Amazon.com: Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists: Lynne Perrella: Books

Review

Perrella, Lynne. Art Making, Collections & Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists. Quarry: Quayside. 2008. 160p. photogs. ISBN 978-1-59253-363-3. $26.99. FINE ARTS Perrella (Beyond Paper Dolls) features creative uses by 35 artists of found and collected objects such as buttons, shells, textiles, photos, suitcases, utensils, and other castoffs that are given second lives in art projects. Examples of each artistÆs works are displayed on a colorful double-page spread, with large photo reproductions and commentary that includes quotations from writers and musicians. Some of the most innovative and clever applications are wedding-cake-box sculptures, worn and painted gloves, and outlandishly decorated corsets and military garb. Instead of serious intellectual art, this is more a showcase of works by artists having fun with trinkets and treasured ephemera. Contact information and artist web sites are included at the back. A popular crafts addition suitable for many public collections.

Russell T. Clement, Northwestern Univ. Lib., Evanston, IL, Library Journal, April 2008

Product Description

A glimpse into the personal collections and work of 35 major artists.

This large format, full-color, inspirational book is about how artists use their collections to make artwork. The gallery-style format allows readers to see what artists collect, and the resulting spectacular artwork they make from it. The book will feature the collections and the artwork of thirty-five major mixed-media artists. The artwork will include journals, assemblages, altered books, as well as jewelry pieces, and detailed descriptions of the materials and techniques used, plus tips and insights into using unusual materials and collections.

Mixed-media artists are naturally collectors. They are fascinated by the stuff of life, and they are always looking for the right elements to add to their collages and journals. This book offers a juicy combination -- sort of a walk through an artist-filled flea market, and a gallery of the pieces created using these collections with tips and insights on collecting and creating, and how they go hand in hand.

Features a lineup of 35 contributing artists including:

Lynn Whipple
Graceann Warn
Gail Rieke
Beryl Taylor
Keith LoBue
Michael DeMeng
Nina Bagley
Susan Lenart-Kazmer
and more

Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions features a beautiful collection of inspirational artwork. You'll enjoy artist's tips, creative ideas, and advice on working with unusual materials for collage.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Quarry Books (February 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1592533639
ISBN-13: 978-1592533633
Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,497 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#13 in Books > Arts & Photography > Museums & Collections > Private
#82 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Mixed Media

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
favorite collections

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Gail Rieke

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	44% buy the item featured on this page: Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists 4.2 out of 5 stars (28) $17.81
	16% buy Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists 4.5 out of 5 stars (50) $15.63
	16% buy Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings 4.8 out of 5 stars (84) $15.63
	13% buy Altered Curiosities: Assemblage Techniques and Projects 4.2 out of 5 stars (20) $15.63

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

altered art(11)

collage(8)

collecting(7)

collections(7)

artists(6)

creativity(6)

mixed media(5)

art journaling(4)

art(3)

art journal(3)

crafts(3)

See all 21 tags...

Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search

No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

28 Reviews

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (28 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A lost opportunity, February 19, 2008

By	Susan Wood (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been anxiously awaiting this book since it was first announced. The topic fascinated me. The list of artists included is inspiring. The book is lavishly illustrated. So why is it only worth two stars?

For me, the book doesn't deliver on its promises. I was hoping for in-depth discussion of how and why individual artists collect and how their collecting and collections influence their work. What the book delivers is a series of 'sound-bites' which don't go beyond superficial observations. It never comes to grips with its theme.

The organisation of the book doesn't help, with comments and work from each artist spread across several (loosely) thematic chapters. Perhaps a meatier book would have resulted if each artist had been covered in a section of their own. The reader would have certainly got a better sense of each artist's work that way.

The images are beautiful, but they too are frustrating. Some are badly framed. Not everything is captioned, and the captions that are provided are not very informative. Many of the photographs are over-styled. This is particularly annoying when it is the work itself that is being shown. In some cases it is impossible to tell where the work stops and the other bits and pieces start.

It is a pretty enough coffee table book but lacking in substance. I'm happy enough to keep it, but if I'd seen in a bookshop it would have stayed on the shelf.

Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boo Hoo!, March 4, 2008

By	A. Platten - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I ordered this book with the expectation that I would get to see inside artists studios with all their "stuff". I want to see the environment other artists work in and how they tick including those things they are obsessed about having in their studios to work with or be inspired by. Well, that's NOT what I got in this book. While the photography is stunning, I was disappointed to find that there are only a few photos even shot inside an artists studio but also that all the "collections" for the photos were very staged. It makes for a 'pretty' book but that wasn't what I was looking for. It's a coffee table book for people who just like to have books laying around. It's not something to sink your teeth into. I love all of Lynne Perrella's other books but this one was disappointing. Had I realized I had 30 days to return it, it would have flown back to the post office the day I opened it. I just ran across the receipt and had hit my 30 days so I'm stuck with it. I felt I wasted my money. Maybe I just had wrong expectations of the book and it just wasn't for me.

Comment Comments (4) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank You, Lynne Perella!, March 11, 2008

By	Laurel Hall (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the most inspiring art book I've seen in a long, long time. I saw it on the shelf at Borders, and vaguely remembered I'd read something somewhere about a forthcoming Perella book. I took it off the shelf and browsed through it, and got a big rush: Have To Buy!Have To Buy!Have To Buy! followed by, "Oh-h-h-h, I should wait. I've already blown my book budget for this quarter and I don't even have a discount coupon. Oh, how selfish I am even thinking about buying yet another book. Easter expenses coming up and two birthdays and dental work to pay for...etc., etc., etc.." So, I put Perella's book back on the shelf and walked away. But, then I turned around and walked back and picked it up again and looked through it some more---almost hyperventilating all the while---and...put it back on the shelf, but, in the end, I bought the book and I'm completely enamored with it. Upstairs and downstairs, and back up and back down again, I've carried it with me, keeping it close by, browsing through it over and over, each time a pleasure.

As one with a long history as an artist/maker of the odd object and collector of disjecta membra and tattered discards, the book practically sings to me. It's not a how-to book, but instead, could, I think, be aptly described as an afternoon's outing through an intimate art gallery. The photography is glorious; Perella's books always are. The text is superb, both beautifully sensitive and generously nuanced in its reportage of the artists' purposes and devotion to collecting and art making. Truly, of all the excellent art books and magazines I've bought in recent months and years, this is the most personally stimulating and inspiring of all! So inspiring, in fact, that I'm seriously contemplating unearthing my own packed-away collected treasures and either putting them on display---or better yet, making 3-dimensional mixed-media art again!

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 28 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Disapointing outing from an author I usually enjoy
This is a coffee table book. period. I did not get "an intimate exploration of the mixed-media work" I got to see what they collect and some pictures of their work but I didn't... Read more

Published 3 months ago by ldivagirl

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and inspiring!
This is beautifully done and inspirational - the artists featured are wonderful and the information is interesting - I recommend this book for those who love objects and the world... Read more

Published 11 months ago by K. Damon

4.0 out of 5 stars Love it or hate it
I found this book to be an emotional book. Although this isn't the type of art I enjoy, I am drawn to look thru it from time to time and usually am stimulated to get going on a... Read more

Published 11 months ago by Harriett Anderson

4.0 out of 5 stars NICE pictures
Great pictures, just the kind of eclectic stuff I love. The written part seems entirely superfluous--actually, I read every word and all were apt, it's just that I bought the... Read more

Published 12 months ago by B. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It!
I have always loved the work of Lynne Perrella, but she has outshone even herself by compiling this book of artists from the same ilk as herself. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Di West

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Eye Candy
I recently stated that I shouldn't buy any book without "Look Inside." I did and everyting is beautiful. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Elisha Granger

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Collections
Anyone who has the collecting gene will love this book. I liked seeing the displays of these artists' collections with examples of how they incorporated their pieces from their... Read more

Published 14 months ago by J. Meier

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning book for art lovers
Art Making, Collections and Obsessions is a stunning book. The photography beautifully captures not only the work of some of America's best mixed media artists working today, but... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Jennifer Cushman

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, interesting, original, a new Lynn Perella, beautiful
I'm a huge fan of Lynn Perella's books and I would have bought it anyway, as I always did. This time, it is a new Lynn Perella's style, who goes, I think, further in the Art, and... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Mme Yael Bolender

3.0 out of 5 stars mixed reception
Although I knew before purchasing this book that it was focused on the collections of different artists, because the lead person is Lynne Perrella I guess I expected it to be more... Read more

Published 15 months ago by N. Bales

› See all 28 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.

This product's forum (0 discussions)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
crafts Basketry	15	2 hours ago
crafts Weaving question	9	8 hours ago
crafts arts and craft group	2419	16 hours ago
crafts Is anyone on Etsy.com (PART II)? i would like to see your stuff!	365	2 days ago
crafts Image: These are some kind of dried cactus branches. They look really interesting. They are hollow in the center. I haven't...	10	2 days ago
crafts Do you have a crafty website? Please share!	47	3 days ago
crafts I need ideas for unique pop-up christmas cards	0	3 days ago