The Work of Craft is a profound meditation on the relationship between craft and craftsman. Focusing in turn on pottery, weaving, and woodcarving, and grounding her insights in her own experiences as a potter, Carla Needleman shows that the basic material every craftsman works with is himself or herself. The stuff between one's hands-the clay, the wood, the wool-responds to the quality of one's inner state. The product of one's work is not just an object but a way of being. Thus, the exploration of a craft is--like this book--an exploration of the processes of life itself.

The Work of Craft is a profound meditation on the relationship between craft and craftsman. Focusing in turn on pottery, weaving, and woodcarving, and grounding her insights in her own experiences as a potter, Carla Needleman shows that the basic material every craftsman works with is himself or herself. The stuff between one's hands-the clay, the wood, the wool-responds to the quality of one's inner state. The product of one's work is not just an object but a way of being. Thus, the exploration of a craft is-like this book- an exploration of the processes of life itself.

Edward Lucie-Smith follows craft through three historical stages. Starting form the time when everything was made by hand, he proceeds to a second period, from the Renaissance onward, when there emerged an intellectual distinction between the idea of craft and that of fine art, which eventually came to be regarded as superior. The third period occurred during the Industrial Revolution, which introduced a separation between the craft object and the product made my machine. Continuing his account chronologically, Lucie-Smith treats the Arts and Crafts movements in Great Britain and America, as well as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Art Deco, the Bauhaus, and craft today. His absorbing narrative is enlivened by a stunning collection of more than 300 photographs (42 in color) of a wide vareity of objects -- the finest examples of craft work from all over the world. -- Form publisher's description.

For Acts of Creation, award-winning journalist Walt Harrington travels America searching for the magical nexus of craft, talent, and mastery that gives birth to a functional work of art-and leaves its maker with a sense of satisfaction and achievement known well to fine craftsmen across the ages.

Do you want to be more creative in less time? Have better ideas and then know which ones to run with? Hegarty's book, Work of Art, shares 5 steps he discovered that can help anyone be more creative and make their ideas happen faster. Work of Art is about the craft of creativity - the work process - that turns great ideas into something awesome and real-world.

Why do people work hard, and take pride in what they do? This book, a philosophically-minded enquiry into practical activity of many different kinds past and present, is about what happens when people try to do a good job. It asks us to think about the true meaning of skill in the 'skills society' and argues that pure competition is a poor way to achieve quality work. Sennett suggests, instead, that there is a craftsman in every human being, which can sometimes be enormously motivating and inspiring - and can also in other circumstances make individuals obsessive and frustrated. The Craftsman shows how history has drawn fault-lines between craftsman and artist, maker and user, technique and expression, practice and theory, and that individuals' pride in their work, as well as modern society in general, suffers from these historical divisions. But the past lives of crafts and craftsmen show us ways of working (using tools, acquiring skills, thinking about materials) which provide rewarding alternative ways for people to utilise their talents. We need to recognise this if motivations are to be understood and lives made as fulfilling as possible.