An updated and revised edition of the New York Times bestseller Gnomes, the beloved illustrated survey of gnome life, history, and lore, which has sold astronomically since its original publication in 1977.

Introduction by Brian Froud, conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth

Did you know that gnome couples always have twin children? Or that a gnome is seven times as strong as a human? Do you want to hear some gossip from the gnome who knew Rembrandt?

Dutch artist Rien Poortvliet's charming full-color illustrations and physician Wil Huygen's detailed observations of the gnomes' habits, anatomy, and lifestyle are a delight for readers of all ages. Children will adore the gnome family's underground home and the constant interaction with animals; adults will appreciate the tongue-in-cheek scientific data.

Gnomebody is immune to the gnomes' tremendous appeal--and a whole new generation is waiting to love them for the first time!

From the strikingly smart and daringly feminist (Jenny Offill) author of Margaret the First and SPRAWL comes a prose collection like no other, where different styles of writing and different spaces of experience create a collage of the depths and strangeness of contemporary life.

Luminous (The Guardian) and brilliantly odd (The Irish Independent), Danielle Dutton's writing is as protean as it is beguiling. In the four eponymous sections of Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other, Dutton imagines new models for how literature might work in our fractured times.

Prairie is a cycle of surreal stories set in the quickly disappearing prairieland of the American Midwest. Dresses offers a surprisingly moving portrait of literary fashions. Art turns to essay, examining how works of visual art and fiction might relate to one another, a question central to the whole book; while the final section, Other, includes pieces of irregular (other) forms, stories-as-essays or essays-as-stories that defy category and are hilarious and heartbreaking by turns.

Out of these varied materials, Dutton builds a haunting landscape of wildflowers, megadams, black holes, violence, fear, virtual reality, abiding strangeness, and indefinable beauty.

Creativity Explored celebrates its 40th anniversary with a collection of powerful artwork and perspectives from its talented neurodiverse artists.

This vibrant book uplifts the voices of the artists of Creativity Explored, a nonprofit that gives people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to express themselves through art and share their work with audiences from their local community and in the contemporary art world.

Featuring hundreds of original paintings, drawings, illustrations, and sculptures--as well as quotes from and stories about the artists--this curated collection invites readers to examine and challenge their perceptions about disability. Some artworks are humorous and blunt, while others are affecting and abstract, speaking to the artistic community's diversity and creativity. This book offers an engaging introduction to person-centered thinking for art lovers or anyone interested in learning about disability justice in a visual way.

DEMYSTIFYING DISABILITY: This significant new anthology showcases an array of developmentally disabled artists and organizes their works into thematic chapters, such as I Speak Through My Art, Blackiful, Yes I Do Think About Sex, and Fears. These chapters provide interesting stylistic juxtapositions and personal reflections that highlight both individual and shared experiences as diverse disabled artists.

BEAUTIFUL AND CONTENT RICH: This gorgeous hardcover art book features more than one hundred original artworks in full color, from lively portraits and detailed drawings to abstract paintings and captivating illustrations. Quotes, interviews, personal stories, and artist statements also give readers deeper insight into the artists' creative practices, processes, and rituals. This book is a rich visual trove and source of inspiration for any contemporary art lover.

SUPPORT A GREAT CAUSE: Creativity Explored was founded in 1983 with the belief that art is essential to life. This book celebrates the organization's mission and its talented artists after forty years of creating impactful arts and career programs with developmentally disabled artists. This collection is a meaningful way to learn more about Creativity Explored and the diverse community it continues to support today.

Perfect for:

• Art lovers and activists
• People who admire the mission and work of Creativity Explored
• The disabled community, allies, and educators
• Gift seekers for family and friends interested in learning more about disability justice
• Fans of self-taught artists, folk arts, and outsider art
• Contemporary art anthology and art book collectors
• #OwnVoices readers and anyone interested in diversifying their contemporary art knowledge

See the New York City transit system at a time the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has tried hard to forget. In the early '80s, graffiti writer Paul Cavalieri, who writes CAVS, was drawn to the colorful tags on trains. He started learning train schedules so he could snap works by many writers of the time. This is a compilation of subway graffiti from 1983 to 1989, when the MTA announced that its fleet was entirely graffiti-free. More than 325 color photos capture everything from motion-bombed train interiors riddled with pilot marker tags to epic works covering whole exteriors, top to bottom. Artists tell their tales of adventure throughout and reminisce about working on live third rails, navigating the complex subway system to find their works, and witnessing graffiti's gradual disappearance from the trains. This book presents a nostalgic look at 1980s New York City and the street artists that gave it soul.

Since the 19th century, the women of Gee's Bend in southern Alabama have created stunning, vibrant quilts. Beautifully illustrated with 110 color illustrations, The Quilts of Gee's Bend includes a historical overview of the two hundred years of extraordinary quilt-making in this African-American community, its people, and their art-making tradition. This book is being-released in conjunction with a national exhibition tour including The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

It is human nature to look to the past when seeking inspiration, particularly in art and related creative fields. Unlike other genres that can be attributed to a specific era or style, folk art is harder to define or categorize due to its special significance in the hearts and minds of local communities. Although often created for practical purposes, each piece tells a story of cultural heritage and craftsmanship that has the ability to transcend time and inspire the creatives of today.

From mural art to fashion, product design, graphics and interiors, New Folk Art features a colorful collection of work from around the world that draws from ancient folklore and traditional crafts to breathe new life into tales that have been passed down through the generations.

From the inspired mind of Dinara Mirtalipova comes Imagine a Forest, a drawing and design guide to creating your own Eastern European folklore inspired artwork. Escape to your own forested fairy tale.

Imagine a Forest explores the unique style of illustrator Dinara Mirtalipova; a style which is rooted in the rich traditions of Eastern European folklore. This drawing and design guide features instructions and tips on how to draw your own beautiful art in a modern folklore style. Create charming flowers, birds, animals, fairy tale characters, mythical creatures and more.

The lush and captivating illustrations and encouraging, easy-to-follow advice featured in these step-by-step tutorials will guide you through Dinara's gorgeous folk-art drawings and inspire you to create your own. Dinara even gives you design ideas and project suggestions so you can make and decorate practical things with your beautiful art.

Don't spend every day in the boring real world--escape to a beautiful Eastern European fairy tale with Imagine a Forest. Who knows what you might find

From black cats to iconic snowscapes, Maud Lewis paints our waking dreams.

One of Canada's most beloved folk artists, Maud Lewis was famous in her lifetime for her brightly coloured and endearing paintings of rural Nova Scotia. Working from her tiny, road-side house in Marshalltown, she produced hundreds of small works that captured aspects of rapidly changing country life. Until now, the story of her difficult life has dominated the discussion of her art: her triumph over her physical disabilities and poverty, the harsh treatment she received at the hands of her family, and her alliance by chance with her husband Everett Lewis, who enabled her successful painting career over many decades.

This book, accompanied by an exhibition at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, will examine the aesthetic achievements of Maud Lewis's paintings -- her serial repetition of images and motifs and the dizzying variety that she brought to the problems of picture making. From her black cats and kittens, to her cart horses and oxen hauling logs, to her quayside scenes of ships in port and the Maritime landscape in all seasons, Maud Lewis made paintings that still delight in their optimism and buoyant vitality.

Featuring a comprehensive selection of paintings drawn from leading Maud Lewis collectors in Nova Scotia, Maud Lewis: Paintings for Sale offers a unique opportunity to experience the range and depth of her work.

Artful Wisdom Colorful Advice is chock full of common sense maxims, illustrated with more than 90 pages of colorful, original art. Wise words from the famous and not-so-famous include Speak your mind, but ride a fast horse! (Texas Bix Bender) and Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most. (Thomas Jefferson).

Illustrated by Marjory Hawkins, the unique mixture of self-taught art and great life advice was created as encouragement for a teenage nephew who would rather SnapChat than read a book.

Ben Edge is a rising star of both the art world and the current folk renaissance. This first trade book of Edge's art, featuring over 200 artworks, is a unique insight into his creative process as well as the first mainstream book to explore the amazing and wildly popular folk customs of the British ritual year.

'In his deeply squirrelly, edgy, almost mystic paintings, Ben Edge tries to ask where we all come from and why we tell ourselves the stories we tell ourselves.' - Jerry Saltz

'It's time to rediscover the real and this book tells you where to find it. Indispensable.' - Jarvis Cocker

Ben Edge has travelled the length and breadth of Britain recording the weird and wonderful folk customs alive in communities all over the country. In this book, the first trade edition of his art, he shares over 200 paintings and photographs, along with real-life stories, anecdotes and legends. He talks about how connecting with our incredible living folklore helped him recover from depression, and also introduces his idea of folklore activism, suggesting that the current massive resurgence of interest in contemporary folk culture represents ordinary people's desire to find new ways of envisioning community and caring for and connecting to nature. Readers will be enchanted and inspired by the images and description of:

• Mass events that are attended by thousands such as the solstices at Stonehenge, the Padstow 'Obby 'Oss parade, the Burry Man's Day and the Straw Bear of Whittlesea.
• Practices to celebrate the turning wheel of the year, from wassailing to May Day fertility rites to fire festivals to Mumming Plays.
• The progressive all-female Morris dancing side Boss Morris.
• The Green Man - how this has become an icon of modern spirituality and eco-consciousness and a personal symbol of mental health recovery to Ben.
• Standing stones and the mythology surrounding them.

Overall the book explores the psyche of British folklore, showing how this has fed into his art and what this means in the context of contemporary life. It's a book about reconnection with nature, each other and the past through art and folklore.

Trash Poems is a collection of poems from daily writings on found items: receipts, coffee cups, gum wrappers, and even a leaf. Each poem was written in the moment, with no thought to spelling or grammar, leaving the raw words of the moment on the page. Trash Poems is more than a book of poetry, it is a revolution and a movement. It tells us it's okay to just write, there are no pre-requisites. And at its heart, it is full of raw poetry.

How ecstatic (and envious!) I am reading Trash Poems. Alex Z. Salinas has manifested a masterpiece of meditative poesy-one part eco/urban art book, one part ADD Leaves of Grass, all parts adhering to the Beat's first thought/best thought. From macro ruminations on family and mortality down to micro observations of a BIC pen, a persistent gnat, a looping Kanye video, Salinas takes note of impermanence with a haiku master's eye/mind, dashing it down on the lost and found objects around us: receipts, cups, wrappers, napkins. All of it, trash. How easily these words can be ash-a nugget left buried for us within a pithy political poem. But no worries, gentle reader, this book will be there for you when you need it. These messages-not-in-bottles, scooped up and cataloged for our convenience. Harold Whit Williams, author of A Rain Ancestral and guitarist for Cotton Mather

Rafael Villamil: A Retrospective 1954-2024 is an intimate portrait of a renaissance artist/architect from Puerto Rico as told through his artistic and architectural work, drawings, studies, press and personal letters divided into two sections.The ART section is dedicated to his paintings, process, and practice, he had an exhibition with famed artist Andy Warhol. The ARCHITECTURE section features iconic buildings that he has worked on with others like famed architect Louis Kahn. Rafael has worked with famed architect Henry Klumb the former head draftsman for Frank Lloyd Wright. Rafael Villamil: A Retrospective 1956-2024 is a two-volume book (slipcase) from a Latin American icon that has never received his due praised. There is a growing interest in his life work and will continue to build momentum.

This is a beginner book for learning the basics of Swedish Folk Art, a beautiful painted art that was done in Sweden in the 1700, 1800's and early 1900s. There are several different styles which are described in this book and there are patterns of each with complete instructions. There are several pages with illustrated strokes to show the novice painter how to approach and decorate wooden pieces with this ethnic art form. Diane Edwards has done much research into Scandinavian folk art and she has simplified the approach to this art form using acrylics and easily available brushes for today's artist. This book is a great introduction to the beautiful Swedish art form that can be applied to any present day decor. Included are easily usable patterns and instructions in exactly how to apply them to wood, walls, paper and canvas. There are many books available to study this art form but this is one of the few that can be used to learn how to paint it from the basics on to the more complex designs and patterns. Diane has also written a second book on Swedish Folk Art, Swedish Folk Art, Floral and Kurbits Designs that is also available. There are colored photos of all the designs in this book with black and white drawings of the designs. There are colored pages with basic strokes and the patterns broken down into the basics that make all of them up. There is also an extensive Bibliography of all the Swedish and Scandinavian books that make up the history of these beautiful art forms. Also, there are extensive listings of the supplies that are easily available to any artist who would like to learn how to do this type of folk art painting. There is also a conversion chart for DecoArt Acrylics and JoSonja Acrylic Gouache which can be obtained in your local craft store or online arts and crafts retailer. She has also written a Norwegian Folk Art book for Young People showing very basic painting techniques for children or adults who want very basic information on Folk Art Painting.

Maud Lewis has become one of Canada's favourite folk artists, and her buoyant winter pictures of nature, pets, farm animals, and people at work and play are among her most charming. Her hands were twisted with arthritis, but Maud earned her living by painting Christmas cards and pictures and selling them from her tiny, gaily painted one-room house beside the highway near Digby, Nova Scotia.

Originally issued in 1997 and now available in this updated edition, Christmas with Maud Lewis paints a portrait of how this spirited woman celebrated the season in her life and art. Maud's vision of Christmas embraces skaters sliding every which way, passengers leaning over the box of a horse-drawn sleigh, smiling oxen in their best harness, and bluebirds beside their snow-covered house. The paintings in Christmas with Maud Lewis are from the large collection of the Woolaver family.

A global history of self-taught artists advocating for a nuanced understanding of modern and contemporary art often challenged by the establishment

An essential addition to any discerning art lover's collection. . . . An informative and important companion for art aficionados, budding curators and total novices alike.--Vanity Fair London

When the art world has paid attention to makers from outside the cultural establishment, including so-called outsider and self-taught artists, it has generally been within limiting categories. Yet these artists, including many women, people with disabilities, and people of color, have had a transformative effect on the history of modern art. Responding to growing interest in these artists, this book offers a nuanced history of their work and how it has been understood from the early twentieth century to the present day.

Nonconformers includes work by Henry Darger, Hilma af Klint, and Bill Traylor alongside that of many other artists who deserve widespread recognition. The book reviews how self-taught artists influenced key movements of twentieth-century art and highlights the voices of contemporary practitioners, offering new interviews with William Scott, Mamadou Cissé, and George Widener. An international group of contributors addresses topics such as the development of the Black Folk Art movement in America and l'Art Brut in France, the creative process of self-taught artists working outside of traditional studios, and the themes of figuration, landscape, and abstraction. Global in scope and with chronological breadth, this alternative narrative is an essential introduction to the genre long known as Outsider Art.

This book invites readers into a growing, dynamic conversation among scholars and critics around a vibrant community of artists from an African American South. This constellation of creative makers includes familiar figures, such as Thornton Dial Sr., Lonnie Holley, and quiltmakers Nettie Young and Mary Lee Bendolph, whose work is collected in major museum and private collections. The artists represented extend to lesser-known but equally compelling creators working across a wide range of artistic forms, themes, and geographies. The essays gathered here, accompanied by a generous selection of full-color plates, survey subjects such as the artists' engagement with enslavement and liberation, the spiritual and religious dimensions of their work, the technical aspects of their work (such as the common use of assemblage as an artistic medium), the links between art and biography, and the evolving status of their reception in narratives of contemporary, modern, southern, and American art.

Contributors are Celeste-Marie Bernier, Laura Bickford, Michael J. Bramwell, Elijah Heyward III, Sharon P. Holland, and Pamela J. Sachant.

Richly illustrated, this is the first study in English to explore the longevity of Orientalist art in Spain over a period of 120 years.

It highlights how artists in Spain shaped perceptions of Al-Andalus (Iberia under Islam 711-1492) and northern Morocco, from Spain's liberal revolution of the 1830s to the end of the Protectorate of Morocco in 1956. Combining art history with a cultural studies approach, and using exemplary case studies, Hopkins foregrounds the diverse issues that underpin Orientalist expression: reflections on history and the nation, cultural nationalism, gender and sexuality, aesthetics and art commerce, colonialism and racial thinking. In the process, the book challenges over-familiar understandings of Western Orientalism.

Beyond Fortuny and Sorolla, many unfamiliar artists and exhibitions are introduced, amongst them Villaamil, whose nostalgic landscapes evoked the loss of Andalusi culture; Bécquer, who celebrated Spanish-Moroccan peace-making through the lens of Velázquez; the Symbolist Rusiñol, whose images of the Alhambra are infused with melancholy; Morcillo, whose extraordinary camp images opened a new space for male subjectivity; Tapiró and Bertuchi, who dedicated their lives to Morocco, and the Moroccan Sarghini, who participated in the state-funded Painters of Africa exhibitions in Franco's Madrid - an annual exhibition that served the colonial concept of a Hispano-Moroccan brotherhood under the dictatorship.

This book traces the shifting impulses and meanings of Orientalist expression in Spain. It makes an original intervention in the field of Spanish art studies and contributes new material to the ongoing debates about Western Orientalism.

Fish decoys were originally used by Native and Early American ice fishermen to lure food fish within range of their spears. Carved and painted to mimic the appearance and behavior of prey for pike and muskies, the hand-crafted fish decoy has become enshrined in American culture as a treasured form of traditional folk art. Although the practicality
--and sanity--of ice fishing with spears is up for debate, traditional fish decoys have been the subject of a recent surge of interest and have become highly sought-after, both as collectables and to be used under the ice.

If you're someone who appreciates traditional American folk art and you want to learn to carve your own fish decoys, then this is the book for you. Life-long fisherman and decoy-carving instructor James Cottle makes it fun and easy to get started, with detailed instructions, contextual information, history lessons, and tool tips and techniques.

This book contains 22 traceable patterns for decoys including trout, perch, bass, suckers, pike, muskies, sunfish, and walleyes, plus a mouse and a frog. Every step of the process is described clearly, with instructions that will guide you through cutting, carving, weighting, painting, and adding fins and tail to your decoy. Then it's ready to use--on your mantel or underwater. With color photographs of finished decoys and tips for developing your own painting style, this is the definitive guide to making your own traditional fish decoys.

In 2002, Gee's Bend burst into international prominence through the success of Tinwood's Quilts of Gee's Bend exhibition and book, which revealed an important and previously invisible art tradition from the African American South. Critics and popular audiences alike marveled at these quilts that combined the best of contemporary design with a deeply rooted ethnic heritage and compelling human stories about the women. Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt is a major book and museum exhibition that will premiere at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), in June 2006 before traveling to seven American museums through 2008. The book's 330 color illustrations and insightful text bring home the exciting experience to readers while displaying all the cultural heritage and craftsmanship that have gone into these remarkable quilts.

Fish decoys were originally used by Native and Early American ice fishermen to lure food fish within range of their spears. Carved and painted to mimic the appearance and behavior of prey for pike and muskies, the hand-crafted fish decoy has become enshrined in American culture as a treasured form of traditional folk art. Although the practicality
--and sanity--of ice fishing with spears is up for debate, traditional fish decoys have been the subject of a recent surge of interest and have become highly sought-after, both as collectables and to be used under the ice.

If you're someone who appreciates traditional American folk art and you want to learn to carve your own fish decoys, then this is the book for you. Life-long fisherman and decoy-carving instructor James Cottle makes it fun and easy to get started, with detailed instructions, contextual information, history lessons, and tool tips and techniques.

This book contains 22 traceable patterns for decoys including trout, perch, bass, suckers, pike, muskies, sunfish, and walleyes, plus a mouse and a frog. Every step of the process is described clearly, with instructions that will guide you through cutting, carving, weighting, painting, and adding fins and tail to your decoy. Then it's ready to use--on your mantel or underwater. With color photographs of finished decoys and tips for developing your own painting style, this is the definitive guide to making your own traditional fish decoys.