Rating: 
Summary: Beauty and Craftsmanship
Review: Although it's an ideal resource for the mosaic-minded, you don't have to have a great interest in mosaics to enjoy this book. All you need is an enjoyment and appreciation of beauty and craftsmanship. A terrific book to keep on display or give as a gift.
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Summary: A gallery of exceptional mosaics
Review: Are you tired of the usual instructional, how-to book on simplistic, hobby-style mosaic art? Are you looking for a book on quality mosaic art that will captivate and inspire you? Well, this book is like visiting an art gallery totally devoted to exceptional mosaic art. It is especially good for the experienced mosaic artist as it is filled with inspirational and diverse mosaic masterpieces. If you have ever wanted a book on mosaics that passes on the instruction, but thoroughly inspires you with unbounded creativity, this is the book for you!
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Summary: The in-mosaics
Review: Authors Joann Locktov and Leslie Plummer Clagett praise the multi-talented mosaic-maker. Mosaic-makers color like painters, shape tesserae like sculptors, and weave like fiber artists. They go way back, to ancient Chinese pebbled streets.About 2,500 years ago, mosaic-making reached Europe and the Mediterranean area. There, mosaic-makers cut rocks into small, regular pieces, known as tesserae. Mosaics then worked in wall and ceiling murals. In the 20th century, artists pioneered using ceramics, glass and rock in mixed-media mosaics. Glass had been used for about 2,200 years. It was easier to cut down than stone, into much smaller pieces. Many different colors of many small pieces gave spectacular lighting. For 1,400-1,500 years, Ravenna, Italy has been the place for traditional mosaics, for churches. Nowadays, alternative designs and uses crop up. For example, Ellen Blakeley makes household items, mirrors, picture frames and tabletops, from the shattered safety glass of vandalized bus shelters and store windows. Such thick pieces often break inside. This gives stunning lighting and looks. Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, with murals, and Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi, with buildings, set the standards for today's ceramic mosaic-makers. Gary Stephens joins them, with his sculptures made from colorful pottery and tile pieces. He grew up in an Arizona border town. He then went on to travel. So he brings together the simple directness of Mexican folk artists, with the brassy busyness of Thai mosaic-makers. Thailand, with its temples, is also one of the countries where stone mosaic-makers are rightly proud of their works nowadays. Another is Portugal, with its pathways. Both influence Linda Beaumont's mosaic columns, floors, fountains and pavements. One mixed-media mosaic-maker is Raymond Isidore. It took him almost 25 years to cover the outside of his house with thrown-out crockery and dishware pieces. His mosaic-making style is called pique assiette, or stolen from plates. So THE ART OF MOSAIC DESIGN packs beautiful illustrations and clear wording into just the right space. Along the way, I picked up another favorite art style in Ilana Shafir's stained glass and mosaic. She mixes traditional and unexpected materials, such as seashells and natural stones. Her works beautifully catch light and move viewers skywards, as in her window for the Netzach Israel synagogue in Ashkelon.
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Summary: Made me want to quit work and be a mosaicist!!!
Review: Breathtakingly inspirational ... it really is an artform and here it is taken very seriously. The book covers a wide range of comtemporary styles which are all unique and fascinating in their own way. A must for any budding mosaicist.
Rating:
Summary: A striking collection of inspiration.
Review: Fantastic! Inspirational! I've been waiting for a book like this for a long time. Anyone interested in this medium and for those who think they couldn't do it - check out this masterpiece. Anything goes! Congratulations to the artists and the authors.
Rating:
Summary: this is not a how to book
Review: Finally, a contemporary book of just beautiful mosaics from around the country and some from around the world. This is an art book and an inspiration to the artist and appreciater alike. Great for the price.
Rating:
Summary: this is not a how to book
Review: Finally, a contemporary book of just beautiful mosaics from around the country and some from around the world. This is an art book and an inspiration to the artist and appreciater alike. Great for the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Designers very repeditive. Only a few stand out as unique.
Review: My complaint is the lack of different design approaches, most seem pretty casual, hit or miss, and many are miniature pieces, or partial views of larger work, without an over-all view, or total environmental view, except for the Boston ones. A few are very exciting.
Rating:
Summary: Designers very repeditive. Only a few stand out as unique.
Review: My complaint is the lack of different design approaches, most seem pretty casual, hit or miss, and many are miniature pieces, or partial views of larger work, without an over-all view, or total environmental view, except for the Boston ones. A few are very exciting.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL, COFFETABLE BOOK!
Review: NOT ONLY IS THIS BOOK A EXCELLENT VIEW OF MANY UNIQUE ARTISTS BUT IT'S FORMAT IS BEAUTIFULlY LAYED OUT. A GREAT BOOK FOR AN UNBELIEVABLE PRICE!
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