Cassone's first Christmas

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Happy Christmas to all our readers - the first of many for Cassone

I do hope this finds you enjoying the anticipation and the build up to the festive holidays. In this issue we have tried to include even more articles and book reviews as possible; a real Christmas treat. Looking for presents? Find them among our book reviews or give a subscription to Cassone. And if you hate Christmas, let us distract you.

Jenny Kingsley has visited  the Monks House in Sussex and tells us of the Omega Workshop (Link), and looked at the artistry once involved in making keyboard musical instruments. Jeff Fendall has visited the Watts Gallery and chapel at Compton, in Surrey, and seen Rodin’s once-scandalous Kiss at Turner Contemporary. We have two interviews for you, one with Mike Nicholson, an artist, illustrator, lecturer and successful self-publisher of ‘zines’ or mini-magazines, the other with Roger Thorp, publishing director of Tate Publishing which is 100 years old this year.

Our writers have been very busy making this a real cornucopia of Christmas reading. Searching for some good books as presents for the art lovers amongst your friends and family? Do make sure that book you think they might like is one that has been reviewed and is therefore a known quantity. Look at Katie Campbell’s Miscellany of Christmas garden books or books on Chagall, the Empress Eugénie, the people who brought us the Renaissance, or a guide to getting involved in the art market. Find out how Polaroid has made a comeback in the digital age, or settle down to a nice cup of tea and a cake – superbly photographed, of course. We have more articles and reviews to come this month – the current batch is just for starters.