blueBanksia

500 Animals in Clay

Contemporary Expressions of the Animal Form

No other volume has ever presented such a diverse and captivating collection of contemporary animal-themed ceramics. This magnificent gallery includes pieces from an international group of artists; the beautifully crafted works range from the representational to the abstract, from artful realism to provocative surrealism (including animal-human hybrids). Ann Marais' image of a waterfowl painted onto a porcelain dish has a restrained, Asian quality. Sharkus' painted and smoke-fired stoneware turtle could easily be mistaken for the living creature.

500 Figures in Clay

Ceramic Artists Celebrate the Humane Form

Presents some of the best figurative studies created by more than 250 contemporary ceramists from around the world, spanning a multitude of artistic styles, from realistic to abstract, representational to surreal, and starkly minimalist to flamboyantly narrative.

Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques
by Vicky Perry

Up until now, a veil of mystery surrounded the techniques used to create great abstract paintings. Abstract Painting Techniques and Strategies lifts that veil to reveal the exact methods behind the masterworks.

Now students and professional artists can stop guessing and start building on the techniques of the great abstract artists to create their own innovative new work. Two clear, comprehensible sections let artists focus quickly on their specific areas of interest.

Art Escapes
Daily Exercises and Inspirations for Discovering Greater Creativity and Artistic Confidence
by Dory Kanter

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, "Art Escapes" provides the ideas and the encouragement you need to discover greater creativity and artistic confidence, even when you're short of time. Professional artist and teacher Dory Kanter shows you how. This title lets you experience more fun and greater confidence in your drawing and painting; express yourself and experiment every day with an art journal; reinterpret daily life with simple, beautiful sketches; find painting inspiration in unexpected places; paint freely, intuitively and passionately with a simple four-step approach; and, create new forms of art, including water color mosiacs, paper weavings and found object collages. You'll also find drawing, watercolour, mixed media and assemblage projects, plus several 'page-a-day' ideas. With "Art Escapes" you'll learn how to build an art 'habit', one that brings joy with every stroke of your brush.

Arthur Boyd: A Life
by Darleen Bungey

Arthur Boyd's legacy is a collection of masterpieces that define the history of Australian art in the last century. But the man himself - enigmatic, inarticulate, modest - has remained in the shadows until now. Based on over six years of meticulous research and hundreds of interviews, Darleen Bungey sweeps us into the intimate circle of one of Australia's most fascinating families. Arthur Boyd emerges as a passionate, dramatic figure whose self-effacing demeanour cloacked a strong personality that refused to allow his turbulent and sometimes tragic personal life to interfere with his creative genius.

Artists Observed: Blue Mountains Artists Close Up
by Carole Hampshire

This title features: stunning full-colour photographs of both the artists and their work. It includes insightful interviews with a diverse range of artists, from sculptors, painters and potters to performance and 'outsider' artists.

Eco Colour: Environmentally Sustainable Dyes
by India Flint

Eco Colour fills a gap in the literature and uses an exciting range of projects to demonstrate a variety of techniques, some of them entirely new processes developed by the author. Projects range from solar dyeing to dyeing with 'ice-flowers'. The result is a range of pure natural colours produced with the least possible harm.

Expressive Drawing: A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within
by Steven Aimone

The many people who long to draw — but feel too intimidated to try — will rejoice at the wonderful first entry in this brand-new creative series. Written by arts educator Steven Aimone, it’s packed with solid, friendly, hands-on instruction, as well as inspiring images. Aimone teaches an accessible style called expressive drawing that emphasizes line and mark, rather than rendering a specific object, which for many people, can create barriers to self-expression. Exercises start off simple and quick, encouraging readers to work on instinct and feeling, while the later ones focus on detail and refinement. 

Fairweather
by Murray Bail

Scottish-born artist Ian Fairweather (1891-1974) is a giant amongst Australian painters. He is revered by fellow artists. With 233 reproductions, most in colour, many of paintings and drawings never seen in public, "Fairweather" is the definitive account of the life and art of this great painter.

Hans Heyson: Into the Light
by Jane Hylton and John Neylon

Considered one of Australia's greatest landscape painters, Hans Heysen reached critical acclaim--as well as knighthood--during his lifetime for his art, particularly his expressive watercolor paintings. This collection discusses the progress of his career as seen through his watercolors as well as the technique he employed in the paintings. A brief biography is also included.

How could a pleasant view speed healing? The author pursues this question through a series of places and situations that explore the neurobiology of the senses. The book shows how a Disney theme park or a Frank Gehry concert hall, a labyrinth or a garden can trigger or reduce stress, induce anxiety or instill peace.

A best-seller for 35 years! This is a timeless classic that has taught generations of artists - and will teach generations more. "How to Draw What You See" shows artists how to recognize the basic shape of an object - cube, cylinder, cone, or sphere - and use that shape to draw the object, no matter how much detail it contains.

I am a Professional Artist - the Key to Survival and Success in the World of the Arts
by Gilli Moon

I am a Professional Artist offers Artists who have chosen the Professional path, practical tools in succeeding and surviving, staying creatively motivated and enjoying your artistry at the same time.

Consider it an Artistic soul’s survival guide  in business!  It will certainly change the thinking of any professional Artist who may doubt themselves or their Art, who  may feel pressured by the industry, or may feel the hardship of the roller coaster ride. 

Keys to Drawing
by Bert Dodson

Bert Dodson's successful method of "teaching anyone who can hold a pencil" how to draw has made this tome one of the most popular, best-selling art books in history -- an essential reference for every artist's library! Dodson offers a complete system for developing drawing skills, basing his approach on 55 "keys" to drawing -- rules that don't need to be memorized, but realized. Dodson helps artists learn to trust their eyes and sharpen their observation skills through 48 practice exercises, reviews, and self-evaluations. Topics include learning to control proportion, scale, movement, depth, pattern and more!

Learning to See Creatively
by Bryan Peterson

Almost everyone can "see" in the conventional sense, but developing photographic vision takes practice. This work helps photographers visualize their work, and the world, in a whole new light. This revised and rewritten guide takes a radical approach to creativity. It explains how it is not some gift only for a few, but actually a skill that can be learned and applied. Using inventive photographs from his own portfolio, the author deconstructs creativity for photographers. He details the basic techniques that went into not only taking a particular photo, but also provides insights on how to improve upon it, so helping readers avoid the visual pitfalls that can lead to dull photographs. This edition features informaton on digital photography and digital imaging software, as well as a section on colour as a design element.

Naked Clay
Ceramics without a Glaze
by Jane Perryman

This book deals with ceramic work that does not have a glaze, but instead is finished by other methods such as Burnishing, terra sigillata, engobes, oxide washes, laminating, smoke firing and other methods. The book will look briefly at the historical uses of alternative methods of decorating/finishing work, but essentially will give a chapter to each method, looking at techniques and more importantly the work of specific artists in each field. It will be well-illustrated and a much needed manual on this subject.

Papunya: A Place Made After the Story - The Beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement
A Place Made After the Story - The Beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement
by Geoffrey Bardon, James Bardon

In 1971 a young Sydney art teacher, Geoffrey Bardon, was posted to the government settlement at Papunya in Central Australia. There he found more than a thousand Aboriginal people living in a state of dislocation and degradation. Bardon was not the first European to show interest in the traditional sand mosaics of these dispossessed people, nor the first to recognise them as evidence of a powerful, ancient culture, but his empathy with the artists and his patient encouragement won the confidence of the tribal elders. He taught them to use paints, and thus encouraged a great surge of creativity. The Papunya Painting Movement is now one of the wonders of the modern art world. By the time Bardon left in mid-1972, the 'painting men' had formed their own company, Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, with prodigious output, strong sales and great optimism. The artistic force that had been unleashed continues to this day. The painting movement set in motion at that time has now spread to other areas of Central Australia and has achieved high international acclaim. It has not only gone some way to restoring the cultural pride of a deeply religious people, but has also provided the rest of the world with a new way of seeing. Papunya-A Place Made After the Story presents, for the first time, a complete record of the artists and the works emanating from the Papunya Outpost. It is a first-hand account of the origins of the contemporary art movement in desert Australia, setting out Bardon's analysis and synthesis of all the archival records held by him of the beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement from 1971 to 1978, and provides a reconstruction of the day-to-day and spiritual life of the Western Desert peoples. Illustrated with over 600 paintings, 60 photographic portraits, and hundreds of explanatory diagrams and maps, it is an essential work of incomparable importance.

Studio: Australian Painters on the Nature of Creativity
by John McDonald

This book photographed showcases 61 of Australia’s most respected and important painters working in their studio environment. The selection of artists was made with the aim of representing a broad cross-section of men and women working in a variety of styles, from abstraction to the most exacting realism, as well as a representative group of Aboriginal painters.

The Artist's Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self
by Julia Cameron

This work provides a 12-week course that guides the reader through the process of recovering their creative self. It aims to dispel the "I'm not talented enough" conditioning that tends to hamper the creativity of many people.

The Art of Abstract Painting
by Rolina van Vliet

This detailed guide to abstract painting teaches you how to compose dramatic, beautiful, thought provoking and evocative abstract paintings. It provides information about the background, aims and procedures of the abstract method, focusing on creativity and self-expression, the goal being the development of the reader's own talents. There are no step-by-step instructions; instead the reader will learn where to find inspiration, how to develop ideas, how to create spontaneous, lively effects and how to apply a range of techniques on different surfaces, whether it be transparent watercolour or thickly applied acrylics.

Victor Greenway: Ceramics 1965-2005
by Timothy Jacobs

The Beagle Press released this great monograph, Victor Greenaway: Ceramics 1965 - 2005 and said, "Victor Greenaway is one of Australia's most respected figures in the ceramic art world and this book encompasses the past 40 years of the artists' work, revealing the strengths, diversity and refinement that he seeks." It comprises 140 pages including 110 colour plates, biographical notes and bibliography.

Warm Glass
by Philippa Beveridge, Ignasi Dom Enech, Eva Pascual

A Complete Guide to Kiln-forming Techniques - Fusing, Slumping, Casting

An authoritative, extensively illustrated guide to making glass objects in a kiln. Provides detailed information on the history and traditional techniques of using a kiln in glasswork, along with instructions and examples designed to help you understand all the steps each technique requires.

Watercolorist's Essential Notebook, Landscapes
by Gordon Mackenzie

A Treasury of Landscape Painting Tricks and Techniques Discovered Through Years of Painting and Experimentation

This inspiring guide provides artists with the knowledge they need to paint watercolor landscapes. It features easy-to-follow exercises illustrated in an accessible format that invites readers to jump in and begin painting right away. Artists of all skill levels will learn from: 30 step-by-step demonstrations; chapters focusing on basic landscape elements, such as land, water and sky; and special mini demos for capturing important details, including trees, mountains, waves, clouds, sunsets and more. Most importantly, this guide's instruction teaches artists the foundations of strong composition and encourages them to pursue their own individual style to create landscapes that are compelling and unique.

Women of Flowers: Botanical Art in Australia from the 1830s to the 1960s
by Leonie Norton

Showcases artists whose meticulous and beautiful works contribute just as significantly to botany as they do to early Australian art. Leonie Norton examines the role of these women artists in Australia’s botanical history, giving insight into the lives and persons of these quietly creative documenters. From the famous waratah to the rare Caladenia pulcherrima (Eastern Mantis Orchid), Women of Flowers is a feast for the eyes, bringing to life the vibrancy and intricacy of Australia’s native flora.