Creative Folk Art and Beyond (Creative...and Beyond)

by Flora Waycott, Oana Befort, Marenthe Otten, and Terri Fry Kasuba

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Scandinavia ranks very high on the international 'happiness index'. The folk and primitive art of Scandinavia has regional differences of course, but in general reflects the happy, relaxed, and natural 'vibe' most Scandinavians enjoy. The motifs are 'hyggelige' (cozy) and colorful and most of them represent things found in nature: birds, flowers, natural features, etc.

This book is one of a series of how-to books from Walter Foster called Creative ____ & Beyond. For another example in this series, I reviewed Creative Marker Art & Beyond back in October 2017.

This book is split into four sections, from four different artist designers; each section includes projects and inspiration pages, along with tools and materials. A short basic introduction covers general info about the supplies necessary for the projects in the book. The designers' work varies quite a lot, from more primitive folk art to more polished. The projects are a very accessible source of inspiration, there's plenty here to inspire and reassure even the most novice would-be artists.

The four included designers are Flora Waycott, Oana Befort, Marenthe Otten, and Terri Fry Kasuba. They each have varying styles and projects. Most of the actual art appealed to me, however, there weren't many of the included projects that grabbed me and insisted to be made. All of the included project designs are full of inspiration to be used elsewhere though. The cover gives a pretty good indication of the contents.

147 pages, paperback format. It's worth noting that roughly 13% of the page content is given over to practice pages.

Accessible, doable, beautiful and fun projects and inspiration. I really like art project books which are doable by anyone. For what it's worth, none of the included designers is actually Scandinavian, proving that anyone can enjoy and produce hygge for themselves.

Four stars, a very happy book.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher