Featured books

Featured Websites

.: Reader Views Kids

Provides book reviews, by kids, for kids

.: Inside Scoop Live

Provides live author interviews for podcast

.: Authors Access

Provides interviews with experts in the publishing industry

.: Midwest Book Review

Provides post-publication reviews

.: Reader Views

Provides book reviews and author publicity

.: LR Communication Design

Provides professional website design and development

.: Blogging Authors

Provides a place where writers and readers meet

.: Review The Book

Provides 5 books reviews on 10 different sites

.: Best Sellers World

Provides book reviews and author features

.: Feathered Quill Book Reviews

Provides book reviews and author features

reviews

For the Love of Art: A Collection of Artistic Inspiration

Roma Bogard
Author House (2009
ISBN 9781438973784
Reviewed by Andrey Bilko for Rebeccas Reads (08/09)

“For the Love of Art” is meant to inspire the reader to be creative and artistic, and try out creating some kind of art. The author says that everyone has a creative side and just needs to stimulate it. The reader is encouraged to try out things that may seem out-of-ordinary at first. It is not just those, who are considered to be professional artists, who can be creative; anyone can be.

The book introduces the reader to three different art genres: representational, abstract, and non-objective, which are not ordinary kinds of art. All three are open to interpretation and viewed differently by dissimilar audiences. Each kind is explained by using artwork of three female artists: Mabel Hutchinson, Ruth Stark, and the author herself, Roma Bogard. The author had a very personal relationship with both artists and is able to tell their stories in a very effective way. The stories are interesting and insightful, and plenty of pictures of art are shown to go along with them.

The book also spends a good amount of time discussing the technique of printmaking and its various kinds: etchings, serigraphs, woodcut prints, mono prints, and others. Since I took a printmaking class in college, I found this section of the book to be especially appealing. During reading, I was surprised to find out how much I still remembered about the art of printmaking.

Overall, the book does a wonderful job of describing how different media can be used in art. The author herself constantly experiments with different media and encourages others to try it. It is important to let your creativity and imagination to run wild. The book also encourages more appreciation and understanding of modern art, much of which is abstract in some way. It is crucial to understand that the artist chooses to present something in an abstract way on purpose. This abstract form is how the artist imagines the object in his mind and wants to share this vision with others.

I would recommend this book to anyone, who appreciates art and enjoys learning about it.   


.: Blog