious and stupendously diligent, aesthetic to his fingertips but also deeply moral, Mr. de Waal brings a lot to the table, and with The White Road he goes all in." He allows himself to get lost for weeks, to travel someplace only to return empty-handed―which makes for a true adventure and a pleasure to read.” ―Thessaly La Force, The New Yorker. Also, the historical material is interleaved with stories from de Waal’s own life as a ceramicist, which adds an extra and very welcome dimension to the tale.” ―Christina Thompson, The Boston Globe. “At once meditation, memoir, and travelogue as well as history, The White Road is one of those unclassifiable books that simply astounds with the author’s infectious love of his subject . Despite covering so many places, so many historical periods, and so many themes, de Waal’s beautiful narrative voice and his love for his subject manage to shape this book into an almost seamlessly formed whole. Which leaves me with my one resentment regarding The White Road : It’s damned unfair that such a distinguished artist should also be such a great writer.” ―Kevin O’Kelly, The Christian Science Monitor. [He] brings a historian’s ardor for detail and a poet’s gifts for close observation and radiant distillation to this exquisite chronicle of his extensive porcelain investigations . De Waal’s passionately and elegantly elucidated story of porcelain, laced with memoir and travelogue, serves as a portal into the madness and transcendence of our covetous obsession with beauty.” ―Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review). In short passages of allusive, radiant prose, [de Waal] chronicles his journeys in search of both the materials and the history of porcelain, discovering along the way men as obsessed as he . He enlivens his account with portraits of the people whose quirky personalities and entrepreneurial zeal advanced the manufacture of porcelain across Europe . A truly remarkable story.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An immensely enjoyable meditation on what happens when the right mix of stone and clay enter the incandescent heat of a kiln . Journeying to Jingdezhen, Dresden, South Carolina, and southwest England, de Waal tells the story of determined experimenters who reproduced the magic the Chinese had mastered .

Discover the magic of mica powders and the regal look they can give to mosaics Learn quick and easy ways of adding paint to handcrafted and commercial tile See how easy it is to create molds and cast your own relief tiles Find ways to add personal meaning to your work with the addition of text tiles Experiment with the addition of beads, jewelry and other embellishments by embedding them right into the tile! Mika has also appeared on HGTV's Crafters Coast to Coast and the DIY network's Craft Lab , and has taught workshops at Artfest in Port Townsend, Washington, Art Unraveled in Phoenix, Arizona, and Art and Soul in Dallas.

At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. (Coincidentally or not, this book appears only briefly after Ilaria Dagnini Brey's The Venus Fixers: The Untold Story of the Allied Soldiers Who Saved Italy's Art During World War II , Reviews, June 1.). Our task, I believe, was truly important - we were restoring to Europe evidence of its own civilization, which the War seemed virtually to have destroyed - and I was lucky to have had a chance to participate. -- Anne Olivier Bell "Highly Readable ... a remarkable history" * Washington Post * "Engaging and inspiring" * Publishers Weekly *.

This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing. #1 New York Times Best SellerAmazon's Best Book of 2014 in Crafts, Home & Garden. "Ms. Kondo delivers her tidy manifesto like a kind of Zen nanny, both hortatory and animistic." a literal how-to-heave-ho, and I recommend it for anyone who struggles with the material excess of living in a privileged society. A totally reasonable, scary cult that works, doesn’t kill people (a bonus), but does drastically change your life. the Japanese expert’s ode to decluttering is simple and easy to follow." "Reading it, you glimpse a glittering mental freedom from the unread/uncrafted/unworn, buyer’s remorse, the nervous eyeing of real estate listings. "All hail the new decluttering queen Marie Kondo, whose mess-busting bestseller has prompted a craze for tidying in homes across the world . "How could this pocket-sized book, which has already sold over 2 million copies and sits firmly atop the New York Times Best Seller list, make such a big promise? Marie “KonMari” Kondo runs an acclaimed consulting business in Tokyo helping clients transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration. With a three-month waiting list, her KonMari Method of decluttering and organizing has become an international phenomenon. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a best seller in Japan, Germany, and the UK, with more than two million copies sold worldwide, and has been turned into a television drama for Japanese TV. She has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time , featured on more than thirty major Japanese television and radio programs, and profiled in the Sunday Times , Red magazine, You magazine, the New York Times , USA Today , NPR's Here & Now , Slate , Family Circle , and the London Times, who has deemed her “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.”.

"In his book, Destination Earth, Nicos Hadjicostis shares the ultimate 'budget travel tip': how to make your travels transformational." More a guide to travel than a travel guide, Destination Earth transforms how you view travel and its relation to Life. Why long term and world travel is the ultimate university How to create a wise-line of travel through any region How to go about capturing the Soul of a country How to deal with the unpleasant realities of the world while on the road Balance the relationship between travel planning and spontaneity How a Travel Journey is related to our Life's Journey Practical advice on how to plan the exploration of regions and countries 23 inspiring travel stories from the author's journey that augment the main text 60 color photos from various places around the world. Ideas, experiences, travel stories and photographs are interwoven into a newly created Philosophy of Travel that is practical and easy to read. "In his book, Destination Earth, Nicos Hadjicostis shares the ultimate 'budget travel tip': how to make your travels transformational." Nicos not only writes in an engaging style that allows readers to share his experiences, but his philosophical reflections provide unique insights into the process and value of education through travel."

Save your marriage right now and get back to where you started when you first said "I Do" When you download Marriage: Save Your Marriage- The Secret to Intimacy and Communication Skills , your marriage and family life will improve every day! These essential steps transform the tumultuous times we all face in marriage into the building blocks to make a relationship stronger, not weaker.

Each exercise includes new tangles to draw in sketchbooks or on tiepolo (an Italian-made paper), teaches daily tile design, and offers tips on related art principles, and contains an inspirational "ZIA" (Zentangle Inspired Art) project on a tile that incorporates patterns, art principals, and new techniques. Beckah Krahula is an artist, writer, consultant, product designer, and industry expert. She began her career with the first graphic rubber stamp company in the U.S., and has worked as a full-time mixed media artist ever since. With the pen, initial the front, and sign, date, and comment on the back.