VIZCAYA ~ A Novel
A passionate devotion to a house that spans one hundred years. The spirit of a woman and love unattained. What is time? Is it not a tyrant who alienates indiscriminately. The year is 1917. Socially prominent industrialist, James Deering is entertaining guests in his sumptuous and magnificent Italian Renaissance Florida mansion – Vizcaya. John Singer Sargent, the great portrait painter is present, as well as Marion Davies, the silent movie star. Exquisite in beauty and grace, Lady Julia Montagu arrives unannounced from England and is welcomed by all of the guests. Somewhere in the future, Art Historian, Dr. Vincent Jones, is about to undertake a remarkable journey beyond time. It’s 2017, and in the chaos of Hurricane Irma, he unlocks a mysterious passage that will take him back to the glorious days of a time gone by. Lost in her own era, grief-stricken Lady Julia has, it seemed, eternally bid him to return to her; to 1917.
THE SUN FISHER ~ A Novel
How elusive and narrow is the path that stands between fiction and reality? Can its trajectory be modified at leisure, rearranged to appease our dreams? John Ireland stares at the rain from his rented cottage in the South of England. His beloved moors were meant to inspire his first novel. Yet, after months of work, his main character still eludes him and remains faceless. The Sun Fisher is the story of a writer who falls in love with the idea of a fictional woman. Until one day; fiction and reality become intertwined in the form of a mysterious and ravishing young woman standing on a footbridge in London’s Hyde Park.
eBook ~ THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF FINE ART – $15 (Please note this is an eBook)
If you consider yourself a student of fine art, look no further than Marco Bronzini’s book, “The Ten Commandments of Fine Art.” Written with the art student in mind, Bronzini helps break down basic painting rules into 10 easy-to-remember statements (Commandments). He not only explains the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of each Commandment – but the ‘why’ – in addition to covering everything from working with photographs to overcoming shyness.
Bronzini’s energetic and knowledgeable teaching style is evident all throughout the book. An accomplished artist and art teacher, he allows the student and reader a glimpse into a full appreciation of painting in its many forms and styles. He covers everything from colors (“Commandment I. Thou Shall Not Use Pure White”) to brushes (“Commandment V. Thou Shall Not Stab Paint On The Canvas With The Brush”) to training the eye to see art – and life – in new and vibrant ways (“Commandment VII. Thou Shall See Colors In All Things”).
You can read the book in its entirety, or take it one Commandment at a time. Either way, you will find that you keep it for reference and return to it often! If you are a beginning student, an advanced student, or a lover of fine art, this book is a must for your collection.
Karen Randall
Writing Instructor, Delaware Technical & Community College.
eBOOK ~ PLEIN AIR-PRESSIONISM – $15 (Please note this is an eBook)
Traveling along a road in Provence, you find yourself frustrated by your own creative desires and your lack of knowledge in order to bring to life the beauty that surrounds you. Armed with your easel and canvas, your brushes and your paints, and most especially, your eager heart and eye, you search for the right moment. The right angles. The right sunlight.
And you are almost ready to give up…when an encounter with a passing stranger becomes an unlikely partnership and lesson about the timelessness of Plein-Air painting. Your journey becomes all that you hoped for and more.
Marco Bronzini brings these moments to life in a fascinating narrative that turns into a valuable art lesson for the reader. The beauty of Provence will surround you – and intoxicate you – as you read through the steps of taking an exquisite moment in the outdoors and turning it into a captured artistic treasure. One that you have created and can cherish always.
Karen Randall
Writing Instructor, Delaware Technical & Community College.