Gregg Swain’s Followers

None yet.

Gregg’s Bookshelves

to-read (18)
currently-reading (0)
read (217)
did-not-finish (0)

Gregg’s Friends

Gregg hasn't connected with his friends on Goodreads, yet.

Gregg Swain

Goodreads Author

Born

New York, The United States

Website

http://www.mahjongtreasures.com

Twitter

MahJonggGregg

Member Since

January 2012

edit data

Gregg was born in New York City, where she spent her childhood. She graduated from Smith College with a degree in Art History, and earned a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Baylor University. After a few years in the Southwest, she returned to New York where she lives with her husband, Woody. Woody and Gregg both share an interest in art, and they have a great and broad appreciation for many different styles, ranging from Ancient Egyptian to Contemporary Chinese.
Growing up Gregg remembers her grandmother playing mah jongg, and walking down the streets of the City seeing people play the game at card tables set up along the sidewalk. She became entranced by the exotic artwork on the tiles, and wanted to learn to play. She liked the idea th
Gregg was born in New York City, where she spent her childhood. She graduated from Smith College with a degree in Art History, and earned a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Baylor University. After a few years in the Southwest, she returned to New York where she lives with her husband, Woody. Woody and Gregg both share an interest in art, and they have a great and broad appreciation for many different styles, ranging from Ancient Egyptian to Contemporary Chinese.
Growing up Gregg remembers her grandmother playing mah jongg, and walking down the streets of the City seeing people play the game at card tables set up along the sidewalk. She became entranced by the exotic artwork on the tiles, and wanted to learn to play. She liked the idea that games were short, and allowed for conversation and laughs every 15 minutes or so. It's those aspects of the game that really drew her to the tiles.
Finally she learned how to play mah jongg with a group of friends, including co-author Ann Israel. She quickly fell under its spell, and enjoyed the wonderful strategic decisions she had to make, the mental flexibility required and the way each set of tiles, with their own imagery, made the “hands" look.
Within a year of learning how to play, Gregg bought her first two hand-carved bone and bamboo sets on eBay. The second set she purchased had eight 50-year old Joker stickers, to update the set to play by National Mah Jongg League standards. It doesn't take much to visualize what an old 50-year old sticker looks like; she quickly peeled one back and underneath was a particularly beautiful tile of an intricately carved portrait of a warrior or nobleman. She was immediately struck by the wonderful carving, and the details on what she felt was actually a miniature piece of art. She wondered about the image and some of the other things she'd seen on tiles, and Googled the internet for more information.

There was nothing on the web about Mah Jongg tile art.

She called her friend Ann Israel, and together they decided to write a book. Ann knew Michel Arnaud, internationally famous for his shots of interiors and work in Vogue and Town & Country, who agreed to be the photographer, and his wife Jane Creech became their book agent. Woody, an award winning advertising art director, lent his time and talent to art direct the book. He and Michel hit it off and the final result Mah Jongg The Art of the Game speaks for itself.

Gregg has become an enthusiastic promoter of mah jongg art, and hopes that through her efforts and Ann's, and the inspiration of the beautiful sets showcased in Mah Jongg The Art of the Game, people will remember old sets left in their attics and basements, and that those sets will be rescued before time and mildew take their toll.

Gregg continues to study the images found on tiles, and relate them to Chinese art and graphic design principles on her blog www.mahjongtreasures.com
Gregg feels that mah jong art is the best art form that almost nobody knows about— until her book Mah Jongg: The Art of the Game!
More information about the book can be found on
www.mahjonggtheartofthegame.com ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Gregg Swain questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Gregg Swain’s books

Average rating: 4.39 · 164 ratings · 28 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Mah Jongg: The Art of the Game: A Collector's Guide to Mah Jongg Tiles and Sets by Ann Israel (Goodreads Author), Gregg Swain (Goodreads Author), Michel Arnaud (Goodreads Author) (Photographs) 4.33 avg rating — 81 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	American Mah Jongg for Everyone: The Complete Beginner's Guide by Gregg Swain (Goodreads Author), Toby Salk, Gladys Grad (Foreword) 4.40 avg rating — 52 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	American Mah Jongg for Everyone: A Complete Beginner's Guide to the National Mah Jongg League Game by Gregg Swain (Goodreads Author), Toby Salk, Gladys Grad (Foreword) 4.51 avg rating — 31 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

65 posts
Gregg Swain's Blog

One of a Kind Treasure

[image error]

I am delighted to share this set with you. This is a one-off set: designed by a group of male friends, celebrating their friendship. (You'll see why I write this in a future post.) The bit of research I've done indicates that eight friends were together in China, between the wars. I'm pretty sure they played mahjong and at least one of them had a wonderful sense of humor. I'd like to