View from a Sketchbook: Nature Through the Eyes of Marjolein Bastin [Hardcover]

Marjolein Bastin (Author), Tovah Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

View from a Sketchbook provides an intimate portrait of nature artist (and top-selling Hallmark artist/designer) Marjolein Bastin as she works through the seasons of the year to create her art. Together with nature writer Tovah Martin, Bastin demonstrates her unique ability to partake fully of the world around her. In her lovely watercolors, Bastin captures the natural world's fleeting beauty; through her example, the reader will understand how to find those treasures for him- or herself. This is a charming book for Bastin's many fans, or for anyone who loves the natural world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this open sketchbook, Dutch artist and naturalist Bastin invites readers on a nature walk through the wet, dark woods of her native Holland; the hardy, waving grasses of the Missouri prairie she purchased and restored; and the shell-strewn shores of Grand Cayman island where she often retreats. Best known in the U.S. for her line of Hallmark greeting cards of "uncannily lifelike birds, and animals, and flowers, suffused with color," she reveals her passion for preserving nature’s splendor through conversations with garden writer Martin, personal interjections highlighted in sidebars and a rich collection of agreeable watercolors. The brief, illustrated chapters—featuring her herb garden, her bird feeders, her goose pond, etc.—are grouped according to the four seasons and offer a delightful annual tour of the natural world. 100 watercolor illustrations
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Marjolein Bastin has been one of Hallmark's top three artists for the past ten years, and has garnered an enormous following, not only through her greeting cards, but also with everything from notebooks and journals to birdhouses, wallpaper, and furnishings. Marjolein continues to expand on her popularity in Europe, where she writes a monthly column for the Dutch women's magazine, Libelle, and where her children's books, calendars, and journals have sold well into the six figures. Tovah Martin was the Garden Editor for Victoria magazine, and is a regular columnist for The New York Times. She was the recipient of the Quill and Trowel award for Best Garden Writer of the Year for her work on Tasha Tudor's Garden (also named Best Garden Book of the Year).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584793538
• ISBN-13: 978-1584793533
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A year on the prairie with Marjolein Bastin, June 16, 2004

By 

Celia Redmore "Celia Redmore" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: View from a Sketchbook: Nature Through the Eyes of Marjolein Bastin (Hardcover)

"View from a Sketchbook" is a lovely album of watercolors by Marjolein Bastin, the illustrator of the children's books starring Vera the Mouse, and Tovah Martin, who kept a journal of Marjolein's nature walks during a full year from spring through winter. They spent the year at the Bastin's home in a carefully tended patch of Missouri prairie, visiting the Bastin's old home in Ede in central Holland, and on vacation on Grand Cayman.

There are three dozen full-page illustrations and numerous little sketches, sometimes just a single bumblebee or eggshell. You can see the love and care that goes into every little detail. Even the list of contents is terminated with a tiny ladybug. And the cover of the book underneath the dust jacket is decorated with a frieze of Canada geese with a family of chicks. This is an exquisitely beautiful book from the rabbit on the first page to the Giant Swallowtail on the last.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nature Lover, March 6, 2009

By 

Cole33 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: View from a Sketchbook: Nature Through the Eyes of Marjolein Bastin (Hardcover)

Great illustrations and a wonderful book!!! Gave this as a gift to a friend and was told that they truly enjoyed it. So, I would have to recommend this to anyone who is truly a nature lover!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Watered Down, November 6, 2010

By 

R. Nielson "mamaya" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: View from a Sketchbook: Nature Through the Eyes of Marjolein Bastin (Hardcover)

I am a huge Marjolein Bastin fan. As always, the illustrations in her books are stellar, however, the writing is not hers. Most of it is written by someone named Tovah Martin who seems to know nothing about MJ or her work. Her writing is bland, boring and sometimes irritating. There are some quotes from MJ which are very illuminating. I feel like this book was something that was put out very quickly to meet the demands of the publisher. Save your money and get one of the more sought after MJ books, like: Butterflies - Winged Miracles of Nature or Nature Diary.