Book Review: One Year on a Bike

I have thought a lot lately about which book from the many I still have to review should take the spot for the 100th. I've spent a great deal of time over the last 2-years sharing reviews of books focused on interior design, gardening, architecture, travel, cooking, and entertaining. Recently I've started reviewing photography and coffee table books as well, and I appreciate the time that you all take to read what I think of these beautiful volumes. If you have a blog, or have ever tried to start a blog, you know that the key to being different is original content. These book reviews have become a steady stream of original content here on Color Outside the Lines, and I will continue adding more as the weeks and months progress. Again thank you for reading the reviews and purchasing these books, and following along with the blog! 

Now, on to the review. I picked this book as the 100th book review because if I had the opportunity to do this, spend one year on a bike - meeting new people, trying new things, and seeing new places - I would jump at the chance! One Year on a Bike, published by Gestalten is a sort of luxury scrapbook of the journey of one man, one bike, one long ride, and the adventures, pleasures, and pain. Martijn Doolaard used kickstarter to crowdsource the funds to begin the journey of taking a one-year sabbatical to make the seemingly impossible cycling trip from Amsterdam to Singapore. 

The book is a page by page recounting of the incredible journey through Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, India, and South East Asia. Take a look:  

One Year on a Bike is nothing short of beautiful, not only for the amazing images that were captured for the more than 360-pages, but for the endurance of Doolard throughout the journey. You can imagine how lonely one year on a bicycle could be, traveling more than 10,000 miles - sleeping in the wild - and the challenges that you'd face on such an adventure. But there are stories of love and acceptance, understanding and compassion, too! 

If you've ever wanted to challenge your normal, and adventure into the unknown, One Year on a Bike is the perfect book for you to own. Live vicariously until you're ready to make your own leap, no matter how large. Inspiring and beautiful, see more and grab your copy via the Amazon link below: 

One last note: If you've looked at purchasing my copies under the SHOP page and haven't been able to click on any of the buttons, I think I've fixed that issue. Take a look at the new books added to that page today! 

Book Review: 20th Century Jewelry and The Icons of Style

Are you a lover of fine jewelry hand crafted by jewelers like Cartier, Bulgari, and Van Cleef and Arpel? Are you a history buff, following the lavish lives of 20th century high profile celebrities and socialites like Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, or opera soprana Maria Callas? If either appeal to you 20th Century Jewelry and the Icons of Style published by Thames and Hudson is absolutely a must have book for your collection. 

This beautiful and impressive volume is filled with fabulous photography by Cecil Beaton and Horst, as well as beautifully photographed jewelry from the collections auctioned by prestigious auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's. 

47.14cts yellow diamond that the Duke of Windsor bought for the Duchess in 1951 from Harry Winston to complement her other yellow diamond and set in a ring. The stone was later acquired by Estée Lauder, set in a pendant and sold by the Lauder family in 2012 in aid of Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It is now known as ‘The Windsor Heart.’ 

20th Century Jewelry and the Icons of Style is a brilliant pictorial inventory of the finest jewelry that has ever been crafted in the world. The photos and stories of these socialites who had seemingly infinite resources to spend on these pieces are staggering. Part coffee table book, part voyeurs view in the lives of women in a world that no longer exists ... this beautiful conversational book is a must view. Take a closer look, and purchase your copy via the Amazon link below: 

Book Review: Frozen in Time

Frozen in Time: Photographs

Every so often, there's a book that pulls so tightly at your heart strings that you literally feel connected to it, a part of the story. That's exactly what happened with me when I opened Frozen in Time. The photographic narrative of a turbulent mother-daughter relationship inside of a terribly dilapidated farmhouse in Maine. Eager to reconnect and reconcile with her dying mother after a long estrangement, photographer Sarah C. Butler moved into the house her mother had allowed to nearly crumble around her, photographing the emotionally moving experience, and ultimately sharing it with us in Frozen in Time.

It's all at once beautiful and heart-wrenching. Rarely do you ever see something so intimately personal and at the same time, oddly nostalgic in coffee table books. It's a stunning visual tour de force that has absolutely mesmerized me, and I think it will do the same for you. Take a look: 

An exquisite book of photographs, but it's so much more than that. This is a book about the complex nature of relationships with our family, particularly our mothers, moving away from home, finding home, and reconciliation. It's a book about acceptance, of those who have harmed us, and of the harm we do to ourselves. It's a book about love, and the beauty that can be found in true understanding. 

A definite MUST have! Take a look and buy your copy via the Amazon link below:

Book Review: Lines of Thought: Drawing from Michaelangelo to now

Lines of Thought: Drawing from Michaelangelo to now

By Isabel Seligman, Foreword by Bridget Riley, Preface by Hugo Chapman

Published by Thames and Hudson

I greatly enjoy art, particularly line drawings and sketches. I don't know what appeals in these works, perhaps it's the simplicity or the art of perfectly understood form, but I find them thoughtful, enduring, elegant and beautiful. The recently published Lines of Thought: Drawing from Michaelangelo to now uncovers the process and practice of drawing, and how artists have used drawing as a means of recording and provoking thought. The book is wonderfully illustrated by a selection of work created over 500 years. From Dürer to Degas, Michelangelo to Matisse, Rembrandt to Riley, this volume studies the types of thinking that produced their drawings―brainstorming, inquiry, experiment, association, development and decision―giving us fresh insight into the creative impulse of some of the world’s greatest artists.

120 illustrations in total, each of them awe inspiring. Let's take a look at a few of my favorites:

Plaster Cupid Study, 1890 Graphite - Paul Cezanne 

Pen and Ink by Julie Mehretu, 2002

Pen and Brown Ink, The Virgin and Christ Child with a Cat, Leonardo da Vinci, 1478-81

Melchior Lorck, Tortoise and view of a walled coastal town, 1555

A traveling art exhibition accompanies the book, and will tour the United States in 2017 and 2018, inspiring and encouraging the practice of drawing. I hope that I can find a museum near me to view these amazing pieces from the British Museum’s outstanding Prints and Drawings Collection.

The exhibition and the book includes work by artists as diverse as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Albrecht Dürer, Piet Mondrian, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Bridget Riley, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Franz Kline and Rachel Whiteread. Combining work from master artists of the past with artists working today, clearly demonstrates the common thread of drawing as the basis for creation. I definitely recommend taking a closer look at this beautiful book, and purchasing your own copy via the Amazon link below:

Book Review: Evergreen: Living with Plants

It's still frigid here in the Northeast, and every year about this time, I start getting the itch to travel to warmer climates. Since I don't see a trip in my future, I rely on my vicarious journeys through reading to help transport and inspire me all at the same time. Gestalten just published Evergreen: Living with Plants, and let me tell you - it's been an amazing getaway.

From rooftop gardens and flora-laden balconies, to elaborate private gardens creating secret paradises in unassuming backyards, there are hundreds of awe-inspiring, beautiful photos of the beauty that can be created from those who find joy in the art of gardening. When I think of urban gardening, I tend to have these pictures of old tires painted by school children, filled with geraniums and marigolds, and perhaps a volunteer-built raised garden with unruly, forgotten tomato bushes. But these patches of hidden beauty and not so hidden beauty go far beyond that to full scale urban projects centered around horticulture. Take a look:  

Of course, the book is more than just architectural and urban garden design, it also tackles the addition of plants to interior design, with custom blueprints of plants that thrive in dark, shadowed corners, and those that require almost no attention at all. (Sign me up, please!) Evergreen: Living with Plants is a great book for both the professional designer, avid gardener with a healthy green-thumb, and the burgeoning hobbyist. It's the perfect guide for inspiring anyone with a love for nature, getting their hands in the soil, and spending some time with beauty in a garden they helped to create. Take a closer look, and pick up your copy via the Amazon link below:

Book Review: Jane Packer's Flower Course

I've always been an advocate for fresh flowers in the home. Whether it's a simple vase of tulips you pick up for $7 at the grocery store, an elaborate florist bouquet you receive as a kind gesture, or something handpicked from your own flower garden, corralled together in your favorite container - there is something undeniably brightening about those petals. Frequently, I will go to my local Trader Joe's and pick up a mix of things for under $20, and come home to work a little magic and create a florist inspired bouquet of my own. That's when having books like Jane Packer's Flower Course comes in handy! 

Jane Packer Flowers is one of London's best-known elite florists. The bouquets are distinctive, elegant yet refreshingly modern. The prestigious company supplies flowers to hip boutique hotels, designer stores, and offers a highly regarded four-week career course to students who are lucky enough to travel to London and learn from her genius. In this book, published by Ryland, Peters and Small, Jane Packer covers the same ground as you'd find if you took her course, helping to make you a much better floral arranger! From party and wedding flowers, to small arrangements and floral gifts, to dried hangings - it's all here in beautiful step-by-step photography and easy to follow instructions! Let's take a look: 

Honestly, the book is a must for anyone who enjoys beautiful flowers and DIY floral arrangements. It's an impeccably detailed resource for getting it right, each and every time, and bridging on what great skills you already have - to make you a more confident and well-rounded floral designer. And really, who doesn't want to be the envy of all of your friends when you can make $18 worth of flowers from Trader Joe's, look like a $250 bouquet from the local high-end florist and design shop? Give it a look, and grab a copy for yourself via the Amazon link below: