What are the secrets of ornamentation? Why are curves important? How do you create an invisible repeat in a fabric or wallpaper pattern? In this book, packed with helpful diagrams and rare illustrations, Lisa Delong demonstrates the time-honoured traditions of the use of curves and plant forms in the decorative arts.

Discover the slow, tactile art of hand-building ceramics and express yourself through the act of creating unique, timeless pieces for your home. The Urban Potter teaches you how to make beautiful, one-off handcrafted pieces with simple, natural shapes and neutral tones. Ceramicist Emily Proctor's unique, self-taught style embraces irregularity and asymmetry - here, there is no such thing as perfection, every piece is created through an authentic, intuitive process, with no wheel required. The 24 step-by-step projects include functional homeware such as bowls, plates and vases, as well as other decorative accessories, and are ordered by difficulty, making this book suitable for anyone who wants to play with clay, from beginners through to more seasoned ceramicists. For each project, Emily guides you through the whole process and explains all the techniques involved, from slabbing and pinching, to carving and glazing, while also fully leaning into the joys of slow ceramics and the mindful, patient nature of the art.

William De Morgan was the principal ceramic designer and maker in the Arts and Crafts Movement. Heavily influenced by the art of the Middle East, he was active for nearly thirty years from the 1870s onwards and was never content with an existing technical process if he thought it could be improved. He is famous for his vases and decorative chargers, but it is arguably his tiles - still to be found in homes and museums around Britain and the world - that have made the greatest impact. His tiles portray iconic images of animals, ships and floral designs, blending style influences to produce designs that featured new, stylized interpretations and a whimsical character. He combined a strong design style with rich glaze colours, making blue and green, and a deep orangey red into visual trademarks. There were important commissions from royalty and industry, and his ceramics were marketed to the growing middle classes by William Morris, the founder and leading light of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The tiles of the Arts and Crafts Movement are now highly collectible, and none more so than those made at William De Morgan's Chelsea, Merton Abbey and Fulham potteries. This highly illustrated book, by acknowledged experts on De Morgan, presents the first study of the tiles to be published in over thirty-five years and features an examination of De Morgan's lustre glazes using high sensitivity X-ray analysis.

35 meditative knitting patterns that use colour, repetition and texture to help you unwind and destress. The relaxing rhythm and hand movements of knitting make it the perfect activity to absorb your attention and distract you from unwanted thoughts. As well as being beautiful makes, these 35 projects are specially designed to be a form of mindfulness practice. Suitable for beginners through to experienced knitters, the patterns will help you stitch away stress by incorporating calming repetition and different textures, as well as mood-boosting bright colours and soothing pastel shades. Many of the projects make ideal gifts, bringing you satisfaction and positivity as you knit them for other people. There are also homewares including a mandala pillow and a meditation garland so that you can create an inspiring environment, as well as cosy accessories and garments to allow you to focus on yourself. All of the techniques and stitches you will need are explained with easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step artworks. Let the click of the needles and the rhythm of the stitches help you to be in the moment, bringing you calmness and a sense of wellbeing.

One of the difficulties about how our minds work is that we often cannot quite clearly see or know what is inside us. Art therapists have a longstanding tradition of prescribing image-making to prompt expression of feelings, often by asking people to draw, paint, or sculpt "how you feel." It is one of the fundamental approaches in the field that distinguishes art therapy from verbal techniques that ask people to simply talk about their emotions. Author Erica Jong once wrote that imagery is a form of emotional shorthand. This could be interpreted to mean that while we may use paragraphs of prose to describe an emotional experience, images allow us to communicate simply and directly. At its core, art therapy embraces the paradigm that creating images cuts to the chase when it comes to expressing feelings. The point is not to draw well. But to draw with authenticity. This is specifically a book for people who can't draw.

Philip Webb was a British architect known as a founder of the Arts and Crafts movement and also a key member of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. He had a long association with William Morris and was responsible for the design of the hugely influential Red House, Morris's first home. Webb's letters will be of interest to art and architecture historians.

William Morris is famous as a designer, poet and artist, but his work as a political thinker and activist is less well known. This collection, the first of his political writings published for nearly 50 years, shows Morris as one of the most original and inspiring socialist intellectuals of his generation. Covering essays and lectures ranging through the relation between art and politics, to his visions for a socialist society and his strident anti-imperialism, this is an essential volume which shows Morris as the engaged and committed socialist that he was.

Why on earth do cars have the same symmetry as dragonflies? Is there really a beautiful swirling pattern lurking in every dripping tap? What do insect eggs have in common with planets, and why? In this exquisite book, the smallest and most concise ever produced, designer David Wade introduces the main principles of symmetry, and shows how, despite opinions over exactly what it is, symmetry can be found in almost every corner of science, nature and human culture. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

William Morris-the great 19th century craftsman, architect, designer, poet and writer-remains a monumental figure whose influence resonates powerfully today. As an intellectual (and author of the seminal utopian News From Nowhere), his concern with artistic and human values led him to cross what he called the 'river of fire' and become a committed socialist-committed not to some theoretical formula but to the day by day struggle of working women and men in Britain and to the evolution of his ideas about art, about work and about how life should be lived. Many of his ideas accorded none too well with the reforming tendencies dominant in the Labour movement, nor with those of 'orthodox' Marxism, which has looked elsewhere for inspiration. Both sides have been inclined to venerate Morris rather than to pay attention to what he said. Originally written less than a decade before his groundbreaking The Making of the English Working Class, E.P. Thompson brought to this biography his now trademark historical mastery, passion, wit, and essential sympathy. It remains unsurpassed as the definitive work on this remarkable figure, by the major British historian of the 20th century.

In this groundbreaking reassessment of the conventional understanding of a cohesive 'Arts and Crafts movement' in Britain, Imogen Hart argues that a sophisticated mode of looking at decorative art developed in England during the second half of the nineteenth century. Bringing to light a significant number of little-known visual and textual sources, Arts and Crafts Objects insists that the history of British design between the 1830s and the 1910s is more complex and interwoven than concepts of clearly differentiated 'movements' allow for. Reinvesting the objects with the original importance ascribed to them by their makers and users, this book places furniture, metalwork, tiles, vases, chintzes, carpets, and wallpaper at the centre of a rigorous reassessment of the concept of 'Arts and Crafts'. The book offers radical new interpretations of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society and the homes of William Morris, alongside illuminating analyses of less familiar but equally rich contexts. -- .

Edward Schroder Prior designed the cathedral of the Arts and Crafts Movement (St Andrew's Church, Roker), perfected the popular butterfly plan in his houses, and published what is still the seminal work on medieval gothic art in England in 1900. Highly regarded by critics such as Ian Nairn, Prior is sometimes considered to have narrowly missed out on a place in the architectural pantheon of his age, alongside contemporaries such as Charles Voysey and William Lethaby. The result of extensive archival and field research, Edward Prior - Arts and Crafts Architect sheds new light on Prior's architecture, life and scholarship. Extensively illustrated, it showcases Prior's work in colour, including many of his architectural drawings and photographs of most of his extant buildings. Prior is the missing link of the Arts and Crafts Movement, in both a theoretical and a practical sense, as he was possibly the only practitioner who genuinely translated the artistic theories of Ruskin and Morris into architectural reality. He went on to found the School of Architecture at the University of Cambridge in 1912.

Winner of the Wolfson History Prize, and described by A.S.Byatt as 'one of the finest biographies ever published', this is Fiona MacCarthy's magisterial biography of William Morris, legendary designer and father of the Victorian Arts and Crafts movement. 'Thrilling, absorbing and majestic.' Independent 'Wonderfully ambitious ... The definitive Morris biography.' Sunday Times 'Delicious and intelligent, full of shining detail and mysteries respected.' Daily Telegraph 'Oh, the careful detail of this marvellous book! . . . A model of scholarly biography'. New Statesman Since his death in 1896, William Morris has been celebrated as a giant of the Victorian era. But his genius was so multifaceted and so profound that its full extent has rarely been grasped. Many people may find it hard to believe that the greatest English designer of his time - possibly of all time - could also be internationally renowned as a founder of the socialist movement, and ranked as a poet with Tennyson and Browning. In her definitive biography - insightful, comprehensive, addictively readable - the award-winning Fiona MacCarthy gives us a richly detailed portrait of Morris's complex character for the first time, shedding light on his immense creative powers as artist and designer of furniture, fabrics, wallpaper, stained glass, tapestry, and books; his role as a poet, novelist and translator; on his psychology and his emotional life; his frenetic activities as polemicist and reformer; and his remarkable circle of friends, literary, artistic and political, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. It is a masterpiece of biographical art.

Although these styles continue to be identifiable, particularly in massed dancing at national festivals, Zulu beadwork is increasingly eclectic and much of it is directed at the fast growing external market which now provides beadworkers with both a welcome source of personal income and a continuing stimulus to personal creativity. Zulu Beadwork tells the fascinating and important story of this transformation, and of the major players who were instrumental in bringing it about. Continuity and change in Zulu beadwork. Important collections of Zulu beadwork. Speaking with beads: Zulu ‘Love Letters’. Bead making, bead messages and meaning. Expanding beadwork frontiers post 1980. Zulu beadwork for the new millennium. Zulu beadwork and Zulu and South African identity.

Garden Cities: the phrase is redolent of Arts and Crafts values and nineteenth-century utopianism. But despite being the culmination of a range of influential movements, and their own influence, in fact there were only ever two true garden cities in England - far more numerous were garden suburbs and villages. Crystallised in England by social visionary Ebenezer Howard and designed in many cases by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin, the concept arose from industrial settlements like Port Sunlight, and also from the American City Beautiful movement. Designed to promote healthy and comfortable individual and community life, as well as commerce and industry, they remain instantly recognisable. This book is a beautifully illustrated guide to the movement and to the communities which are its legacy. Sarah Rutherford has an MA in the conservation of historic parks and gardens and a PhD. She was Head of the English Heritage Historic Parks and Gardens Register and is now a freelance consultant, creating conservation plans.

The Arts and Crafts Movement espoused values of simplicity, craftsmanship and beauty quite counter to Victorian and Edwardian industrialism. Though most famous for its architecture, furniture and ornamental work, between the 1890s and the 1930s the movement also produced gardens all over Britain whose designs, redolent of a lost golden era, had worldwide influence. These designs, by luminaries such as Gertrude Jekyll and Sir Edwin Lutyens, were engaging and romantic combinations of manor-house garden formalism and the naive charms of the cottage garden - but from formally clipped topiary to rugged wild borders, nothing was left to chance. Sarah Rutherford here explores the winding paths and meticulously shaped hedges, the gazebos and gateways, the formal terraces and the billowing border plantings that characterised the Arts and Crafts garden, and directs readers and gardeners to where they can visit and be inspired by these beautiful works of art.

William Morris was an outstanding character of many talents, being an architect, writer, social campaigner, artist and, with his Kelmscott Press, an important figure of the Arts and Crafts movement. Many of us probably know him best, however, from his superb furnishings and textile designs, intricately weaving together natural motifs in a highly stylized two-dimensional fashion influenced by medieval conventions. William Morris Masterpieces of Art offers a survey of his life and work alongside some of his finest decorative work.

Contemporary Crafts explores craft practices in both North America and Britain, revealing an astonishingly rich and diverse picture of artisanal work today. The book ranges across both urban and rural crafts and analyses how the country/city dichotomy creates differing approaches, practices and objects. Analysed in the context of their environment and its localised history, crafted objects are shown to embody or critique particular urban/rural myths and traditions. Covering both traditional and cutting-edge crafts from the small-scale domestic to large outdoor works, Contemporary Crafts demonstrates how craftspeople today are responding to the changing creative contexts of culture and history.

Artisans of Israel is a very special book on crafts. Author Lynn Holstein is in search of a national identity in the artisanry of the still young country - and she finds it in the unifying pursuit for innovation. Forty artists, including Jews, Muslims and Christians, tell their stories and show in five different trades how emancipation can be promoted through creativity. Working with one's hands stands unfailingly at the centre of this reflection. From the hybrid of cultural and religious backgrounds emerges a unique compilation that brings together the fields of metalwork and jewellery, ceramics, textiles, paper and wood. This compilation portrays a sensitive and inspiring portrait of Israel and its inhabitants. This book accompanies an exhibition at The Open Museum, Tefen (IL), in January 2018. Text in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

If ceramics, glass, and metals are inextricably linked to earth and fire, textiles are arguably linked with wind and water. In truth, craft practices are all deeply connected to the elements and to nature. Seven distinguished writers and thinkers living in the Nordic region endeavour to flesh out concepts such as material interaction and material agency, Posthumanism, site-responsiveness, and symbiotic thinking in the field of crafts. How do artists explore the potential of materials and the four natural elements? What does a human-material interaction look like, and how might one approach a material, not from the position of a master but from that of a collaborator? Features essays by Randi Grov Berger, Nicolas Cheng, Camilla Groth, Jessica Hemmings, Jenni Nurmenniemi, AEsa Sigurjonsdottir and Nina Woehlk. Text in English and Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Icelandic, and Northern Sami.

Discover the history of design with this gorgeous visual celebration of key pieces, movements, and designers, from the Arts and Craft movement to the digital age. Arranged chronologically, Design traces the evolution of design from its roots to the present day, from early chairs, pottery, and homewares to cars, graphic design, and product design. It introduces all the key designers, manufacturers, and objects, illustrating how and why different styles emerged and became popular. It also provides a fascinating insight into design movements, showing how each one began and explaining its philosophy and visual style, from the Arts and Crafts movement to mid-century modern and contemporary. Featuring expert analysis, stunning photography, and a huge range of objects both familiar and extraordinary, Design explains what makes a truly great design and reveals the hidden stories behind the everyday things all around us. With profiles of famous designers and manufacturers, such as William Morris, the Bauhaus, Alvar Aalto, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Vitra, and stunning images of iconic buildings and interiors, it provides a glorious and comprehensive view of classic design across the last two centuries.

Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941) is chiefly remembered today as one of the leading domestic architects of the early twentieth century. Before his career was established, however, to supplement his income he started to design fabrics and wallpapers, and became as successful a designer as he was an architect. Although the themes and components of his decoration are typical of his time, Voysey's designs remain as distinctive as his houses. They are clear and authoritative, and show a sense of colour that was exceptional in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. The Royal Institute of British Architects drawings collection includes a large number of Voysey's designs, making it one of the most extensive archives for a designer of the time. The collection covers a period of over forty years, starting in 1887, and includes both commercial designs and others, more revealing about the designer himself. Stuart Durant's study of Voysey's work and selection of over sixty of his designs makes the gems of this collection available in print for the first time and presents an absorbing study of Voysey's working methods and artistic theories. Voysey can now be seen as one of the major figures in British design history.