Play with art like never before in this exciting new activity book from the best-selling author of the Let's Make Some Great Art series. Marion Deuchars has created a surprising and engaging range of activities and games organized into seven sections of Drawing, Color, Shapes, Paint, Paper, Printing, and Pattern. Each section is not only a great opportunity to play, but also helps to shape and form artistic ability and confidence. Discover the joys of making your own marbled paper. Create your own language in pictures. Providing hours of endless fun and exploration, Art Play will bring out the artist in everyone.

Discover the marks for your most authentic art! Mixed-media artist Rae Missigman identifies herself as a "mark-maker." Ever in the forefront of her art, organic shapes and graphic marks are what give her work a sense of authenticity. With an adventurous, anything-goes attitude to expressing herself, she is just as likely to use a celery stem, a sewing machine or a cardboard tube as she is a brush, a palette knife or her own hands. In Paint, Play, Explore, Missigman helps you discover those marks that define you as an artist, and weave them into your art in new and interesting ways. Through page after page of creative exploration, you'll become a collector of tools--traditional and unconventional mark-makers that will become an extension of your unique voice. You'll become a tinkerer as you recycle and repurpose, striving to turn something ordinary into something extraordinary. You'll become an explorer as you draw with your non-dominant hand, create "blindly" using resists, stamp with your own handcrafted organic ink, and follow other creative prompts to widen and shape your artistic world. Whether you're just starting your creative adventure or you're looking to break through to the next level, Paint, Play, Explore will set you in motion. Setting the tone with her upbeat vibe and joyful use of color, Missigman pushes you to find your own beautiful artistic "fingerprint" to create work that is interesting, full of life and distinctly yours...and above all, to embrace the journey. "The shapes you choose to etch in your work, free flowing and heartfelt, are a part of what makes the art your own. Tools in hand, your marks will find you and you will begin to recognize yourself in your creations." You're going to need a bigger creative toolbox... • 60+ mark-making tools and mediums • 23 stepped-out demonstrations on collage, one-brush painting, monoprinting, resists, transfers and other fun and versatile mark-making techniques • 4 start-to-finish projects for turning marks into inventive art

At forty-two, Joan Stanford—a busy mother, innkeeper—discovered, to her surprise and delight, a creative process for insight and healing that allowed even her, a self-proclaimed “non-artist,” to start making art. In The Art of Play, Stanford shares her journey through art and poetry as an example of how taking—or, more appropriately, making—time to pay attention to the imagery our daily lives presents to us can expand our awareness and joy, and she offers readers suggestions for how to do this for themselves, inviting them to embark on their own journey.

A guide to repurposing used books and pages into unique, accessible art projects—the perfect gift for artists, crafters and book lovers. In these pages, Jason Thompson has curated an extensive and artistic range of both achievable upcycled crafts made from books and book pages and an amazing gallery that contains thought-provoking and beautiful works that transform books into art. The content encompasses a wide range of techniques and step-by-step projects that deconstruct and rebuild books and their parts into unique, recycled objects. The book combines in equal measure bookbinding, woodworking, paper crafting, origami, and textile and decorative arts techniques, along with a healthy dose of experimentation and fun. The beautiful high-end presentation and stunning photography make this book a delightful, must-have volume for any book-loving artist or art-loving book collector.

Experience the wonder of color and learn through discovery how colors mix and change.

Packed with joyful and educational art experiences for kids, Play, Make, Create offers fun and engaging imaginative activities focused on the fun and reward of creating, not just producing a final project. Founded in a process-based philosophy, this unique book includes more than 40 activities set up as invitations, or thoughtfully designed prompts to explore, create, and play. Author Meri Cherry has more than 20 years of teaching experience, and her blog (mericherry.com) has set the standard for meaningful and enriching process art experiences that are both manageable for parents, and appealing and fun for kids. Play, Make, Create begins with a guide for parents, teachers, and facilitators that discusses how to set up materials in an inviting way, how to present an activity and talk to kids about art, and how to stock the right materials for ongoing creativity. Also included are best-practice tips for clean-up, answers to frequently asked questions, and more. The book offers four types of creative invitations: Invitations to Explore (easy ideas for fun and play), Invitations to Create (open-ended, craft-based activities), Invitations to Play (sensory-based activities), and Big Projects (ongoing process-art activities). Most feature basic materials and tools (paper, inexpensive paints, pencils, glue) that require little setup. Among the projects and activities you’ll find: A collage project that takes a no-rules approach to creating with cut-out drawings and pictures. Ideas for building a science station that allow kids to experiment with kitchen cabinet supplies such as soap, measuring spoons, cotton balls, and baking soda. A prompt to draw a self-portrait, using a mirror (parents can draw themselves, too). Instructions for making homemade colored playdough. The activities in Play, Make, Create promote active, meaningful, and socially interactive learning. Children are encouraged to wonder, experiment, and use critical thinking—and most of all, enjoy the process. By following their own inclinations and making their own choices, children gain self-confidence and hone their problem-solving skills. Get Play, Make, Create and give children the gift of creativity!

Free Play is about the inner sources of spontaneous creation. It is about why we create and what we learn when we do. It is about the flow of unhindered creative energy: the joy of making art in all its varied forms. An international bestseller and beloved classic, Free Play is an inspiring and provocative book, directed toward people in any field who want to contact, honor, and strengthen their own creative powers. It reveals how inspiration arises within us, how that inspiration may be blocked, derailed or obscured, and how finally it can be liberated—how we can be liberated—to speak or sing, write or paint, dance or play, with our own authentic voice. Stephen Nachmanovitch, a pioneer in free improvisation, integrates material from a wide variety of sources among the arts, sciences, and spiritual traditions of humanity, drawing on unusual quotes, amusing and illuminating anecdotes, and original metaphors. The whole enterprise of improvisation in life and art, of recovering free play and awakening creativity, is about being true to ourselves and our visions. Free Play brings us into direct, active contact with boundless creative energies that we may not even know we had.