Sara Midda's South of France: A Sketchbook [Hardcover]

Sara Midda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2008

A wondrous sketchbook from a year spent in the south of France—an artist's personal journal carried everywhere and crammed with drawings and notions and thoughts surprising and whimsical.

Delicate watercolors shine like jewels set into each page of this exquisite book. In tones of sea and morning sky, stucco and brick, olive leaf and apricot, rose and geranium, sara Midda captures the land, the people, the shimmering air—the whole feeling of Provence and the Côte d'azur, and the spell they cast over even those who haven't visited. Interspersed throughout are photographic collages and charming observations. The whole book is printed on uncoated stock to convey the feeling of an artist's sketchbook.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

From Sara Midda, whose first book evoked all the pleasures of an English garden, comes a wondrous sketchbook of a year's sojourn in the South of France. This is a very personal journal, crammed with images, notions and discoveries of the day-to-day. In tones of sea and morning sky, stucco and brick, olive leaf and apricot, rose and geranium, exquisite watercolors capture the landscape, the life, the shimmering air of a region beloved by all who have fallen under its spell.

Sara Midda's South of France is a place of ripening lemons and worn espadrilles, ochre walls and olive groves, and everything born of the sun. It lies between the Mediterranean and the Maritime Alps, and most of all in the artist's eye and passion.

About the Author

Sara Midda is an artist and author. Her previous books include the international best sellers In and Out of the Garden and Sara Midda's South of France. She has exhibited her work in London galleries, and her designs are used in a full line of lifestyle products in Japan. She lives outside London and in the South of France.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; First Edition edition (October 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894807633
• ISBN-13: 978-0894807633
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Arts & Photography > Painting > Watercolor

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Marvelous, Inspiring Work of Art, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sara Midda's South of France: A Sketchbook (Hardcover)

I came upon Sara Midda's slim volume of wonderment at a bookshop in Santa Cruz, California a few years ago and was transfixed by it for all of the next day. It is marvelous -- sensitive, witty, and oh, so right-on with color and technique. I don't understand the negative comments from one of the reviewers here -- this isn't a textbook, nor even a "book" in the usual sense. Rather, it's Ms Midda's exquisite remembrance of a year in the sun in one of the extraordinarily magical places on the earth, all filtered through her remarkable eyes. This book is a rare gift -- an intensely personal collection of impressions offered to all to enjoy. I feel fortunate to be allowed to own it. Do yourself a favor and buy it for yourself and a few friends! It's a gift that speaks volumes about the giver and his/her opinion of the receiver.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I pack this in my suitcase for every trip I take, March 10, 2001

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sara Midda's South of France: A Sketchbook (Hardcover)

Midda spent a year in the South of France. She takes her pen and paintbrush and records notes of all kinds in her journal; types of olives, a page of colorful espadrilles, signs, flower pots, colors of shutters. The cover itself is the record of the colors of the sky, trees, walls-- each with its unique stripe of watercolor wash. If you paint, this is an education in itself. If you keep a journal, this has beaucoup ideas.

I keep a watercolor journal and this book (it's fairly small) goes into my suitcase on every trip to remind me to see inspiration in the little, everyday things. Books go out of print, so don't miss the opportunity to get this lovely, unique book of sketches by Sara Midda.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for the traveling journal-keeper, August 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sara Midda's South of France: A Sketchbook (Hardcover)

I was given the book by a very dear friend and it has traveled with me to many a foreign country. It serves as an inspiration to my own travel sketches and journal writing, reminding me that there is true beauty in simplicity. With beautiful, little paintings of places, foods, fabrics and signs, she shows us that even every-day objects are worthy of our attention.