cover image Suzanne Golden Presents: Interviews with 36 Artists Who Innovate With Beads

Suzanne Golden Presents: Interviews with 36 Artists Who Innovate With Beads

Suzanne Golden. Sterling/Lark Crafts, $26.95 (168p) ISBN 978-1-4547-0410-2

Opening this book, part of Lark's Spotlight on Beading series, is like walking into an art gallery. Golden, an American, has selected 36 fellow bead artists from around the world to highlight their finest work and interview them about their process. There are some real jaw-droppers here -- detailed landscapes, women's shoes, sculptures, and full-body suits, all made with small beads. Virtually every method of manipulating beads is represented here -- crochet, weaving, embroidery, looming, even gluing. The interviews are brief and literally confined to the margins of the page, but they manage to convey a sense of what motivates each artist and provide insight into the pictured works. As with most Lark books, the photography is stunning; it gives as close to a three-dimensional sense of the beaded objects as is possible to achieve on paper. While there is plenty of jewelry included, the book is likely to be more inspirational to aspiring artist than the casual hobbyist. But there is something to marvel at for beaders and other crafters of every level. (Apr.)