The Creative Artist: A Fine Artist's Guide to Expanding Your Creativity and Achieving Your Artistic Potential

Average customer rating:

Best of the Best

A journey through knowledge, experience and spirit

Highly recommend this book!

This book with discepline will rejuvinate your mind.

The Creative Artist: A Fine Artist's Guide to Expanding Your Creativity and Achieving Your Artistic Potential
Nita Leland
Manufacturer: North Light Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Creativity | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Creativity & Genius | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0891344659

Customer Reviews:

Best of the Best.......2005-09-06

I have been painting in watercolor & teaching watercolor for over 15 years and find this to be the most inspiring, motivational, & instructional book on the market.

A journey through knowledge, experience and spirit.......2000-12-17

Nita Leland's book not only gives ideas to develop your understanding and appreciation of art, but quotes artists' thoughts about their art and even their difficulties in achieving what they were looking for. She gives"tips" to release the creator in you, encourages hard and constant work as a way to loosen up and discover your skills beyond shape and color. She explains how after an accidental stain or assemblage of papers, fabrics and objects, you can get to artistic creation by emphasizing and developing the "accident" by means of color knowledge, tehnique and sensitive approach.

Highly recommend this book!.......2000-02-28

I haven't been able to put this one down. This book has given me the courage to begin making my art again. Every time I pick it up, I get ideas for paintings, drawings. I like how it is written like an art class, and has activities to get you unstuck. The activities are just vague enough to get you thinking of possibilities. This is far and away the best book to get you going!

This book with discepline will rejuvinate your mind........1999-05-25

This book has been a great inspiration to me in revisiting my talents in art and many other things such as graphic design & music. The Creative Artist has opened my mind and helped me to reach farther goals through its guidence and activities. There is also some very inspirational quotes. I highly recomend this book to beginners and those who have gotten caught up in daily life and need to refind themselves.

Book Description

In the absence of strong government policies, the IEA projects that the worldwide use of oil in transport will nearly double between 2000 and 2030, leading to a similar increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Bio fuels, such as ethanol, bio diese

Amazon.com

James C. Scott's research for this book began with an examination of the tensions between state authorities and various "unstable" individuals throughout history, from hunter-gatherer tribes to Gypsies to the homeless. He soon became fascinated, however, by the recurring patterns of failure and authoritarianism in certain social engineering programs aimed at bringing such people fully into the state's fold. Soviet collectivization, the Maoist Great Leap Forward, the precisely planned city of Brasilia--these and other projects around the world, while deeply ambitious, extracted immeasurable tolls on the people they were designed to help.

One of the most important common factors that Scott found in these schemes is what he refers to as a high modernist ideology. In simplest terms, it is an extremely firm belief that progress can and will make the world a better place. But "scientific" theories about the betterment of life often fail to take into account "the indispensable role of practical knowledge, informal processes, and improvisation in the face of unpredictability" that Scott views as essential to an effective society. What high modernism lacks is metis, a Greek word which Scott translates as "the knowledge that can only come from practical experience." Although metis is closely related to the concept of "mutuality" found in the anarchist writings of, among others, Kropotkin and Bakunin, Scott is careful to emphasize that he is not advocating the abolition of the state or championing a complete reliance on natural "truth." He merely recognizes that some types of states can initiate programs which jeopardize the well-being of all their subjects.

Although the collapse of most socialist governments might lead one to believe that Seeing Like a State is old news, Scott's analysis should prove extremely useful to those considering the effects of global capitalism on local communities.

Book Description

Why have large-scale schemes to improve the human condition in the twentieth century so often gone awry? James C. Scott analyzes diverse failures in high-modernist, authoritarian state planning-collectivization in Russia, the building of Brasilia, compulsory ujamaa villages in Tanzania, and others-and uncovers conditions common to all such planning disasters. What these failures teach us, he argues, is that any centrally managed social plan must recognize the importance of local customs and practical knowledge if it hopes to succeed.

Customer Reviews:

A fascinating must read.......2007-09-25

I've found this book useful, breathtakingly so, in so many ways these days; Scott raises a question at the heart of almost all our current civic debates, even in my own micro-field of schooling and education. I find myself saying, time and again, "she's thinking like a state", and it fits and helps me resort out the arguments. Thank you thank you, Prof. Scott.

Seeing Like a State.......2007-03-29

I got this book because it was recommended as background reading for a local debate about CAFOs. I like the meticulous detail in this treatment of social engineering by governments. That is not a liberal/conservative issue, but one which is worth looking at wherever there is a risk of social control that can lead to inequality and injustice.

Hayek meets Heidegger.......2006-11-28

Brad DeLong's featured review is basically correct - Scott is treading ground remarkably similar to Hayek's. But I don't think that Scott is ignorant of Hayek. Rather, Scott is attempting to explore the same territory, but without coming to the same political conclusions. Early in this book, Scott makes clear that he is not advocating libertarianism (I am told that Scott calls himself an anarchist). He is aiming at a deeper critique of planning, one which is not merely about prices or information, but about metaphysics, epistemology and phenomenology. Scott never makes it explicit, but throughout this book, I got the sense that he is doing continental philosophy. This is a Heideggerian critique of planning - one that just happens to cover some of the same ground as Hayek.

Scott's focus is on "seeing" like a (high modernist) state; the question this book asks is: how does such a state see, and what does state-like perception systematically miss? Scott argues the state's vision is limited to the conscious, the rational, and the abstract - it cannot see beyond what Nassim Nicholas Taleb has called "the Platonic fold." This vision is identical to what continental philosophers refer to as the "objective gaze." The unconscious, the organic, the ecological and the folk-wise are invisible to the modernist bureaucracy. To make these invisible elements rationally "legible," the state reaches out and actively reduces them to known quantities. This allows the state some limited control over them, but in the process any emergent systematic properties are destroyed.

It is tempting to conclude that this book is a generalized critique of government. It is not. The mistakes Scott identifies are characteristic only of a certain type of regime, the high modernist state. High modernism, as Scott identifies it, is a sort of irrational confidence in objective rationality. It becomes possible on a large scale only after the Enlightenment, and especially after the advent of "scientific" management. It is epitomized not only by Stalin, but by Robert McNamara's Department of Defense, and the US Bureau of Reclamations. Nor is it limited to states. Systematic flaws exist in the perception of any large hierarchical organization that makes decisions on the basis of abstract calculative rationality. As such, this is ultimately a much more profound critique than Hayek's.

DeLong is right that this book is not as well-written or organized as it could have been, but the synthesis of Hayek and Heidegger is absolute genius. It makes the book a classic in my view.

Got the gist, gets lost in the details.......2006-08-31

Scott's book gets off to a very good start, arguing that the roots of "high modernism" run deep in a particular world view that grew with scientific culture, but lacks its elements of ruthless self-criticism. What impressed me was his grasp of this ideology as a culture, albeit a culture of a few. Science too is a culture, and this phenomenon is the mentality of the technicians, the engineers, the planners...once they gain power. As one who works in this milieu, although not with the power elite, it rang very true.

He also does a wonderful job of skewering the cultural and aesthetic pretensions of people like Le Corbusier, although this has been done very well by others as well. But Scott does a very good job of showing how the aesthetic was the political, although nobody would admit it.

Unfortunately, after the first two chapters or so, Scott's writing loses its force and wonders about, making no very impressive points, and relating interesting annecdotes, providing intriguing descriptions of bad situations, but not advancing or deepening his argument.

the negative nature of government.......2006-07-29

James Scott argues that the formal rules of social-engineering design inevitably leave out elements essential to their actual function. He expounds cases both in America and abroad, current and historic, that reinforce this theme. Whether planning ecosystems, cities or societies, authoritative, Scott not only hypothesizes but demonstrates that centralized plans which fail to account for local idiosyncracies will themselves fail.
I find Scott so convincing that I finished the book with a sense of dismal foreboding. Neither major political party in the U.S. listens to this message. Even conservatives, traditional advocates for smaller, less centralized government, propose strategies that violate the principles Scott delineates.
This book should be required reading for anyone in public office or on a planning commission. Then it should be read by everyone who votes for those offices so we can see the dangers of voting for people who see like a state rather than like a human being.

Successful Grant Writing: Strategies for Health and Human Service Professionals

Average customer rating:

Some of the information other such books leave out...
Not that good

Successful Grant Writing: Strategies for Health and Human Service Professionals
Laura N. Gitlin , and Kevin J. Lyons
Manufacturer: Springer Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Nonprofit Organizations & Charities | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Writing | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Research | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Research | Medical | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0826192602

Customer Reviews:

Some of the information other such books leave out..........2006-01-25

Here's a book that I wish I had read several years ago...there are many details of the grant process that experienced grantwriters don't share-either they don't know or they forgot that others don't know. This book covers basic principles of grantwriting in a clear and direct style. The target audience is new or novice grantwriters (such as graduate students, postdocs, or junior faculty) in the fields of health and human services. Thus, the examples in the book are in those areas, however, there is plenty of information that is relevant to grantwriting in the biomedical sciences. The authors usually point out relevant differences. I learned things I didn't know about how RFPs are developed, when and how to contact a program director, how to interpret the pink sheets, and strategies for resubmissions (including how to decide whether or not to resubmit).

The book covers three areas that most grantwriting books omit: 1) strategies on how each individual grant should be part of an overall career strategy; 2) discussion and outline of a research career trajectory as one progresses from novice to intermediate to advanced and expert; and 3) information on assembling an effective grantwriting team for program project grants and multidisciplinary proposals. This third area is becoming increasingly important as the trend toward translational and group science grows. (I will re-read this section the next time I am asked to work on a training or program grant.)

This would be a great book for the bookshelf in a lab or in a grad student or postdoc resource center.

Not that good.......2005-06-27

This book is not really that good of a guide. Very simplistic in approach and mostly common sense. Their guide seems to be geared towards educational program start-ups and nothing else. If you are in the biomedical sciences, this book is a waste.

Average customer rating:

Economic institutions and human welfare
John Maurice Clark
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007ENCB8

Book Description

This collection of essays deals not with economics in the technical sense, but with some of the human and community factors that underlie it.

Voluntary Organisations and Innovation in the Public Services (Routledge Studies in the Management of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organizations, 1)

Average customer rating:

Voluntary Organisations and Innovation in the Public Services (Routledge Studies in the Management of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organizations, 1)
S. Osborne
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Nonprofit Organizations & Charities | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Public Policy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Social Work | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Social Work | Social Sciences | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books

General | Business & Finance | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0415182565

Book Description

Stephen Osborne uses original research to assess the innovative capacity of voluntary organizations and develops a theory of innovation in non-market and non-profit conditions.

Average customer rating:

Economic Institutions and Human Welfare
John Maurice Clark
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press Reprint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTP3Q8

Book Description

The completion of the European Single Market Programme (SMP) and the launch of "Euroland" are bold statements on the EU and its future. Within this economic process, the particular importance of the banking and financial services sectors is widely emphasized. This collection explores the strategic impact of the Single Market Programme and European Monetary Union on European banks and banking systems. The contributors examine 11 banking systems: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. Thoroughly up-to-date and with a common thematic overview of major trends in European banking systems, this book covers key strategic developments, structural changes, performance trends, and strategies.

Book Description

Did you know that the odds in favor of your becoming a victim of fraud are higher than those of becoming a victim of a violent crime? It's not so surprising if you consider that a mugger can only mug one person at a time, while a con artist can easily swindle hundreds of people at once.

But life is about to become harder for these swindlers--because FRAUD! provides you with the weapons you need to defend yourself against economic crime of all kinds, from "ponzi" and "pyramid" schemes to telemarketing and credit card fraud. Using enlightening examples, compelling stories of real-life scams, and candid interviews with state and federal regulators, victims of fraud, and actual con artists themselves, FRAUD! gives you the low-down on the low-lifes behind this shady billion dollar business.

Customer Reviews:

Protecting Yourself or Someone You Love.......2000-07-23

Fraud! How to Protect Yourself From Schemes, Scams, and Swindles by Marsha Bertrand is a book that should be on the shelf of anyone and everyone who buys stock, is seeking to become a business owner, or has any money and wants to invest in something to make that money grow. Ms. Bertrand expresses in everyday language what can happen if your money or the money of someone you love (parents, sibblings, grandparents or friends) is given to the wrong person for investing. She details how easy it is to get caught up in the web of con artists. Everyone thinks this only happens to "other people" until you or someone you love loses everything. It's also a great reference book for authors looking for details in this area.

Average customer rating:

A wonderful primer on starting a business with contact information for locating startup funds if necessary.

How to Start a Business in Iowa
Entrepreneur Press
Manufacturer: Entrepreneur Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
New Business Enterprises | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1932156585

Book Description

This series covers the federal, state, and local regulations imposed on small businesses, with concise, friendly and up-to-the-minute advice on each critical step of starting your own business.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful primer on starting a business with contact information for locating startup funds if necessary........2007-02-12

This is a valuable book (resource) for budding entrepreneurs. It seems to try to cover all the bases for starting a small business, but it can't do them all well in the space available between its covers. The book is only 288 pages long. If you are in the planning stages of starting a small business, then I highly recommend you get a copy of this book. Read it, study it, and outline it. There are helpful checklists to help you grasp the subjects. You will come up with a plethora of keywords and terms that you will want to google to find Web pages giving more detailed (and maybe more current) information.

I am a SCORE counselor (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) who typically does face-to-face counseling sessions three nights a month. It would really be neat if my clients would read this book BEFORE they came to their session with me because they would pretty much be "educated customers" ready to ask educated questions. Our sessions would be so much more beneficial.

My favorite chapters were:

1. Initial business concerns
2. Your business' structure
3. Business start-up details
5. Sources of business assistance (SCORE is mentioned here)
7. Your smart business plan (and a good sample plan is included)
8. Obtaining the financing you need

The book is weak when it comes to how the Internet can be used in corresponding, hiring, and marketing. But this is just one example of how googling keywords and concepts found in the book will make the book more complete. Don't treat the book as authoritative on the law. It isn't. Nor was it ever intended to be. It is light on tax information as it relates to small business.

I was particularly impressed with the material presented in Chapter 2: Choice of Legal Entity. That subject is sorely ignored in most small business books, and it is critically important. It is a subject I regularly must spend a great deal of time discussing at my SCORE sessions. This book does a pretty good job on the topic.

Chapters 4 and 9 through 12 are easy to find fault with. The topic of each could fill a book. But having these topics covered definitely will help a budding entrepreneur know some of the issues they raise.

I would have liked the book more if Chapter 6 (marketing) had been less superficial. When I read it I got the impression that the author was more a public relations expert than a marketing expert. I generally categorize public relations as a subset of marketing. Marketing includes advertising, public relations, and a whole host of other promotion techniques. I did not get this message when I read the book. I also would have liked the book better if the Internet, email, and Web sites had been discussed more. But there are many books on those subjects. Therefore, I can't complain too much about the limited discussion of computers.

When you read this book it may feel a little like it was produced on an assembly line. Maybe it was? There are 51 versions of this book sold; one for each state and the District of Columbia. Content is king, and this book has it. 5 stars!

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