It began with a cannon blast. It ended with a world in chains. Rising from the darkness, a visionary order shakes back the cloak of superstition and raises the lamp of Reason. The fires of that lamp burn the magi of these Mythic Times, and now they unite to save the future of their Arts. Across the world, magick, faith and reason grapple in the twilight, while in the distance the witch-fires grow bright and hungry. Be a wizard. Be a priest. Be a dragon or dragon-slayer. Dance to the tune of a Renaissance revel. It's a hell of a time to be alive. The source on the craftsmen and engineers of the Dark Fantastic world.

This beautiful and useful book teaches the reader to design and construct customized fetishwear, restraints, sensory deprivation devices, toys and whips, professionally elegant and crafted to the maker's individual needs and desires. Each project includes a detailed pattern with complete instructions for tailoring it to fit the wearer's or user's physiology and fantasies. Featuring such never-before-shown luxury items as full-body zentai, custom lace-up hoods, fully professional and properly weighted floggers and singletails, and various body harnesses for all genders, The Artisan's Guide will pay for itself hundreds of times over in the hands of a creative craftsperson.

Evoking Studs Terkel, Shen Fuyu delivers a rollicking deep dive into working life in a small village in rural China, tracing the last 100 years of history. Born in Shen Village in Southeast China, Shen Fuyu grew up in a family of farmers. Years later, Shen, now a writer, returned to his hometown to capture the village’s rich history in the face of industrialization. Through his own childhood memories and those of his ancestors, Shen resurrects the working life of Shen Village through interlinked stories of fifteen artisans as their lives intersect over the course of a century. While Shen's view of his hometown and his heritage is tinged with nostalgia, he does not romanticize it. Nor does he sugarcoat the backbreaking difficulty of life in rural China, but he still captures its small satisfactions and joys of loving one’s work with a great deal of care. In an acerbic, earthy and unsparing style that swings from poignancy to comedy, sometimes within a single paragraph, Shen evokes the spirits of these workers--a bamboo-weaver and his beloved bull, a carpenter’s magical saw, the deserter who became the village lantern-maker and a rebellious woman who beats up her own kidnapper. A reflection on the vicissitudes of small-town life during the epic shift from agricultural to industrial civilization, The Artisans vividly details the hardships, friendships and communal mythmaking of a disappearing community.

A comprehensive guide to artists, brushes, the hairs and bristles in use, styles, selection, evaluation, and care; with eighteen color plates and many line drawings.

Showcases work by designers and makers who use craft techniques rather than mass-production methods to create stylish, whimsical, covetable objects. The practice of handmade craft has undergone a huge resurgence in recent times. This book captures the new mood—a return to the unique and the artisanal. The first part of the book profiles over seventy international artisans who represent an astonishing array of crafts. The profiles include information on what inspires each artisan and how they create their products, often in innovative or eco-conscious ways. The second part of the book consists of an invaluable directory of products, divided into categories: art, ceramics, furniture, glasswork, jewelry, lighting, metalwork, paper and woodwork, stationery, tableware, and textiles. More than 800 color photographs illustrate the huge variety of design work on offer—exquisite paper flowers, handthrown pots and jugs, beaded necklaces, folk-inspired knitted scarves, handblown chandeliers, wooden table lamps, embroideries, and more. Resources include: contact details for the artisans, recommendations of shops, websites, and blogs to visit.

Pottery making and wheel throwing is a timeless craft, perfect for beginner crafters and artisans who don't mind getting their hands dirty. The Potter's Complete Studio Handbook is the perfect guide for all levels to enjoy and master the art of pottery. The book is a compilation of the best features from The Potter's Studio Handbook and The Potter's Studio Clay and Glaze Handbook, bringing the best of hand-building and wheel-throwing techniques together with comprehensive instruction for clays and glazes. Inside, you'll find: —expert tips and tricks for selecting and preparing your clay, constructing slab projects, throwing and centering clay on the wheel, firing your project to perfection —16 beautiful and functional projects with step-by-step photos using wheel-throwing, hand-building, and slipcasting techniques that can be done at home —more than 40 formulas for unique clays and glazes with instructions on how to use them plus troubleshooting tips from the experts —behind-the-scenes access to production and mining facilities . . . and much more!

The key to becoming a successful artisan cheesemaker is to develop the intuition essential for problem solving and developing unique styles of cheeses. There are an increasing number of books on the market about making cheese, but none approaches the intricacies of cheesemaking science alongside considerations for preparing each type of cheese variety in as much detail as Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking. Indeed, this book fills a big hole in the market. Beginner guides leave you wanting more content and explanation of process, while recipe-based cookbooks often fail to dig deeper into the science, and therefore don’t allow for a truly intuitive cheesemaker to develop. Acclaimed cheesemaker Gianaclis Caldwell has written the book she wishes existed when she was starting out. Every serious home-scale artisan cheesemaker—even those just beginning to experiment—will want this book as their bible to take them from their first quick mozzarella to a French mimolette, and ultimately to designing their own unique cheeses. This comprehensive and user-friendly guide thoroughly explains the art and science that allow milk to be transformed into epicurean masterpieces. Caldwell offers a deep look at the history, science, culture, and art of making artisan cheese on a small scale, and includes detailed information on equipment and setting up a home-scale operation. A large part of the book includes extensive process-based recipes dictating not only the hard numbers, but also the concepts behind each style of cheese and everything you want to know about affinage (aging) and using oils, brushes, waxes, infusions, and other creative aging and flavoring techniques. Also included are beautiful photographs, profiles of other cheesemakers, and in-depth appendices for quick reference in the preparation and aging room. Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking will also prove an invaluable resource for those with, or thinking of starting, a small-scale creamery. Let Gianaclis Caldwell be your mentor, guide, and cheering section as you follow the pathway to a mastery of cheesemaking. For the avid home hobbyist to the serious commercial artisan, Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking is an irreplaceable resource.