Book Review: Fairies Gnomes & Trolls by Maureen Carlson

This book review is written by Cindi of ClayItAgain.artfire.com

Last week's request was for a Maureen Carlson book, and since she was one of my sculpting gurus, I figured this was the perfect pick for our guild. So without further ado, here is Fairies, Gnomes ,and Trolls:



This book reads almost like a fairy tale with short stories about each sculpture she creates. It is a creative world of fantasy characters and all creatures great and small in the realm of make believe get their exposure here in this book. As usual, in the beginning, Maureen goes through the basics of sculpting clay, taking the newbie clayer through small steps in order to make sculpting simple.

After the basics are explained, the first project in the book is, of course, a fairy door, (complete with real operating hinges), because fairies won't visit if they don't have a door to come through.
After you've made the magical door, next comes all the invited guests including fairies, gnomes (have you ever seen a toadstool gnome?), elves, a couple of trolls (one who started life a rock), and a tiny flower baby. For all you baby sculptors out there- this is a greatly detailed step by step how to make a pure sculpt baby. And what fairy kingdom whould be complete without a king, wizard and a faierie folk storyteller? There are bigger projects like a forever tree (a home for the fairies), and the garden face green man. I did make the green man garden face and it was very simple following Maureen's instuctions.

I must say the photography in this book is very different from Maureens other books. These characters have been captured in their natural habitat in gardens and forests which makes them all the more enchanting and inviting. Just a quick flip through the pages is enough to make one want to invite a fairy to their studio. The pages are bright and colorful taking you deeper and deeper into the magical land of Faieries, Gnomes and Trolls. I would recommend this book to any fantasy character maker and I give it 10 stars out of 5 !!! Kudos to Maureen Carlson...great job

Any requests for next week? There's a lot of beadmakers out there...How about a bead book? Or would you prefer a book specializing in miniatures? Leave me a comment and let me know what you'd like. Til next week, happy claying all you smooshers :)