The Art of Fine Gifts: Twentieth-century painter, designer and wood engraver Eric Ravilious was responsible for a fascinating range of different works, from illustrations for books to designs for ceramics for the established Wedgwood pottery firm. This gorgeous new book features beautiful woodcut images of countryside life, watercolours of rolling landscapes and many of Ravilious' acute and profound war paintings.

More popular than ever, the work of Eric Ravilious (1903-42) is rooted in the landscape of mid-20th-century England. This new survey of his work by Alan Powers, the established authority on Ravilious, is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of his art in all media - watercolour, illustration, printmaking, graphic design, textiles and ceramics - and positions Ravilious firmly as a major figure in the history of early 20th-century British art. In an accessible and engaging text, copiously illustrated with reproductions of work drawn from a range of sources, Alan Powers discusses the reception of Ravilious's work since his death in 1942 and the part it has played in creating an English style of the time, positioned between tradition and Modernism, and borrowing from naive and popular art of the past.

A facsimile edition of the classic High Street, which pairs the timeless illustrations of Eric Ravilious with a fascinating text by architectural historian J. M. Richards. First published in 1938, this charming book introduces the British high street. Shops include the family butcher, the cheesemonger, the baker and confectioner and the oyster bar, as well as specialized establishments such as the plumassier, the clerical outfitter and the submarine engineer. Only 2,000 copies of the original book were printed before the lithographic plates were destroyed in the London Blitz. As a result, it has become one of the most collectible of all artists' books from this period. This beautiful facsimile edition features all 24 of Ravilious's colour illustrations, and includes an essay by Gill Saunders, Senior Curator of Prints at the Victoria and Albert Museum, that sets the book in its historical context.

"The English artist Eric Ravilious (1903-42) is now one of the most popular artists of his period. He was a painter of watercolours and murals, a book illustrator in wood engraving and lithography, and a designer of transfer-ware pottery." "Eric Ravilious - Imagined Realities includes illustrations of many previously unpublished paintings, including a number from private collections, as well as surveying his other artistic activities. The text draws on many letters and other documents, again previously unpublished, and is the most comprehensive account of Ravilious's career ever published. It also attempts to position Ravilious in relation to English art of his time, and more recent critical and cultural issues."--BOOK JACKET.

In recent years Eric Ravilious has become recognized as one of the most important British artists of the 20th century, whose watercolours and wood engravings capture an essential sense of place and the spirit of mid-century England. What is less appreciated is that he did not work in isolation, but within a much wider network of artists, friends and lovers influenced by Paul Nashs teaching at the Royal College of Art Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Enid Marx, Tirzah Garwood, Percy Horton, Peggy Angus and Helen Binyon among them. The Ravilious group bridged the gap between fine art and design, and the gentle, locally rooted but spritely character of their work came to be seen as the epitome of contemporary British values. Seventy-five years after Raviliouss untimely death, Andy Friend tells the story of this group of artists from their student days through to the Second World War. Ravilious & Co. explores how they influenced each other and how a shared experience animated their work, revealing the significance in this pattern of friendship of women artists, whose place within the history of British art has often been neglected. Generously illustrated and drawing on extensive research, and a wealth of newly discovered material, Ravilious & Co. is an enthralling narrative of creative achievement, joy and tragedy.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest English wood-engravers, Eric Ravilious was also a serious landscape watercolourist. This aspect of his oeuvre was generally neglected until the publication of The England of Eric Ravilious, a study hailed on publication as 'an irresistible book about a still underrated artist'.

'Ravilious in Pictures: The War Paintings' celebrates and commemorates the wartime career of Eric Ravilious, who died on active service in Iceland at the age of 39. One of a series of books, it creates a vivid portrait both of the artist himself and of life in wartime Britain.

My son looked at me and my accoutrements with skepticism through narrowed eyes. This would be the son with the tattoo between his shoulder blades, the hand-rolled cigarette, the assortment of earrings, and the riot of curls that-at the right length-give him a jaunty, Viva la Revolucion Che Guevara vibe. He's a hard one to impress when it comes to unorthodoxy. "Mom, you look like you're ready to break into a chemical plant." From out of the mouths of babes... As though adjusting to courtrooms, spike heels and a chainsaw after forty weren't enough... Following in the high-heeled footsteps of Mary T. Wagner's two earlier inspiring and award-winning essay collections, "Fabulous in Flats" starts with the author's hair-raising introduction to running a chop saw, an endeavor lending itself more to flat shoes and safety goggles than stilettos. Whether decked out in a rhinestone tiara and a recycled mink at a Viennese Ball, embracing her inner "mother tiger" at her son's hospital bed, or reflecting on how nice it could be to channel Nancy Drew's fictional life for just a day, Wagner once again shares her wry and insightful style in essays sure to resonate. WHAT OTHER AUTHORS HAVE TO SAY... "I can't remember the last time I've laughed as hard as I laughed while reading Mary T. Wagner's wonderful memoir Fabulous in Flats." --Ann Hite, author "Ghost on Black Mountain" "A pleasure to read. I'm convinced Mary T. Wagner is the reincarnation of Erma Bombeck...in sexier shoes." --JOHN DeDAKIS, CNN Senior Copy Editor, "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer"author of "Fast Track" and "Bluff" "Stilettos, heels, even flats - I couldn't possibly walk in any women's shoes, but if I could without severely pulling a hamstring, I would want to walk in Mary Wagner's. Her personal stories are warm, funny, engaging, and fit perfectly - even on the feet of a man. These wonderful stories are not just observations about women, they're about all of us." --DAVID W. BERNER, author, Accidental Lessons: A Memoir of a Rookie Teacher and a Life Renewed "Mary Wagner is a brilliant essayist who combines wit with poignancy, bravado with humility, and can write her way out of the boxes in which most mere mortals place themselves. The hilarity of real life situations in court, at home and with shoes and power tools made me laugh out loud. Ms.Wagner's work is like the best, most compelling sweet treat... you just want to keep consuming until it is gone." --RICHARD McGINNIS, editor and publisher "Mindful Metropolis" Magazine "Mary's writing is honest, which is the best thing I think writing can be. Her humor, sincerity and attention to detail make her a writer for anyone in need of a good story. Heartfelt and witty, her pieces move to the beat of a woman-who-knows marching in stilettos. Brilliant " --ALYSON LYON, co-founder Chicago's "Essay Fiesta" "Mary Wagner has an artist's eye for detail, a keen sense of what is meaningful in life, and an unerring ability to capture it all in wonderfully readable prose. No woman who loves or works or dreams or simply lives in the world today will fail to find something with which to connect. Wagner's slice-of-life essays offer both a mirror into our own lives and a connection with a remarkable woman who, after a few paragraphs, feels like an old friend." --CYNTHIA CLAMPITT, author, Waltzing Australia

To the interested observer the collected volumes of artist-designer Eric Ravilious's preparatory works and materials provide a veritable mine of information about his work and working methods, particularly regarding the masterful development of his signature pure pattern. Ravilious's scrapbooks represent a conscious accumulation of reference material, revealing his interest in subjects as diverse as tennis, cricket, fireworks and aeronautics, alongside a multitude of sketches, tracings and proofs of engravings. Ravilious' scrapbooks do not contain the mass of fascinating but disparate material, seen for example in similar volumes compiled by his great friend and artistic contemporary Edward Bawden. Rather, they document the considered progression of an inquisitive mind, grasping his chosen subjects in a unique and delicate visual language, where many of the artist's most famous motifs and images can be seen blossoming from embryonic stages. Bringing together over 170 images taken from the artist's 5 scrapbooks, accompanied by instructive commentary by the authors, this new book provides a fascinating record of the febrile imagination of one of Britain's best-loved artists.