In Harmony With Nature: Painting Techniques for a New Age

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful book for beginners through accomplished artists........1999-08-29

This is one of the best books on the subject. Masterfield's work is inspiring. The photography of her (and other included artists) work is top notch. She generously shares her techniques and instructs gently and ably.

Best book on subject (experimental painting).......1998-05-17

Absolutely the best book of them all if your intereted in experimental painting. Informative and inspirational

Book Description

Anyone willing to learn can celebrate the wonder of nature with Claudia Nice's techniques for combining pen and ink with watercolor. Offering clear, step-by-step instruction for painting a range of subjects, she focuses on the little details first, from soil and leaves to wildflowers and birds. As artists are guided piece-by-piece through the wonders of different panoramic settings, they will learn to combine these elements into full-scale projects--quiet forest scenes, coral reefs teeming with color, prairies, deserts, ponds and mountains--all alive with the beauty and joy of nature.

Customer Reviews:

Nice, but material is duplicated in another of her books.......2004-06-07

This is an excellent book... IF you don't already own "Painting with Watercolor, Pen and Ink" by Claudia Nice. The material in this book is entirely duplicated in the "Painting with...". Please do not buy this book if you already own a copy of "Painting with Watercolor, Pen and Ink". I did and was thoroughly disappointed that there was no new material in the "Painting Nature in Pen & Ink with Watercolor".

Now, if you own the other book "Creating Textures with Watercolor, Pen and Ink" then I highly recommend this book as it has subject matter that was not covered in the "Creating Textures..." book.

If you don't own any of her books, then buy the "Painting with Watercolor Pen and Ink" ISBN 158180265X because it completely combines the material in both "Creating Textures..." and "Painting Nature..." books.

Yuk!.......2003-01-01

I really don't see why anyone would buy this. I'm a real art fanatic, and I love Ms. Nice very much. Her past books fill one's pleasure and contentment. I recommend Creating Textures in Pen and Ink with Watercolor (by her) rather than this.

Another Excellent Book by Ms. Nice.......2000-04-23

I bought this book based on the strength of Ms. Nice's previous book Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor. I was equally pleased and delighted with this one as much as with her previous work.

It first starts out with some very basic pen & ink strokes and techniques along with some watercolor texturing techniques (such as using crumpled plastic wrap which gives a surprisingly snow crystal-like texture).

The next chapters move quickly on to using these techniques as applied to creating wildlife paintings and/or scenic landscapes. For example, in one chapter she starts out showing step by step details of a bird wildlife painting. One of the interesting things is that the bird pen & ink was done in sepia ink rather than the more typical black. The next page showed a step by step of the ferns in the painting along with moss and wood. The last page in the chapter showed all of these things pulled together into the final painting. Each painting gets the same "how-to" treatment. The result is that someone could easily duplicate each of the paintings in the book.

There are also a wealth of mini-demonstrations such as leaves, frogs, birds, seashells, fish, starfish, flowers, grass, trees, etc. All of them most likely pulled from actual full paintings she has done but probably not included due to space and page-length considerations. Each one of the mini-pictures provides another step by step build-up so you can practice first without neccessarily committing to a big project. In short, it just looks like fun.

One interesting side note: comic book artists have long used this technique of watercolor with pen & ink. I am a big fan of comics - DC's Vertigo line and some Image comics in particular feature breathtaking illustrations with pen & ink and watercolor. Any fine artist should do him/herself a favor and see how beautiful and "grown-up" some of these comics have really become. They routinely feature beautiful art for its own sake and the stories are geared toward an adult market.

What is really refreshing is that Ms. Nice finally shows how beautiful these techniques are when applied to the realm of nature art. I don't really see how anyone could be disappointed with this book. You're bound to learn something new to try with your own paintings. I certainly did. :)

Average customer rating:

Amazing

Good solid book

How do you serve as a marine and not think of yourself as an American?

Another bonkers avowed bad guy writes a page turner

An Irishman and a criminal

A Criminal and an Irishman: The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection
Patrick Nee , Richard Farrell , and Michael Blythe
Manufacturer: Steerforth
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob

Rat Bastards: The Life and Times of South Boston's Most Honorable Irish Mobster

The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century

Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob

Legends of Winter Hill: Cops, Con Men, and Joe McCain, the Last Real Detective

ASIN: 1586421034
Release Date: 2006-03-14

Book Description

A Criminal and an Irishman is an incomparable account of Pat Nee's life as an Irish immigrant and Southie son, a Marine, a convicted IRA gun smuggler, and a former top associate of Whitey Bulger's. His narrative transports the reader into the criminal underworld, inside the planning and preparation for an armored car heist, inside gang wars and revenge killings. Pat Nee details his evolution from tough street kid to armed robber to dangerous potential killer. He discloses for the first time how he used his underworld connections and know-how as a passionate and effective IRA operative. For years law enforcement and the media have speculated about important events with Pat Nee near or at their center: the Mullen-Killeen gang war for control of South Boston, the Valhalla smuggling operation (seven tons of heavy weapons aboard a fishing boat from Gloucester, Massachusetts, bound for Ireland), the murder of John McIntyre, and many other episodes. Pat NeeÕs stories are sometimes dark and brutal, but they shed light on the world in which we live, and are stories that only he can tell.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-05-04

This is the best book in its class. Nee is everything that Mac, Weeks, Shea aren't. He is truthful and honest. Nee's story puts it all into perspective and negates all the other fiction. Nee's story is the one that you want to hear about. Recounting the events of his life, that he remembers. The South Boston gang war chapter is outstanding, and the valhalla chapter is almost a "how to smuggle" for those of you interested. Nee's story is both moving and compelling, with his sentiment towards his brother and his belief in the IRA as opressed people. Nee's image of Whitey Bulger is outstanding. This is a definite good read. buy it.

Good solid book.......2007-01-28

This is a solidly wriiten book on criminal activity in Boston and arms smuggling to Ireland. The author pulls no punches about what he did and offers no apologies to the lifestyle he choose. You can either love or hate him but he seems to be a respectable guy from this book. The co-authors do a pretty good job putting his voice into a readable manner.

How do you serve as a marine and not think of yourself as an American?.......2007-01-01

I had high hopes for this one, in light of the pros working with Nee. It just seemed to degenerate into a political polemic, however, about half way through; almost like two mini-books with stange pacing by the editor. Without trying to, I found myself mentally substituting "Al Qaeda" for IRA, trying unsuccessfully to differentiate in my mind why these guys were substantially different from middle eastern "freedom fighters". Left unexamined was the tragic way his family started him on his path in life, making him a really angry guy in general. Despite service in the USMC, he doesn't refer to himself as an American throughout most of the book. I really wish I could have liked this one more but I know plenty of guys like Nee who made better life choices.

Another bonkers avowed bad guy writes a page turner.......2006-06-01

You don't have to approve of the lifestyle choices of this thug to enjoy what is a great story. This is not really a morality tale per se although from the writer's warped perspective there is the redeeming aspect of the the whole in that Nee's passion was supporting the IRA terrorists by buying and shipping a huge magnitude of firearms for the "soldiers" to use to fight for their freedom. ( Great pains are taken to keep the arms dry so they are outfitted with plastic bags that the IRA soldiers store in the bogs ) A million dollars worth are shipped "free of charge" by the Boston irish patriots-I won't spoil all the fun for you readers. Whitey is only a supporting player in this particular shenanigans , but he does get artfully dissed which is a small pleasure... The bottom line is that all that honor and bravery aside,
there was no small amount of criminal shake downs, thefts, and all sorts of nefarious doings that supported the criminals self and family , but then again- he never said he was a "good guy" !

An Irishman and a criminal.......2006-04-12

I absolutely loved this book. Richard Farrell captured the essence of Patrick Nee and put the words to paper beautifully. I read the book in three days, I couldn't put it down. It has already been stolen from me by my mother! Kudos' to a job well done.

I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Final Ride of Jimmy Hoffa

Average customer rating:

Could it really be true?
chilling
I Heard You Paint Houses
Mafia Books
I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Final Ride of Jimmy Hoffa
Charles Brandt
Manufacturer: Steerforth
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1586420771
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Book Description

HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES is a fascinating account of a dark side of American history. The book’s title comes from the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran. To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors.

Frank Sheeran lived a long, violent, passionate life. As a boy he took on older kids in bar fights so his dad could win free beer. During World War II he was a highly decorated infantryman with 411 days of active combat duty and a willingness to follow orders. “When an officer would tell you to take a couple of German prisoners back behind the line and for you to ‘hurry back,’ you did what you had to do.” He became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino and eventually becoming one of only two non-Italians on the FBI’s famous La Cosa Nostra list. He was also a truck driver who was made head of the Teamsters local in Wilmington, Delaware, by his good friend Jimmy Hoffa. When Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975, Sheeran became a leading suspect, and every serious study of the Hoffa disappearance alleges that Sheeran was there.

For the first time the Irishman tells all — a lifetime of payoffs (including hand-delivering bags of cash to Nixon’s attorney general John Mitchell) and manipulation (supporting Joe Biden’s election to the Senate with a Teamster action) — for the book that would become his deathbed confession. He died on December 14, 2003.

Sheeran also provides shocking new information on notorious mob hits: Joseph “Crazy Joey” Gallo — blown away as he celebrated his forty-third birthday in New York’s Little Italy; Salvatore “Sally Bugs” Briguglio — long suspected of being a player in the plot to kill Hoffa. And offers new insights to the crusading of Robert Kennedy and the death of John F. Kennedy.

This historic account is based on interviews of Frank Sheeran by Charles Brandt, who researched, cross-checked, and illuminated what Sheeran told him and turned it all into a gripping narrative that is sure to become an instant true crime classic.

Customer Reviews:

Could it really be true?.......2007-10-22

A transcribed version of Sheeran's life and times, including his years as Hoffas batman. Some of the book is a little too hard to belive, but why doubt a dying confession? As with many "true stories" the time lines and evidence are often contradict each other, and this book is no exception. From his duties during WWII, to the plot to kill Kennedy, then the plane trip to Michigan the book appears to be more fiction than fact. The one true fact to remember is that Frank Sheeran was a real member of Jimmy Hoffas Inner circle. The only way to finally put the Hoffa story to rest will be to find the body, and if this story is true, that may well be unlikely. It is still a good read and very well written, and that is what every true crime author aims for.

chilling.......2007-07-03

A depressingly credible and compulsively readable tale of a hit man. While most attention has gone to his role in the Hoffa hit, this is only one in the long litany of crimes, at levels high and low, laid out in the book.

This book depressed the daylights out of me, as it paints a picture of a thoroughly corrupt world, with bags of cash flowing at all levels. It also paints a picture of a man who (I think from his WWII experiences) placed no value on human life - he treats murder as like plumbing - just another day at the office.

Finally, one note that did make me question things a bit - Sheeran says he carries a heavy bag ("musta weighed 100 pounds") of cash to John Mitchell in a hotel lobby. Mitchell then picks up the bag and walks away. 60-something John Mitchell is going to nonchalantly carry a 100 pound bag? And forget about the weight - why would John Mitchell do something like this in person?

I really really hope a lot of things in this book are exaggerations/lies, otherwise boy is it depressing.

I Heard You Paint Houses.......2007-05-07

"I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa I found this book very interesting to say the least. I enjoy a book that raises questions about history.

Mafia Books.......2007-05-07

This book was very interesting and factual. Well written and recommended for those who enjoy reading about the Mafia and the disapppearance of Jimmy Hoffa.

I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES.......2007-01-16

I find this book to be very intriguing. Easy to follow along with plot

as it unfolds. I never would have imagined, the name of the book would

uncover but happend to Jimmy Hoffa.

I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last ... Hoffa

Average customer rating:

The guy who killed Hoffa
The Hoffa Disappearance and more.

I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last ... Hoffa
Charles Brandt
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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"I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa

ASIN: 0786269669

Book Description

A New York Times Bestseller

This fascinating account of a dark side of American history takes its title from the first words Jimmy Hoffa spoke to Frank Sheeran; to paint a house is to kill a man. But the book is about far more than killing. It is a rich cultural history told from the inside - a riveting read that is likely to become a true crime classic. And it introduces to the reading public Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, a figure as ruthless and as fascinating as a mob legend can be.

Customer Reviews:

The guy who killed Hoffa.......2007-07-09

This is the guy who kiled Hoffa and the author lets him spak int he 1st person and adds narrative to it along the way. At first, I was going to put this book down, but I kept going and found it to be an excelent account of life during those times. Some very nasty people accounted here.

The Hoffa Disappearance and more........2007-04-10

The print in this book is large as advertised.This hard cover has a good,sturdy binding.
It's a smooth flowing read.Sheeran's words are in quotations while Brandt's words are in bold type.
The Prologue in this book lays the groundwork for how Frank Sheeran eventually came to confess his involvement in the Hoffa disappearance.
He explains why there would be no body to recover and how trusted people close to Jimmy Hoffa had to be involved.

The information in this book verifies information in other mafia related books that I have read.
Some examples:
Hoffa's claim to possess audio sex tapes involving Bobby Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.
Joe Kennedy recruiting Sam Giancana to steal the 1960 Presidential election.
Multiple mafia figures and their involvment in the assassination of John F Kennedy.

A lot of the organised crime figures in this book are mentioned in most JFK assassination books.
It's interesting that Frank Sheeran claimed that he deilvered three rifles to David Ferrie in Baltimore shortly before the assassination.

Jimmy Hoffa strenuously opposed the mafia's aiding Kennedy in the election.He was right in the end.

The Nixon administration's corruption was detailed.

One of the bigger contributing factors in Jimmy Hoffa's murder was the access to Teamster funds.Hoffa apparently was not as lenient as Frank Fitzsimmons in collecting debts.

This book is believable to me.Each individual reader will have to assess for themselves whether this book is credible.
It's one of the best mafia related books that I have read so far.

Average customer rating:

The Irishman's Horse
Michael Collins
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1556111851

The fighting Irishman;: The story of "Wild Bill" Donovan (Credo books)

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The fighting Irishman;: The story of "Wild Bill" Donovan (Credo books)
Maria Wilhelm
Manufacturer: Hawthorn Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

THE DESIRE TO PLEASE; A STORY OF HAMILTON ROWAN AND THE UNITED IRISHMAN.

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THE DESIRE TO PLEASE; A STORY OF HAMILTON ROWAN AND THE UNITED IRISHMAN.
Harold Nicolson
Manufacturer: Constable
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GL9TG4

FIGHTING IRISHMAN, THE, The Story of "Wild Bill" Donovan, Catholic Digest Junior Book Shelf

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FIGHTING IRISHMAN, THE, The Story of "Wild Bill" Donovan, Catholic Digest Junior Book Shelf
Maria Wilhelm
Manufacturer: Hawthorn Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VBPQHK

THE FIGHTING IRISHMAN: THE STORY OF WILD BILL DONOVAN

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THE FIGHTING IRISHMAN: THE STORY OF WILD BILL DONOVAN
Maria Wilhelm
Manufacturer: Hawthorn Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N76R70

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An Irishman's Story
Justin McCarthy
Manufacturer: University Press of the Pacific
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Journalists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1410209032

Book Description

This is the autobiography of Justin McCarthy (1830-1912), who was an Irish politician, journalist, novelist, and historian. He began his writing career as a reporter for a local newspaper at age 16. From 1868 till 1871 he lectured with great success throughout the United States of America and was one of the assistant editors of the New York Independent. Although he is known more today for his political career with Parliament, McCarthy would continue to write throughout his life. McCarthy joined Parliament in 1879 as a representative for Longford County in central Ireland. He was a Home Rule Supporter and a strong follower of Gladstone. McCarthy led the majority faction after the Parnellite divorce case of 1890 and continued to be reelected to Parliament until his retirement before the general election of 1900. His first novel, "The Waterdale Neighbours," appeared in 1867 and was followed by about twenty others, many of which are still popular. Failing health and old age could not induce McCarthy to lay down his pen, and even as late as November, 1911, he published his "Irish Recollection," describing with his wonted charm the events of his earlier life. McCarthy also wrote: "Paul Massie" (1886), "My Enemy's Daughter" (1896), "Lady Judith" (1871), "The Comet of a Season" (1881), "Maid of Athens" (1883), "A Short History of our Times" (1888), "Sir Robert Peel" (1890), and many more.

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Irishmans Story
Justin Mccarthy
Manufacturer: MACMILLAN CO
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000Q5VTJ0

Book Description

There are many subtleties to investing in life insurance and learning how to use it as a tool for your financial security. But who is going to explain them all to you? This guide shows you the steps to take to choose the correct policy for yourself, your family -- and your future.

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