Customer Reviews

The New Jewelry: Contemporary Materials & Techniques (Arts and Crafts (Lark Books))

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a valuable book for any jewelry making enthusiast or professional, looking for ways to expand their skills and explore new design horizons.

To my knowledge there is not another book available that addresses so many alternative materials so clearly, with step by step projects and fantastic gallery photos by contributing artists. See what you can do with polymer, paper, glass, resin, wood and more!

I'm a bit picky regarding eye strain I abhor books with dense type and small pix... I like open clear pages high contrast and sharp images- this is my kind of book! It's oversized with well laid out text and loads of photos of projects and gorgeous gallery pieces.

There is a great section on various glass beadmaking techniques for those curious about the craft. The section on making molds for resin bangles alone is worth the purchase.

This book covers a lot, but is not an in-depth exploration of any one subject. I feel that the purpose it serves is one of inspiration with plenty of information for a jeweler to get started working with any of the materials featured. Where you go after that is up to you!

One important thing to note: the author refers to products available in Latin America or Spain. Some products may have to be searched for a bit, but with Google I think it should be easy enough to do. However, if you're a person who has to be able to get all your supplies at Michael's you may want to skip it.

This is another must have art metal/jewelry book. Covering in depth the use of contemporary material and with just enough of the techniques. That will allow you to do the project you are trying out to a fine conclusion. It is done in the visual learning style with short descriptive texts along with the clear concise pictures.I think this is another instant classic that will rightfully be around for a long time to come. I own it I have used it and plan on keeping it

Well done Carles Codina, this is a great "one stop shop" book that gives you a clear taste of many of the myriad of media available to the multi media artist. Resin, Polymer,Paper Clay, Enamelling, Glass, Wood, ceramic, PMC and many more. I had never used Egyptian Paste before and this book gave me the confidence to try it and use it in a few designs. The photos are top quality, incredibly easy instructions and photos to assist you. All in all one of the best project based books I have purchased.

I was very disappointed by this book. The jacket and description suggest that you will learn how to create contemporary pieces using household items, but that's just not the case. The pieces pictured are beautiful, but most of them are most striking for the artist-created silver and gold settings and bezels they use, and of course there's no description of how one might make or use these. Then, for the few items where "instructions" are provided, the instructions are quite brief, leave out major steps, and do not provide any list of necessary supplies, etc. Also, the part of the text devoted to these instructions is printed very small, with tiny pictures! Finally, all of the techniques discussed require extensive (and EXPENSIVE) tools and a real studio workshop. In some cases, as in the resin section, there are now more affordable, less toxic, more user-friendly options (like ICE resin, which is widely available), but these are not discussed. The polymer clay section is OK, but as with the other sections, many more useful books are on the market. This is really a book about the history of contemporary jewelry art, with some description of the process and product of jewelry artists. It is NOT a book to use to learn new techniques, new materials, and so on, which is what the description led me to believe. Perhaps the misunderstanding was my fault, but I would not have bought the book if I had seen it in person first. The photographs and pieces featured are very striking, but for me that's not enough--there are other books with lovely pictures of contemporary jewelry out there.

I saw this book ages ago and have been meaning to buy it for a while. Excellent for both inspiration and instruction, this book cover a wide range of materials and techniques. I really like that it treats every medium equally as there can be a bit of snobbery in the jewellery world over anything that isn't made of gold or silver. This book covers, resin, polymer clay, metal clay, ceramic, paper..and much more.
It's probably not for beginners, but for more experienced crafts people, it's a real wealth of information and inspiration.

A range of modern alternative materials are used for producing the works in The New Jewelry: Contemporary Materials & Techniques, differentiating it from other jewelry-making books which focus on old standards. Here are jewelry creations made from rice paper, paper clay, wood, polymer clay and plastics. Here too are tips on using alternative materials to produce professional-quality results. Step-by-step color photos accompany finished product photos to review every step of the process.

This book will be in use for a long long while....excellent in giving a novice visual understanding of many fabricating processes. Inspiriational in the way of ideas too - has you thinking of your own applications before you close the book. It is worth every penny.
P. Sandidge

I love this book, as much as the other books from Carles Codina.
A great book to open your imagination and start working with different materials. Specially now that precious metals are so expensive.
I wish it has more info, but you need to take classes with him. I already did took a Keum Boo Class and he's amazing.
I definitely recommend this and all books from Carles Codina.

If you are just beginning to work with plastics as an alternative media this book is certainly worth the money. There are easy to intermediate level projects and a great gallery of plastic jewelry.