Book Review by Jean:
Beadwork Inspired by Art
Impressionist
jewelry and accessories by Jean Campbell and Judith Durant

To begin, I went to Wikipedia and investigated many of the things which this beautiful book, which uses beads to translate paintings into jewelry, explained about Impressionist painting and Impressionism.

From Wikipedia 10:52 a.m. ET Jan 22, 2009
"Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. The name of the movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in Le Charivari.
Characteristics of Impressionist painting include visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.
The emergence of Impressionism in the visual arts was soon followed by analogous movements in other media which became known as Impressionist music and Impressionist literature.
Impressionism also describes art created in this style, but outside of the late 19th century time period.

Radicals in their time, early Impressionists broke the rules of academic painting. They began by giving colours, freely brushed, primacy over line, drawing inspiration from the work of painters such as Eugène Delacroix. They also took the act of painting out of the studio and into the world. Previously, still lifes and portraits as well as landscapes had usually been painted indoors.[1] The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air. Painting realistic scenes of modern life, they emphasized vivid overall effects rather than details. They used short, "broken" brush strokes of pure and unmixed colour, not smoothly blended, as was customary, in order to achieve the effect of intense colour vibration."

Now I am going to tell you something. I have many loves, and Impressionism is one of them. Those people who say "I don't know much about art but I know what I like!" usually, these days, DO recognize and like/love Impressionism. We cleave to it emotionally, from way inside. I could be talking through my hat. However this is something I believe and I think the prices paid by collectors for many of the Impressionists' paintings, when they appear, rarely, at the top auction houses, bear me out.
I was therefore VERY open to this book written by two top jewelry editors and authors, and to view their jewelry. Jean Campbell and Judith Durant have done something super fascinating: they have interpreted specific paintings by specific artists, each one explained first and then reinterpreted in beads and thread. This book,
Beadwork Inspired by Art
Impressionist
jewelry and accessories,
is, to put it simply, breathtaking both in concept and in execution. I love this book.
I think if you examine the cover you will see why I like this book so much. It is the "Landscape bracelet", after Vincent Van Gogh's Landscape with Carriage and Train. How amazingly did the authors interpret this painting by Van Gogh! They essentially nailed it! I feel as if each one of the paintings which they chose has been equally as well defined and at times taken and brought to its essence. Successfully and movingly, frankly.

The authors begin by explaining why they chose to write this book and offer this homage to Impressionism. As a beader I deeply understand the desire to work with color, and then to challenge oneself by going beyond that to garner inspiration from painting or other artistic avenues. They discuss this and offer a list of Impressionist painters. They discuss their methods, what to expect, and then get on to the projects. Are they beautiful? Yes, they are! I strongly recommend this book. I believe there is not a single piece in this unique jewelry design book by Jean Campbell and Judith Durant which doesn't hit the nail on the head, grab the reader's attention, and, amazingly, encourage the reader to grasp more from the painting as well as the piece of jewelry inspired by it.

Projects from this book, which also offers a cool woven piece, which I loved and wish to point out were:
"The Banana Plantation Necklace", after a painting by Pierre August Renoir, which has mindblowing colors and an exuberance of branch fringe with a matching focal bead, all in the colors of the painting...greens, oranges, blues, topazes,--You are sooo there! It is great!
"Mango Woman Pendant", after a painting by Paul Gauguin, "Woman with a Mango", which has a spare and lovely circlet of gold for the neckpiece, and a seed beaded spiral focal of a fabulous inky blue, finished with gold and a mango colored Swarovski briolette drop, with a matching drop at the back as well. This has the use of space which delights me as a designer.
"The Dancers in Blue Earrings", inspired by Degas' painting "Two Dancers in Blue" -- sweet blue seed bead earrings with Swarovski rounds which just flounce and enchant completely!

You owe it to yourself to get this book. If you are transported by the Impressionists, as I am, or just like really intelligent and really artistically creative projects, I believe you will find this book amazing.