Customer Reviews

The World of Faery: An Inspirational Collection of Art for Faery Lovers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Its here `The World of Faery' a companion to the wonderful `Art of Faery Book' (2003)where I first became aquainted with the new wave of 21st century Faery Artists so aptly introduced to us by Brian Froud that master illustrator who with Alan Lee penned their best seller Faeries way back twenty seven years ago. After reading `The Art of Faery' I was intrigued, hooked and wanted more and was able to find delightful websites from the information in the index which I have been able to follow the work and careers of those artists. This book is a real WOW of the Faery World, introduced to us by no less than Alan Lee that master of middle earth and now acclaimed conceptual designer and Academy award winner of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings film. That both Froud and Lee have chosen to mentor the artists within these books is no surprise when you see the glorious creative imagination and varied display and interpretation in the new volume `The World of Faery'.

My mother, bless her, introduced me to fairies as a child with a wonderful very large book called a `Day in Fairyland', how wonderful to discover that the artist Ann Mari Sjogren is still alive and at 87 has contributed her work and her life story into this book, it somehow brings back all the magic of my childhood a sort of Fairy Godmother amongst today's greats and surely tomorrows as well. `The World of Faery' is a feast of talent, this book takes us forward with the work and lives of the artists I was introduced to in `The Art of Faery' and if that wasn't exciting enough introduces ten new exciting artists, who expand the horizons further.

From the Gothic vision of an Amy Brown front jacket ( Luna Sprite) inviting us to an outstanding foreword and images by Alan Lee are captured within the covers of this colorful edition, the cherubic and whimsy of Myrea Pettit and James Brown, the variety to be found is seemingly endless, and has been comprised of all mediums: watercolor, ink, oil, and pastel and now a small use of digital work has been added to show the possibilities of 21st century mediums but used only by artists whose background skills using other media is accepted, here Renee Biertempfel shows how she excels, John Arthur (his colourful drawing a tribute for his wife Maureen sadly ill with cancer), Jasmine Becket-Griffith ( those eyes fascinate), Linda Biggs ( I've seen her twice now on TV with her art), Hazel Brown (I would love to walk in a wood with her just to see the amazing images in pen and ink evolve), Jacqueline Collen-Tarrolly( beginning now to develop her own style), Jessica Galbreth (introduces us to her fairy visions, she is such a creative artist) , Natalia Pierandrei,( stylish Italian and colourful), Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (imaginative detailed but always graceful), Linda Ravenscroft (Stunning , rich and very moving, just look at that Goblin Tree), Paulina Stuckey-Cassidy (whimsical delight), Ryu Takeuchi ( A Japanese fairy force really going places) Kim Turner (shows bold colourful Australian fairies) Maria J. William ( beautiful drawing). What is so pleasing is that so many new male artists are introduced painting the fairy genre, Corey Randall, Scott Grimando, Jeff Spackman and Marc Potts are all recognised for their talents here, but for me it is the widening of the interests in this book of mind, body, and soul, and the spiritual enlightenment to mother earth that held me spellbound ,Virginia Lee ( where did she get that creative imagination?) and Josephine Wall ( a contribution so detailed her imagination excels). The use of double page spreads in this book Flight of the Lynx ( Josephine Wall), Mystic Garden (Linda Ravenscroft ) and Swan Lake (Scott Grimando) add to the excitement and detail that here indeed are the crème de la crème of fairy artists of this part the 21st century. This coffee table book is a delight for all ages to appreciate the genre and become involved and deserving of six stars if that were possible.

I really love this book. There are so many pictures that inspire me to create new art. I like that this book has featured so many different artists, as now I have been introduced to some new artists that I didn't know before. Also, from this book I have discovered several different art forms. I love looking at the pictures and reading about the aritsts.

This book reviews the greatest Faery art of our time. I love that the book showcases all mediums and styles. I also enjoyed reading the little blurbs about what inspired the artist to create each work. It is also a great book for "copying-the-artist" if you are learning to draw/paint faeries yourself.

The book is pretty enough, but not worth 20 dollard or more. Some of the paintings are very good, but some aren't really all that great. I reccommend checking it out of the library first and then deciding whether you like the pictures enough to really spend the money.

I just wish id not waited a whole year before ordering this book..Ive had it saved in my file for that long and just finaly took the plunge..Boy am glad I did..its a nice book..beautiful...and lists many faery artists...so one can easly follow up on what strikes your fancy....B.W.

I love this book. I saw it at someone else's house and had to get it. I knew Amazon.com would have it and they did. It came quickly and packaged securely. I am very satisfied with my purchase.

I am an absolute lover of fairies and really enjoy the works of Amy Brown and Stephanie Law. I decided to buy this book because the cover is gorgeous and the reviews were raving. I just received this book in the mail yesterday and truth is, it is a gorgeous book, but some of the art really doesn't belong and some crucial artists were missing. There were gorgeous pieces inside by Linda Ravenscroft, Amy Brown, Stephanie Pui- Min Law and Josephine Wall and then not so gorgeous pieces. I really felt the section on Jessica Galbreth was rather short and the three paintings they included were in no way her best. Maybe it is just preference, but some of her other paintings would have been more worthy such as "Gothique" or "The Mask of Autumn". I was rather shocked that Nene Thomas, Myka Jelina or Brian Froud were not included. Brian Froud has collaborated on a book with Alan Lee before so all the more reason I would've thought to include him in this one. All of the latter mentioned arists are very talented and in my opinion would have been more worthy than some of the ones mentioned inside the book. Jacqueline Collen-Tarrolly for example, I have not heard of her before this book, but to be honest didn't find her artwork too special. Once again, maybe it's just preference and they are all talented in their own right, but set next to Josephine Wall's paintings it really doesn't belong. Ann Mari Sjogren was definitely not a favorite for me. She makes cute faeries, but way too child like for me. They belong in a faerie tale book for children in my opinion and kind of clash with the others. James Browne is a great artist, but I don't think faeries are really his thing. For me, most of his artwork appeared as average girls with wings painted on to represent the fairy or "faerie" genre to be more exact. This book is very nice, because it opened my eyes to many new artists, shed a light on the people behind the artwork, but I think crucial people were missing out and it really could have been organized better.

The most beautiful collection of mature Faery Art I have ever seen.
A great gallery book for inspiration but lacking in artistic tips.

This book is an incredible journey into the beautiful world of imagination.
I highly recomend this book to anyone who wishes to enter the realm of the Fae.
Fantastic!

Ok, it's a nice coffee table book but other than that, I think I'll be happier viewing the images online and ordering the prints of the ones I really like.