If you have been thinking about a visit to Central Library, Stampede is a great time to venture downtown. The adjacent Olympic Plaza and Stephen Avenue mall are lively places that feature music, dancing and other street performances during Stampede. You could also include a visit to the Glenbow while you're at it.

In a new exhibit that opened in June, the Glenbow Museum celebrates Charlie Russell’s connection to the first Calgary Stampede. The “Famous Cowboy Artist” exhibited twenty paintings that were a popular attraction. The Glenbow has tracked down seventeen of these works and brought them together again.

Fans of his western art will enjoy a new addition to our collection: The Masterworks of Charles M. Russell: A Retrospective of Paintings and Sculpture. The book is a catalogue from an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum in 2009 – 2010. It includes eight essays that examine key aspects of Russell’s art and the culture in which he lived and worked.

You can find other wonderful books in the collection by subject searching “west in art”, “cowboys in art”, “horses in art”, "Indian art" – you get the drift.

I have been enjoying Contemporary Native American Artists which popped up from one of these searches. It introduced me to the colourful work of artist Malcolm Furlow who lives in northern New Mexico. I am enchanted by his Reclining Coyote which is pictured in the book.

“Too American,” you say? I’m not a purist. So much of our Stampede celebration traces its roots south of the border. It’s all good.

-Jane

Kitchens are on my mind a lot these days. I’m hoping to renovate mine within the next year. Consequently, I have been hauling home many of the kitchen design books from the collection to help me with the planning. Here are my current favourites.

House Beautiful Kitchens offers a great selection of classic design. Think white cupboards, marble counters, subway tiles and stainless steel combined with a centre island painted grey or black.

It’s a winning combination shown with many variations on the theme. Occasionally punched with colour, their classic combo might feature a cobalt blue backsplash or spindle chairs painted Moroccan red. When they paint, they identify the source. If you love the colour and want to make it your own, you’ll be very glad that they did. (Moroccan red is Benjamin Moore.)

Country Living Kitchens are more relaxed and family friendly with interesting open shelving. I am attracted to a kitchen where a sturdy shelf is mounted across a long stretch of windows.

In the Kitchens book from This Old House, the use of colour is the main event. Not just splashes against a neutral background, but colour lavished on cupboards and walls. The colour is often combined with very contemporary design and feels fresh and invigorating.

So many great possibilities and so many, many decisions.

- Jane

You may not know his name; but, chances are, you have seen his work. Jack Vettriano is a self-taught, Scottish artist whose popular images appear on posters, mugs and umbrellas. Prints of his work outsell Van Gogh, Dali and Monet.

Sometimes his work is nostalgic and romantic; sometimes it’s mysterious and erotic with a threatening edge of violence about to erupt. He describes his paintings as akin to pulp fiction novel covers. Indeed, there appears to be a story about to leap to life from the images he creates.

Flawed relationships – including his own failed marriage – were a big source of inspiration when he was developing a personal style. The glamour and gracious living of bygone eras also infuse his art: “A perfect world I would like to have lived in, but didn’t”.

“Broadly speaking, the art establishment disdains him as populist and unchallenging, and British galleries consistently refuse to acquire any of his works for exhibition,” says Anthony Quinn. He is the author of a new edition of a book on the artist that includes work from exhibitions between 2006 and 2010. The work and commentaries are presented by date and themes.

Vettriano's art is accessible and invites the viewer to invent the story. When you do, you will be in good company. His work is embedded in the story line in Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

Vettriano’s success and enduring popularity have slowly brought acclaim and an OBE. He is “the people’s painter”.

- Jane

Sibella Court loves to travel and bring home mementos from her trips. She uses them to create rich interior vignettes which continue to remind her of the travel experiences. Court is a designer who writes for design magazines, owns an online shop and works with Anthropologie, a store that embraces her signature look.

Her new book, Nomad: A global approach to interior style, has a layout somewhere between a scrapbook and mood board. She combines her fusion style of decorating with stories about the people and cultures she has encountered in trips to Japan, Italy, India, Syria and Mexico.

A trip to Japan is reflected in a bedroom corner where a futon is covered with worn peasant textiles dyed with indigo. The reader learns about her stay in a Japanese inn and her visit with a famous indigo dyer.

A beautiful book of Amalfi paper displays a collection of seaside mementos from the Isle of Capri. From India, ethnic textiles drape a lush, tented bedroom. There are amulets and talismans from the Seed Souq of Damascus.

At the back of the book, she lists wide-ranging reference sources for her travels which include books, magazines, music and movies. In Japan, she stayed a while at the Park Hyatt Tokyo and listened to the saxophonist at the bar. The stay was inspired by Lost in Translation directed by Sofia Coppola.

Her style will appeal to those who enjoy rich layers and colours in décor and personal collections where each object recalls a story.

- Jane

Today's blog comes from David Ramsey, Central Library staff:

Do you find today’s mass market furniture too commonplace? Are you looking for seating with a unique style? Are you bored with IKEA ubiquity?

Check out a recent addition to the Arts collection: Furniture with Soul: Master Woodworkers and their Craft by David Savage.

The author, whose work is also profiled, delves into the lives and work of ten furniture makers. No assembly-line designs for them; these creative types eschew the ordinary. For these artisans, form follows function – but at a distance and with a detour or two.

These innovators tapped their imaginations in the creation of a wide range of furniture. And what imaginations they have! Inspiration comes from many sources including nature, civil engineering and modern media.

These talented woodworkers could have followed the straight and narrow and produced conventional pieces; but something inspired them to change course, be it flora or fauna, whimsy or fantasy. They followed their hearts and forged a new path.

Their designs require labour-intensive, exacting work, not suited to endless copies. The pieces produced according to their heart’s calling are rich in detail which couldn't be justified on a purely functional chair or table for mass production.

Some call them furniture sculptors. Is their work art or craft? Can an art form have function?

Maybe it depends on the amount of soul….

- Dave

Ari Seth Cohen loves older women and it shows. “Ever since I can remember,” he writes, “I have been captivated by amazing older women. My Grandma, Bluma, was my best friend.”

Cohen is a blogger who focuses on the fabulous street style of the women of New York in his blog called Advanced Style. Now, he has a new book by the same name to showcase these fabulous people.

Some are shamelessly flamboyant with flaming red hair and fluttery long lashes. They sport outrageous hats, jewelry and oversized glasses. They don’t just wear purple, but also embrace orange, chartreuse, hot pink and fire-engine red.

Others are studies of classic elegance: tweed jacket over camel cashmere sweater, gloves, pearls and cloche hats.

What shines through with them all is the utter confidence they have with their own appearance. In a culture where young women often seem tortured by self doubt, it is thrilling to encounter those who are so thoroughly comfortable in their own skin.

Fashion is an art form and it’s great fun to see people committed to decorating themselves with élan. They make me want to try harder.

If you think that fashion and style are properties of the young and beautiful, Cohen will make you think again.

- Jane

Janet’s two cents:

While this book is definitely about style, I’m really drawn to the portraiture feel of it. Faves for humor are the women with twinkling eyes and gleeful smiles on pages 78 and 79. For poise, see the charming ladies on pages 100 and 219. Just love them.

I am writing this blog on yet another moody June day in Calgary. It’s not really cold, but not warm enough to loll about outdoors. If Calgarians are noted for their busyness and activity, it probably has a lot to do with just staying warm.

Of course, much can change by the time I hit the publish button and I’m hoping for a good blast of sunshine. Here is a nice new book to help you have a summertime fantasy even if the weather disappoints.

Porch Living, by James T. Farmer III, is full of evocative pictures of relaxed summer spaces from a Southerner who is obviously proud of his lineage. He designs both interiors and landscapes and is a frequent contributor to Southern Living.

Farmer's definition of porches is a broad one and he shows a variety of outdoor spaces adjacent to homes and outbuildings. They are lovely places for sleeping and lazing or entertaining. Styles vary from country and rustic to casually elegant.

On a screened porch furnished with overstuffed comfort, a tea tray rests on a generous ottoman which is dressed with crisp blue-and-white striped fabric.

There are floral china and napkins for the tea tray and frosty jugs of lemonade. As well, you see porch swings and outdoor fireplaces and chic wrought-iron furniture under a pool-side pavilion.

The porch is a transitional space between house and garden with planters, baskets and statuary that help to connect the spaces.

When Mother Nature refuses to cooperate, find a book and dream the summer dream.

- Jane

Today's blog comes from Candace Weir, Central Library staff:

Another new book has a home in the collection. It is Richard Diebenkorn: the Ocean Park series. This series of abstract paintings transport me back to the clear cerulean blue of the ocean, the white sands and the clapboard beach front houses of southern California.

The artist started producing paintings for this series in 1967. It was at this point, that he moved from a highly successful career making representational figurative paintings to Ocean Park’s strangely emotive abstracts.

The paintings remind me of the experience of flying over the rice fields that surround Sacramento. While flying through the clouds and sky, you could also see them reflected from the patchwork of watery shapes below. The experience was all too fleeting but my memories of it persist. I find that Diebenkorn’s abstract style captures these sensations better than a representational style would. My mind too easily identifies with objects and starts to categorize them withering the emotional impact.

His use of colour and his technique of application are fascinating. Thin layers of colours are partially scraped away to reveal the layers below which creates subtler shades. These complex colours are coupled with sharp delineations of forms that hint of roads and buildings – surreal subdivisions. There is an aerial feel to his paintings.

As well, the paintings flirt with light; an inner light defines them.

Any one of his paintings would have a honoured position on my walls, although the ones he did on the lids of cigar boxes have a special appeal.

This book plays homage to a wonderful body of work and a great painter. It is about time.

- Candace

Vancouver is a gorgeous city and one of my favourite places to visit. Lucky for me, my son and his family live in Seattle; I love to include a trip to Vancouver on my way there.

I think we are fortunate in Calgary to have Vancouver so handy and I sometimes wonder whether Vancouverites feel the same way about Calgary. Calgary is a great city to live in and Vancouver is a great city to visit. (This reminds me of my daughter’s characterization of her two dogs: “Arthur is smart and Dudley is sweet.”)

If, like me, you are heading to Vancouver this summer, check out Exploring Vancouver: The Architectural Guide. Harold Kalman and Robin Ward take you on a tour of the city, district by district, to reveal the stories behind the beautiful buildings.

From the extravagant Canada Place megastructure on the waterfront to the heritage buildings in Gastown, they tell you about the style, distinctive features and the architects who designed them. There are stories about owners, tenants and communities.

You could visit the Arthur Erickson House & Garden to see that this celebrated architect built for himself an unremarkable house, but designed an enchanting garden around it. You can also check out his other distinguished buildings, like the Museum of Anthropology designed to house Haida totem poles.

You learn that the market on Granville Island “was among the first waterfront revitalization schemes to recycle industrial buildings, setting the tone for similar projects around the world”.

So much to see in this great Canadian city.

Today's blog comes from Candace Weir, Central Library staff:

People are always doing amazing things. Take “yarn bombing” as an example. Who first thought of knitting or crocheting coverings for trees, cars, sculptures or phone boxes?

According to Wikipedia, yarn bombing appeared in the Netherlands in May 2004 and then hopped over to Texas in 2005. Since then the practice has gone global. When I see knitting needles or a crochet hook I cringe; it is not my thing. However, yarn bombing seems pretty good natured - I like that.

When Urban Knits by Simone Werle showed up on the new books shelf, it caught my eye. Werle shows photos from all over the globe of this intriguing and egalitarian pastime. My favourite cover-ups from the book have to be the trees, the cannon balls and the large hollow spheres.

Other books that show the expressive capacity of old-fashioned crafts are Yarn bombing: the art of crochet and knit graffiti and Hoopla: the art of unexpected embroidery.

Calgary has had its own yarn bombs, like this public art intervention on the Brotherhood of Man statue by fibre artist Suzen Green. It was part of ARTcity Visual Arts Festival in September 2011. And I am happy to report that the talented Ms Green is now on staff at the Central Library.

My favourite group of yarn-bomb pictures on the internet comes from Time Magazine and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. But my all-time favourite guerilla knit is on this smart car in Rome.

Let me be the first to advise you that June 9 is International Yarn Bomb Day.

- Candace