Explore the landscapes and places that inspired great art: find peace in Monet's lily-filled garden oasis, climb Mount Fuji on a printmaker's pilgrimage, sail with Gauguin to the South Pacific to stretch your imagination, or contemplate light and the changing seasons on Chelsea Embankment. Artistic Places is a stunningly hand-illustrated, visionary guide for seekers of beauty, rare tales and cultural riches. Find yourself instantly transported to the places where great artists have sought refuge, found their inspiration and changed the course of art history forever. Susie Hodge, bestselling author and art historian, presents 25 famous and forgotten artistic destinations around the world, and connects these to the artists they inspired. In keeping with the Inspired Traveller's Guide series design, each entry is accompanied by specially commissioned illustrations from Amy Grimes which perfectly evoke the wonders that first attracted the masters, while Hodge delves into each location's curious history with insightful stories both in and beyond the canon. So take a leaf out of your favourite artist's sketchbook and discover the places they loved best. Artists and locations include: J.A.M Whistler in London, England John Constable in Suffolk, England Barbara Hepworth in St Ives, England Paula Rego in Cascais and Estoril, Portugal Pablo Picasso and Guernica, Spain Salvador Dali in Catalonia, Spain Claude Monet in Giverny, France Vincent van Gogh in Arles, France Rene Magritte in Brussels, Belgium Paul Klee in Bern, Switzerland Michelangelo in Florence, Italy Canaletto in Venice, Italy Johannes Vermeer in Delft, Netherlands Anni Albers in Dessau, Germany Caspar David Friedrich in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Germany Gustav Klimt and Lake Attersee, Austria Edvard Munch in Oslo, Norway Hilma af Klint and Lake Malaren, Sweden Henri Matisse in Tangier, Morocco Hokusai on Mount Fuji, Japan Paul Gauguin in Papeete and Papeari, Tahiti Jean-Michel Basquiat in New York, USA Grant Wood in Iowa, USA Georgia O'Keeffe in New Mexico, USA Frida Kahlo in Coyoacan, Mexico Each book in the Inspired Traveller's Guides series offers readers a fascinating, informative and charmingly illustrated guide to must-visit destinations round the globe. Also from this series, explore intriguing: Spiritual Places, Literary Places, Hidden Places and Mystical Places.

Most unusually among major painters, Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) was also an accomplished writer. His letters provide both a unique self-portrait and a vivid picture of the contemporary cultural scene. Van Gogh emerges as a complex but captivating personality, struggling with utter integrity to fulfil his artistic destiny. This major new edition, which is based on an entirely new translation, reinstating a large number of passages omitted from earlier editions, is expressly designed to reveal his inner journey as much as the outward facts of his life. It includes complete letters wherever possible, linked with brief passages of connecting narrative and showing all the pen-and-ink sketches that originally went with them. Despite the familiar image of Van Gogh as an antisocial madman who died a martyr to his art, his troubled life was rich in friendships and generous passions. In his letters we discover the humanitarian and religious causes he embraced, his fascination with the French Revolution, his striving for God and for ethical ideals, his desperate courtship of his cousin, Kee Vos, and his largely unsuccessful search for love. All of this, suggests De Leeuw, demolishes some of the myths surrounding Van Gogh and his career but brings hint before us as a flesh-and-blood human being, an individual of immense pathos and spiritual depth. Perhaps even more moving, these letters illuminate his constant conflicts as a painter, torn between realism, symbolism and abstraction; between landscape and portraiture; between his desire to depict peasant life and the exciting diversions of the city; between his uncanny versatility as a sketcher and his ideal of the full-scale finished tableau. SinceVan Gogh received little feedback from the public, he wrote at length to friends, fellow artists and his family, above all to his brother Theo, the Parisian art dealer, who was his confidant and mainstay. Along with his intense powers of visual imagination, Vincent brought to the

Making Hip Hop Theatre is the essential, practical guide to making hip-hop theatre. It features detailed techniques and exercises that can guide creatives from workshops through to staging a performance. If you were inspired by Hamilton, Barber Shop Chronicles, Misty, Black Men Walking or Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster, this is the book for you. Covering vocal technique, use of equipment, mixing, looping, sampling, working with venues and dealing with creative challenges, this book is a bible for both new and experienced artists alike. Additionally, with links to online video material demonstrating and elaborating on the exercises included, it offers countless useful tools for teachers and facilitators of drama, music and other creative arts. Alongside this practical guidance is an overview of hip hop history, giving theoretical and historical context for the practice. From documentation of Conrad Murray’s major productions, to commentary from leading practitioners including Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens, David Jubb, Emma Rice, Tobi Kyeremateng and Paula Varjack, readers are treated to a detailed insight into the background of hip hop theatre. Edited by scholar Katie Beswick and genre pioneer Conrad Murray, Making Hip Hop Theatre is a vital teaching tool and provides a much-needed account of a burgeoning aspect of contemporary theatre culture.

Find inner calm and happiness in this beautiful, meditative and earthy watercolour instruction book from nature lover, teacher and artist Inga Buividavice. Art therapy and the act of painting is widely acknowledged to bringpositive mental health benefits, as it helps us centre ourselves, focus our intentions and engage creatively with the world around us. This beautiful guided watercolour book combines these aspects with the healing powers of nature to take you on a journey toward peace and tranquility. Even if you have no experience with watercolours or painting, Painting Calm’s accessible and easy-to-follow prompts will allow you to express yourself and create with ease and joy. Gather inspiration from artist Inga Buivadavice’s beautiful illustrations, designed to capture an emotional connection with the natural world through texture and colour, as you explore:   An overview of watercolour painting supplies and how to use them Basic watercolour techniques and colour theory Exercises for finding inspiration in nature Seasonal projects that include painting trees, leaves, flowers, natural light and patterns found in nature Tips for building a creative practice Discover your inner artist – and forge a new and powerful relationship to nature – in this calming project book, as you watercolour your way to mindful wellbeing.

Retreats, hideaways, escape spaces - call them what you will, such havens offer us a personal, private and peaceful place to nest, nurture and take time out. These spaces offer the chance to create a completely unique interior. Be it a simple garden room, a homely shepherd's hut, a yoga-lover's cabin, a fishing lodge or summer house, a treehouse, a circus wagon, a purpose-designed garden smart pod or even a canal boat, the glorious retreats showcased here will provide inspiration for creating your very own place for escape or somewhere to enjoy favourite activities. Author Sara Bird reveals the essential elements of a soulful hideaway, from building materials to decorative details, and then explores 14 remarkable retreats in three chapters: Close to Home, On the Water and In the Wild. These are spaces designed for rest, relaxation, play and daydreaming either alone or en famille, as well as for their effects on our mental and physical wellbeing.