Dorodango
Dorodango

Author: Bruce Gardner

Publisher: Laurence King Publishing

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9781786274984

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"The coolest thing you didn't know you needed to see." – Buzzfeed "Artist Bruce Gardner is a master of [this] curious Japanese artform." – This is Colossal As featured on BoingBoing, National Geographic, and more! Explore the craft and technique of dorodango in master crafter Bruce Gardner's new book, Dorodango: The Japanese Art of Making Mud Balls. The Japanese hikaru dorodango, or shiny mud ball, is created by rolling earth by hand into a perfect sphere and polishing it until it gleams. Not only are the results truly impressive, but this calm and meditative practice, a traditional Japanese playground activity for children, has been rediscovered as a peaceful pastime for people of all ages. Known for inducing flow, the ultimate state of happiness, this simple art is perfect for those who enjoy practicing mindfulness, spending time in nature, and working with their hands. It's also a lovely way to preserve soil that is special to you, whether it reminds you of home or a place you've traveled. As your collection of dorodango grows, you'll find that earth from different locations each have their own unique properties and finishes. With beautiful photography and straight forward instructions, this handy guide will teach you everything you need to know to make your own mud balls at home with easily sourced materials. In addition to dirt and a copy of the book, you will need the following materials to make your own dorodango: • Shovel • Bucket • Sandbags for storing soil • Screens (a regular window screen will work) • Paint Straining Nets • Mixing Tub • Flat knife • Containers (shoe boxes, etc.) • Plastic bags • Clips or clothespins • Dust Masks • Mason Jar lid • A smooth piece of wood • Scale • Mortar and Pestle A wonderful gift book for fans of pottery and ceramic arts.

Dorodango
Dorodango

Author: Bruce Gardner

Publisher: Laurence King Publishing

Published: 2019-09-23

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1786276763

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"When the finished dorodango is viewed in collection, I am awed by the diversity of the soil in my home state of New Mexico. Each dorodango is a snapshot of location, time, and technique" - Bruce Gardner Explore the craft and technique of dorodango in master crafter Bruce Gardner's new book, Dorodango: The Japanese Art of Making Mud Balls. The Japanese hikaru dorodango, or shiny mud ball, is created by rolling earth by hand into a perfect sphere and polishing it until it gleams. Not only are the results truly impressive, but this calm and meditative practice, a traditional Japanese playground activity for children, has been rediscovered as a peaceful pastime for people of all ages. Alongside beautiful photographs of the process, Bruce Gardner covers every aspect of making and finishing your dorodango, accompanied by inspiring words on the mindful qualities of this earthy activity. Why not use some earth from a place which is special to you? Creating dorodango from your native soil will connect you with it in a new, fully immersive way. Or you can create dorodango to remind you of your travels? Build your collection of dorodango and you'll find that earth from different locations each have their own unique properties and finishes. Known for inducing flow, the ultimate state of happiness, this simple art is perfect for those who enjoy practising mindfulness, spending time in nature and working with their hands. Are you ready to get your hands dirty?

Enter a Glossy Web
Enter a Glossy Web

Author: McKenna Ruebush

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)

Published: 2016-09-27

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1627796576

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Twelve-year-old George has no idea what to expect when she’s sent to stay with eccentric relatives following the disappearance of her brother. Soon after her arrival, she learns that Uncle Constantine has been kidnapped. George sets off to recover him and is joined by two orphaned boys along the way and Cavendish, a talking map. Together they visit magical worlds full of monsters, witches, and dragons as they attempt to find Constantine--the Timekeeper--a man of great significance. If he’s not rescued, events will cease to happen at their designated times, disrupting the unfolding of the universe. Can this ragtag crew save the future before being outwitted by evil captors? A Christy Ottaviano Book

Distrust That Particular Flavor
Distrust That Particular Flavor

Author: William Gibson

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2012-09-04

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 042525299X

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A collection of New York Times bestselling author William Gibson’s articles and essays about contemporary culture—a privileged view into the mind of a writer whose thinking has shaped not only a generation of writers but our entire culture... Though best known for his fiction, William Gibson is as much in demand for his cutting-edge observations on the world we live in now. Originally printed in publications as varied as Wired, the New York Times, and the Observer, these articles and essays cover thirty years of thoughtful, observant life, and are reported in the wry, humane voice that lovers of Gibson have come to crave. “Gibson pulls off a dazzling trick. Instead of predicting the future, he finds the future all around him, mashed up with the past, and reveals our own domain to us.”—The New York Times Book Review

Life Is a Verb
Life Is a Verb

Author: Patti Digh

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2008-08-26

Total Pages: 451

ISBN-13: 0762785101

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In October 2003, Patti Digh's stepfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died 37 days later. The timeframe made an impression on her. What emerged was a commitment to ask herself every morning: What would I be doing today if I had only 37 days left to live? The answers changed her life and led to this new kind of book. Part meditation, part how-to guide, part memoir, Life is a Verb is all heart. Within these pages—enhanced by original artwork and wide, inviting margins ready to be written in—Digh identifies six core practices to jump-start a meaningful life: Say Yes, Trust Yourself, Slow Down, Be Generous, Speak Up, and Love More. Within this framework she supplies 37 edgy, funny, and literary life stories, each followed by a “do it now” 10-minute exercise as well as a practice to try for 37 days—and perhaps the rest of your life.

The Japanese Pottery Handbook
The Japanese Pottery Handbook

Author: Penny Simpson

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2014-11-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 1568365527

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The Japanese Pottery Handbook, first published by Kodansha in 1979, has become a classic, beloved by anyone interested in pottery for its practical, step-by-step approach, and homespun charm. Now, thirty-five years since its publication, authors Penny Simpson and Lucy Kitto have refreshed their work, expanding and adding to the material, re-designing the pages, and re-drawing many of the delightful illustrations. The book has a cleaner, more modern look, yet retains the simple, friendly, and distinctively Japanese sensibility of the original. In addition to the new layout and drawings, the authors have tweaked the text and expanded several sections (including the discussion of underglazing and overglazing, and the Tea Ceremony and its utensils). There’s also a new page showing different types of brushes; and the Information chapter has been updated to include websites and recent books. The book is a manual to the way pots are made in Japan, their forms, and their decorations.The authors give a thorough account of both traditional and modern techniques and also describe in detail tools, materials, glazes, and the setup of workshops and kilns. Lucy Kiitto’s sprightly drawings infuse each page with life and clarity. Pottery terms and expressions are listed with their Japanese equivalents, and the new edition keeps the bi-lingual text, making it easier for the exchange of ideas between foreign students studying in Japan and Japanese potters.

Optic Nerve
Optic Nerve

Author: Maria Gainza

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2019-04-09

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1948226170

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"In this delightful autofiction―the first book by Gainza, an Argentine art critic, to appear in English―a woman delivers pithy assessments of world–class painters along with glimpses of her life, braiding the two into an illuminating whole." ―The New York Times Book Review, Notable Book of the Year and Editors' Choice The narrator of Optic Nerve is an Argentinian woman whose obsession is art. The story of her life is the story of the paintings, and painters, who matter to her. Her intimate, digressive voice guides us through a gallery of moments that have touched her. In these pages, El Greco visits the Sistine Chapel and is appalled by Michelangelo’s bodies. The mystery of Rothko’s refusal to finish murals for the Seagram Building in New York is blended with the story of a hospital in which a prostitute walks the halls while the narrator’s husband receives chemotherapy. Alfred de Dreux visits Géricault’s workshop; Gustave Courbet’s devilish seascapes incite viewers “to have sex, or to eat an apple”; Picasso organizes a cruel banquet in Rousseau’s honor . . . All of these fascinating episodes in art history interact with the narrator’s life in Buenos Aires―her family and work; her loves and losses; her infatuations and disappointments. The effect is of a character refracted by environment, composed by the canvases she studies. Seductive and capricious, Optic Nerve marks the English–language debut of a major Argentinian writer. It is a book that captures, like no other, the mysterious connections between a work of art and the person who perceives it.

Inside Japanese Ceramics
Inside Japanese Ceramics

Author: Richard L. Wilson

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 1999-10-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0834804425

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This practical and supremely useful manual is the first comprehensive, hands-on introduction to Japanese ceramics. The Japanese ceramics tradition is without compare in its technical and stylistic diversity, its expressive content, and the level of appreciation it enjoys, both in Japan and around the world. Inside Japanese Ceramics focuses on tools, materials, and procedures, and how all of these have influenced the way traditional Japanese ceramics look and feel. A true primer, it concentrates on the basics: setting up a workshop, pot-forming techniques, decoration, glazes, and kilns and firing. It introduces the major methods and styles that are taught in most Japanese workshops, including several representative and well-known wares: Bizen, Mino, Karatsu, Hagi, and Kyoto. While presenting the time-tested techniques of the tradition, author Richard L. Wilson also accommodates modern technologies and materials as appropriate. Wilson has gathered a wealth of information on two fronts—as a researcher of Japanese pottery and art history, and as a potter who has studied and worked for years with master Japanese potters. In his introduction, he provides a short history of Japanese ceramics, and in closing he looks beyond traditional methods toward ways in which Western potters can make Japanese methods their own. Richly illustrated with 24 color plates, over 100 black-and-white photographs, and over 70 instructive line-drawings, Inside Japanese Ceramics is indispensable for potters as well as connoisseurs and collectors of Japanese ceramics. Above all, it is an invitation to participate—to study, make, touch, and use the exquisite products of the Japanese ceramic tradition.

Designing Memory
Designing Memory

Author: Sabina Tanović

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-11-28

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1108486525

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This innovative study of memorial architecture investigates how design can translate memories of human loss into tangible structures, creating spaces for remembering. Using approaches from history, psychology, anthropology and sociology, Sabina Tanović explores purposes behind creating contemporary memorials in a given location, their translation into architectural concepts, their materialisation in the face of social and political challenges, and their influence on the transmission of memory. Covering the period from the First World War to the present, she looks at memorials such as the Holocaust museums in Mechelen and Drancy, as well as memorials for the victims of terrorist attacks, to unravel the private and public role of memorial architecture and the possibilities of architecture as a form of agency in remembering and dealing with a difficult past. The result is a distinctive contribution to the literature on history and memory, and on architecture as a link to the past.

Mastering Hand Building
Mastering Hand Building

Author: Sunshine Cobb

Publisher: Voyageur Press (MN)

Published: 2018-01-16

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 0760352739

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Mastering Hand Building teaches everything you need to know about building with clay by hand, from the basics of coils and slabs through more complex form design.