As someone deeply immersed in the world of botany as an artist, photographer, and gardener I love reading an expanded story about the world of plants, their society, and how they communicate. There's more to the personality and character of the plant world than one expects, although it moves on a very different time scale than we are used to.
"teeming with fascinating and enlightening insights" Observer
A narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience, from National Association of Science Writers Award winner and Livingston Award finalist Zoe Schlanger.
Look at the green organism across the room or through the window: the potted plant, or the grass or a tree. Think how a life spent constantly growing yet rooted in a single spot comes with tremendous challenges. To meet them, plants have come up with some of the most creative methods for surviving of any living thing - us included. Many are so ingenious that they…
As a world traveler, I feel that it's important to understand to language to "grok" the culture one is exploring. Although I personally am not very good with spoken language sounds, I find the underlying linguistic structure always fascinating. For example, Japanese grammar explains many things about Japanese culture.
In that light, Petersen's "The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves to Sand Worms, the Worlds Behind World-Building" is fascinating. As the subtitle indicates, Petersen was called on to invent plausible languages for the Riders of Rohan, the Dothraki, and more. Petersen explains what goes into plausible language creation, and how the creation of the language mirrors the underlying culture in this fascinating and detailed book.
An insider’s tour through the construction of invented languages from the bestselling author and creator of languages for Legendary's Dune, the HBO series Game of Thrones and the Syfy series Defiance
From master language creator David J. Peterson comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans, writers, game creators, and language lovers. Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation, covering its history from Tolkien’s creations and Klingon to today’s thriving global community of conlangers. He provides the essential tools necessary for inventing and evolving new languages, using examples from a variety of languages including his…
Ikebana is the traditional art of Japanese floral design, which originated in Kyoto, Japan over 1,000 years ago. While ikebana "constructions" can be wonderful, they are also often static and tradition-bound. In this book, the tradition of ikebana is used with a creative twist that delighted me. I look forward to using some of these concepts in my own work!
Transcendent eco-luxe arrangements and installations created by famed floral designer Louesa Roebuck from seasonal flora foraged from the West Coast From acclaimed artist, author, and floral designer Louesa Roebuck, Punk Ikebana presents breathtaking installations and arrangements that unite the beauty of restraint with the exuberance of nature. Working with seasonal, locally available foraged flora and crafts from various regions of the West Coast, Roebuck aligns her deep commitment to the environment with her love of creating in harmony with her surroundings. Each chapter embodies her unique aesthetic, which is inspired by both the beauty of the region and the poetry…
Of all the magical elixirs that make up a successful photograph, composition is perhaps the most fundamental, and at the same time the most elusive. What makes a composition “good”? It’s hard to define exactly, but we instinctively recognize good composition when we see it. There is an undeniable emotional response when a composition resonates with and complements the subject matter of an image.
But traditional attempts to define “good composition” and to pass on rules for good compositional construction are often doomed to failure. The truth is, there are no hard and fast rules. Rules eliminate experimentation and spontaneity, which are crucial for creating compelling, dynamic, and exciting compositions. The best compositions contain an element of the unexpected. “Expect the unexpected!” is perhaps the only viable “rule” of composition. To create exciting compositions, you must have a willingness to embrace serendipity and change as part of your artistic practice. After all, composition is a process, not a result.
In Composition & Photography, I show you how to perceive patterns and abstractions and incorporate them into your image-making process. If one of the goals of photography is to show viewers things that are new, or things they haven’t seen before, or things they have seen many times but need to see anew, then it’s with the thoughtful and considered use of composition that you do that.
In this book, you’ll learn how to reduce your subject matter to the fundamentals, and to show familiar subjects in unfamiliar, novel ways. Harold covers topics and themes such as:
▪ Lines and circles ▪ Rectangles ▪ Combinations ▪ Repetition ▪ Symmetry and asymmetry ▪ Abstraction ▪ Entering and exiting ▪ Vanishing points and perspective ▪ Emphasis ▪ Designing within a frame ▪ Creating order from chaos
