Cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the smoker's mouth. Explorer Christopher Columbus is generally credited with the introduction of smoking to Europe.

In the 19th century, smoking cigars was common, while cigarettes were still comparatively rare. But for the past decades, smoking cigars has become an art more than merely a high society lifestyle.

Just like wine, producing a high quality cigar takes a lot of time. A cigar's outermost leaves, or wrapper, come from the widest part of the plant. The process is quite long, starting from curing, a process of heating and shading the tobacco, fermenting process to make the leaf die slowly and gracefully. This is where the flavor, burning, and aroma characteristics are primarily brought out in the leaf. Once the leaves have aged properly, they are sorted for use as filler or wrapper, based on their appearance and overall quality. And quality cigars are still hand-made.

Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavor characteristics, they are: wrappers, fillers, and binders.

Smoking a cigar itself is another different art. It’s more like a ritual. The first step in smoking a cigar to smoke is to "open" the cap to create a little air hole. It is recommended to use wooden matches or a regular disposable lighter, while paper matches or a lighter that uses liquid fuel will contaminate the flavor of the cigar. You do not inhale the smoke into your lungs like a cigarette. You pull it into your mouth to taste it and then blow the smoke out of your mouth.

This book is for those who has interest for tattoo art. Tattoo artists, or anyone who desires to have tattoos. Japan has been known for it's amazing tattoo design for centuries. You will find them in this book.

American photographer Sandi Fellman used a rare large size Polaroid camera to create these photos of Irezumi Japanese men and women who wear elaborate full-body tattoos. Fellman treats the tattoos as artworks and their creators as artists. Her text touches on the tattooing process, common motifs, the sociology of the tattoo, and relationships between the tattoo masters and their clients. Author D.M. Thomas has contributed two pages of his reactions to these unusual and even disturbing images. The 46 color plates in this volume, most of them whole body nudes, should prove provocative, fascinating, or repellant to a wide variety of library patrons. Kathryn W. Finkelstein, M.L.S., Cincinnati
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details
* Paperback: 112 pages
* Publisher: Abbeville Press (February 1988)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0896597989
* ISBN-13: 978-0896597983
* Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.8 x 0.4 inches

Reader's review:
Great Art, but subpar writting, January 22, 2008
By J. W. Mullins (Germany)
This book is worth the price for the pictures alone. Which is good because the writing is extremely sub par, with misinformation and just wrong information. The art is wonderful but the writing is so bad that you are probably better of not even reading it.

One of many online galleries is MyBestCanvas.com - Art forum & artists community offering oil paintings signed by painters from USA & Europe. Just looking at the collections would be a relaxing escape in the middle of your routine activities at the office. And maybe you will find a piece of work of art there that goes with the ambiance of your living room.
I found this simple yet beautiful painting on the site, titling "Old is Gold" (2006,Mixed Media on Canvas , 50x25cm), painted by Sarika Soman, a female artist who was born in the vibrant and colorful country of India. Her works have been exhibited in U.S, Germany and India.
If you are an artist, maybe you'll be interested in joining the artist community of MyBestCanvas.