Wabi Sabi Style [Paperback]

James Crowley (Author), Sandra Crowley (Author), Joseph Putnam (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2005

Where the art of feng shui leaves off, the art of wabi sabi picks up--through balance and harmony, the perfection of imperfection, and a poetic approach to life. Now in paperback, Wabi Sabi Style reveals the Japanese design elements of wabi and sabi, and illustrates how to implement these principles into every aspect of home, garden and life.
Wabi Sabi Style reveals the sparseness, the minimalism of a rich palette of organic colors and textures, the manipulation of light and space, and the exquisitely stylized representations of nature that embody the essence of Japanese design. Flowing from spring to summer, autumn, and winter, each chapter is steeped in Japanese lore and techniques for incorporating the wabi sabi philosophy into one's own home. Breathtaking photography brings wabi sabi alive, moving beyond the glossy, gilded, and gaudy to a simple organic elegance that emanates tranquility.
James and Sandra Crowley are recognized experts in the field of Japanese antique furnishings, folk art, and tea wares. A lifelong student of Japanese art and culture, James is a graduate of the University of Utah. Sandra is Asian-American and has spent her adult life reclaiming the culture of her ancestors and acquiring a vast knowledge and collection of Asian art. Joseph Putnam blends art and science in his unique photography style. His work has been used in a wide variety of commercial applications and has also been published in Los Angeles Times and Time magazine.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The USA is ripe for a new Asian design concept, says James Crowley, whose Wabi Sabi Style shows wabi sabi elements in living rooms, bedrooms and gardens. His second wabi sabi book, written with his wife, Sandra, is scheduled for fall. "Feng shui is passe," he says. "People put the fountain in the wealth corner of their house and still didn't make any money." (USA Today ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Wabi and sabi are Japanese design elements that raise rusticity to a new level. Lacking the crudeness generally associated with things rustic, they imply an earthiness that is the ultimate in sophistication. They move beyond the glossy, gilded, and gaudy, to a simple organic elegance that emanates tranquility. Wabi Sabi Style reveals the sparseness, the minimalism of a rich palette of organic colors and textures, the manipulation of light and space, and the exquisitely stylized representations of nature in private gardens that embody the essence of Japanese design. Flowing from spring to summer, autumn, and winter, each chapter is steeped in Japanese lore and techniques for incorporating the wabi sabi philosophy into one's own home. Breathtaking photography brings wabi sabi alive, demonstrating the means for creating it everywhere. James and Sandra Crowley are the owners of the Lotus Gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they specialize in Japanese antique furnishings, folk art, and tea wares. A lifelong student of Japanese art and culture, James began collecting Japanese antiques as a boy. A fine artist and accomplished writer, he is a graduate of the University of Utah. Sandra is an Asian American who has spent her adult life reclaiming the culture of her ancestors and acquiring a vast knowledge and collection of Asian art. Her keen sense of style and design assists her in the creation of distinctive and beautiful Asian interiors. The Crowley's combined talents and shared passions for the peoples and cultures of Asia have allowed them to create an innovative design book in the wabi sabi style unlike no other. Modern commercial photographer Joseph Putnam blends art and science for his unique photography style. His remarkable compositions have appeared in advertisements for NuSkin, Micron, and WordPerfect, as well as in the Los Angeles Times and Time magazine.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (March 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586857533
• ISBN-13: 978-1586857530
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,772,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cultural fusion at its garbled worst., August 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Wabi Sabi Style (Hardcover)

As a student of Japanese culture, this book depressed me. The contents bear no more relation to the true spirit of "wabi" and "sabi" than does a chrome Sony Diskman. The book's core sensibility is mediocre, middle-American interior design thinly coated with a layer of Japanese cliches. What made me very sad was the complete misuse/misundertanding of the important aesthetic terms "wabi" and "sabi." The tipoff is in the title. Wabi and sabi can never be a "style" in the Martha Stewart home decorating sense. (Although I'm sure Martha Stewart would have at least made a beautiful, if not intellectually honest, book.) Wabi-sabi is NOT a style or, as the authors maintain, something akin to feng shui. This book is an example of cultural fusion at its worst. Not recommended.

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much appreciation to the authors!!!, June 15, 2002

By 

Kevin Lekeleher (Montreal, QC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wabi Sabi Style (Hardcover)

Much appreciation to the authors for bringing Wabi Sabi to the masses. In doing so they have rescued Wabi Sabi from the pretentious "WABI SNOBBY" pseudo intellectuals.
here is a sampling of a few jewels found in the text of Wabi Sabi Style;
"To ennoble the ignoble"
"Moving beyond the glossy, gilded, and gaudy - the simple organic elegance of wabi sabi is for those who have no need to prove who they are. Wabi Sabi is for those who are at peace with themselves and want to feel the peace of the world around them at all times."
"In order to understand wabi sabi, beauty must first be understood on a conceptual level. The traditional Japanese concept of beauty differs radically from that of the West. The Japanese have long held the notion that beauty is not inherent in an object but rather is experiential. Given an order set of circumstances, beauty is the elicited response experienced by the perceiver."
I am an admirer of Leonard Koren's writing on wabi sabi, but it is apparent that there are those who make the unfortunate mistake of comparing the Crowley's work with Koren's. As Confucius has told us "comparisons are odious" Even the work of Lennox Tierney deserves recognition. The Japanese know that "there are many paths to reach the top of Mount Fuji"
It is apparent that there are those who deem themselves the guru's and sensei's of a fabricated "wabi sabi movement or school" these individuals or groups are in direct opposition to the spirit of wabi sabi . Let us all remember Koren's wabi sabi universe, under "Moral Precepts" and "focus on the intrinsic and ignore material hierarchy."
Thank you to Koren, Tierney, and the Crowley's for bringing the values found in wabi sabi to the west.

40 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dumbing down wabi-sabi., October 11, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wabi Sabi Style (Hardcover)

Will "wabi-sabi" become the new buzzword among corporate retailers and mall mongers? That seems to be the authors' intention. They attempt to transform an elegant and rarified sense of beauty into corporate easy speak: high bulk, low content. The authors' flawed methodology is to take a mishmash of things Japanese and, by association, assume it's wabi-sabi. They haven't done their homework.