Monday, May 5, 2014

May 5th- Art Literature

So I have to share a great book I just checked out from the library.  It was for my kids but I ended up loving it more than them.
The Mad Potter:  George E. Ohr is written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan.  (If they sound familiar it is because they also wrote Action Jackson and Ballet for Martha.)  I grabbed it because I loved his mustache (and I choose most of my children's library books by the jacket art) and the title sounded interesting.  I never expected to be blown away by the content.  
photo credit
George Ohr was an artist who was totally devoted to his ART.  He made some "standard" pottery pieces just to make a living but his true passion was his "mud babies."  He was a perfect example of someone totally devoted to their craft.  He never gained huge fame during his lifetime but the prices on his pieces are currently a little out of my price range... like $20,000-$60,000

In all, this book and this artist were an awesome little surprise from the library. 

Another fun read I have been blasting through is:
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

Last summer I checked out The Aviators Wife by Melanie Benjamin.  It was my first time reading a fictional biography and I was hooked.  (Imagine that someone researches a person in extreme depth and then writes a pretend diary... that is pretty much a fictional biography.)  I have gone on to read several her books and have not been disappointed.  On my last trip to the library I searched for fictional biography and saw this one.  It is the story of Mamah Cheney who had a huge, scandalous love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright.  It is  a fun, easy read that keeps you up at night wanting to know what is going to happen next.... and makes you want to go study Frank Lloyd Wright. 






2 comments:

  1. Would you say The Mad Potter was appropriate for middle school readers? Difficulty wise

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    1. yeah... It was really easy to read. I would say upper elementary to middle school would work great!

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