Cunningham Reviews

This is a difficult book, but truly superb - hence the difficulty! I had my doubts about "Radical Orthodoxy" but this book has removed many of them.

Excellent overview of Native American Confederates. A little looked at fact of the Civil War. Does justice to all men, women of all color, nationalities whom fought for what they beleived in.

The stuff that is happening to electricity prices in both ends of the country - California and New York - is really scarey. Gas prices are also going bonkers. All this deregulation is changing the way we have bought energy for the last 60 years. I am not sure we are going in the right direction.

But this book is a calm, direct, understandable guide that will help me and probably many others to make some sense of these chaotic times and develop a plan to make the best of all the uncertainty.

The book makes sense with out being preachy or self-important. It is a complex topic, but I could follow it well.

It is definitely worthwhile for anyone concerned with buying energy for their organization, large or small.

This book is packed with dozens of demonstrations and lab activities for every physics concept taught in the upper grades 7-12. Can be used to supplement the textbook or on its own. Each section (Ex: Electricity) has a brief 1-2 page overview, followed by real life examples and activities to understand the concepts. Excellent for "stepping-up" a very basic physical science text. Illustrations and reproducible worksheets.

Dominique Browning, editor of HOUSE & GARDEN magazine, has a triumph on her hands with "House & Garden Book of Style." HOUSE & GARDEN has long been the sophisticated cousin to the more accessible HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, and that chicness is in evidence here. The HOUSE & GARDEN cool austerity--sometimes sacrificing warmth for hard-edged style, but many times not--is amply displayed throughout.

The book covers a panoply of styles, from "Country Luxe" to "New International" to "Mid-Century Modern" and beyond. The shabby warmth of English-inspired rooms is covered, as is the prissier French look--but as HOUSE & GARDEN so often does, there is almost always a visual wrench thrown into the works to get your attention and make you rethink your assumptions about a particular genre. Perfectly making the point is the photograph on p. 25, which shows an 18th-century settee decorously covered in a taupe damask, above which hangs what appears to be a piece of Spirograph art made with screamingly bright primary oil paints. The effect is jarring--but it works.

The thinking which goes into the decoration of these rooms is explored just as deeply as the looks themselves. Although photographs take up most of the room--as they should, since this is a case when a picture telling a thousand words is not only desirable, but necessary for instructing the reader--the text is informative and enlightening. The end result is that these profoundly individual rooms make their own cases, and what beautiful cases they make.

A fresh perspective on managing your mortgage with thoughtful insights into home ownership. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to make sense of their finances. Paying a mortgage can cost you more than you can afford if you also want to save for retirement. In this book you'll learn how to turn unproductive (lazy) debt into a hard working, asset building tool. You will also learn to free yourself from years of mortgage payments and how the money you would otherwise use for mortgage payments can build your retirement nestegg. READ THIS BOOK!

This book reads like a conversation with a dear friend/teacher whogives yu an understanding of ritual from a woman's perspective. Nancy's style is gentle yet strong...her knowledge of ritual is excellent. She teaches how ritual can be used for many things in our lives and how our own personalities dictate what the ritual can be...no right or wrong. She give s permission to do what we need, to ask for what we want, and to celebrate ourselves and the Goddess freely

Ideas Without End provides a great introduction to Imogen Cunningham's work. It includes a short biography, but focuses mainly on the plethora of beautiful pictures, showing a wide selection of them. Cunningham's photos are the kind that draw you into them, and bring you to the realization that a flower is so much more than just a flower, that there is more to a body than just nudity, and that everyday items possess a beauty of their own. The format is a bit unhandy, but the contents more than make up for that. In short, the book is an experience not to be missed.

The introduction by Margery (sp?) Mara is an insightful, readable biographic sketch as well as an introduction to Cunningham's major works. She provides some descriptions of the photographer's changing visual philospophy as well as a personal characterization that illuminates many of the photos, which are faithfullly reproduced. The visual impact of the photos is tremendous. The character of the subjects portrayed shines through

The Cleveland Museum of Art has held special exhibitions of E Asian art for the last 30 years. In 2000 the exhibition was of INK PAINTINGS & ASHGLAZED CERAMICS: MEDIEVAL CALLIGRAPHY, PAINTING & CERAMICS FROM JAPAN & KOREA. The art was from the museum's George Gund collection of 13th-16th century known master painters and talented unknown artists.

Ink painting got into Japan, from China, as part of Tang dynasty painting. One of the earliest examples, Landscape on hemp cloth, must have been done in the late 8th century. At that time, waves were typically made bird wing-like. Also, coastal islands were typically made in just a few brushstrokes. It was definitely an ink painting, because of the modeling and the texture strokes lighting and shading the rocks.

Japanese ink painting peaked in the 14th century and in the second halves of the 15th and 18th centuries. Chinese paintings had been imported, as gifts, but also to be bought and sold at high prices. Supply didn't meet demand. So Japanese painters had to churn out good copies, in the styles of 13th-century Chinese masters Xia Gui, Muqi, and Ma Yuan.

But the Japanese tended not to let go of their painting traditions or views of nature in copying. For example, Chinese landscapes were orderly and realistic, Japanese helter skelter. The only known exception was the most famous ink painter, Sesshu Toyo, 1420-1506. While learning ink from Li Zai and color from Zhang Yousheng, he took on the Chinese view of nature. Because of his reputation, late 15th-century Japanese artists were more realistic than usual, in portraits and in screens showing artisans and Kyoto area scenes.

Sesshu was part of the golden age of Japanese ink painting, known as the Higashiyama period. Most of the exhibition's paintings are from that period and afterwards. They include works by two other famous ink painters, Bokkei Saiyo and Bunsei. They also have artworks by Ikkyu Sojun. The lives, let alone the identities, of many ink painters didn't make it through time. But Ikkyu was one of the few who has always been well known, because of his art and the stories about his life. In fact, Japanese television started up a children's cartoon program, with him as the main character.

Author Michael R Cunningham includes illustrations and write-ups for all 33 items. His book's well organized, with a good bibliography and helpful glossary. It's every bit as impressive as his earlier BUDDHIST TREASURES FROM NARA and his later UNFOLDING BEAUTY: JAPANESE SCREENS FROM THE CLEVELAND ART MUSEUM.