1100 Best Pottery Books of All Time
We've ranked the best pottery books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.
1Alternative Kilns Firing Techniques: Raku * Saggar * Pit * Barrel
3250 Tips, Techniques, and Trade Secrets for Potters: The Indispensable Compendium of Essential Knowledge and Troubleshooting Tips
Developing design concepts, from sketch pad to finished piece Slabbing, pinching, coiling, throwing, turning, and mold-making, using various clays Creating surface decoration, with attention to colors, textures, and glazing
Helpful sidebar features include troubleshooting tips with solutions to problems that often arise in the process of making pottery. Here is a book that belongs on the reference shelf of every serious potter. Approximately 450 color illustrations.
4The Japanese Pottery Handbook: Revised Edition
The book is a manual to the way pots are made in Japan, their forms, and their decorations.The authors give a thorough account of both traditional and modern techniques and also describe in detail tools, materials, glazes, and the setup of workshops and kilns. Lucy Kiitto's sprightly drawings infuse each page with life and clarity. Pottery terms and expressions are listed with their Japanese equivalents, and the new edition keeps the bi-lingual text, making it easier for the exchange of ideas between foreign students studying in Japan and Japanese potters.
The Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cones 4-7
6A Single Shard
7A Potter's Book
Incredibly important because of its ability to allow any reader who picks it up to understand the excitement and energy of the making of pots. [source]
8Functional Pottery
Perusing this book is like having a ceramic museum, art gallery, encyclopedia, and master potter at hand, teaching and inspiring at the same time. Beginning with a view of the historical development of pottery, the book presents a wide discussion on the aesthetics of form and design. Also addressed are the mechanics of making and the practical solutions to functional design in pots for eating, drinking, storage, pouring, cooking, serving, and pots for rituals and contemplation. The recent work and short biographies of 16 internationally recognized ceramic artists are showcased in the Portfolio section.
9Creative Pottery: Innovative Techniques and Experimental Designs in Thrown and Handbuilt Ceramics
Creative Pottery begins with a quick review of where you are in your own journey as a potter. If you need to brush up on the basics, help setting goals, or pointers on how to translate your inspiration into your work, you've come to the right place. The rest of the book is a self-guided journey in which you can choose the techniques and projects that interest you:
Go Beyond the Basics and learn how to throw or handbuild a bottomless cylinder. Then explore seams and alterations for projects like a vase, sauce boats, dessert boats, and a citrus juicer.
Flatter Forms takes your throwing and trimming horizontal. Make beautiful plates and learn how to make the jump from plate to cake stand.
Master Molds and use them to open a new world of possibilities. Make spoons, platters, and asymmetrical shapes like an out-of-round serving dish with molded feet and a thrown rim.
Compose with Multiple Shapes to make two-part forms like a butter dish or a stacking set of bowls. Make a pitcher out of two simple forms and then take it further by exploring handles and spouts for a proper teapot.
With compelling galleries, artist features, and guided questions for growth throughout, this is a book for potters everywhere that want to go beyond the basics, learn new skills, and unlock their creativity.
10Mastering the Potter's Wheel: Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Potters
Mastering the Potter's Wheel starts with an introduction to wheel-throwing, from centering to creating the basic forms. What pushes this book beyond the competition, however, are the techniques offered in the chapters that follow. From a variety of methods for throwing large objects such as pitchers and platters, to alterations, darting, and paddling, this book offers potters a world of possibilities.
With galleries featuring today's top working artists, including Kyle Carpenter, Sam Chung, Chandra DeBuse, Julia Galloway, Martha Grover, Ayumie Horie, Forrest Lesch-Middleton, Kristen Kieffer, Kathy King, Matt Long, Alex Matisse, Lorna Meaden, Doug Peltzman, Mackenzie Smith, Shawn Spangler, and many more, you'll also find page after page of inspiration.
The Mastering Ceramics series is for artists who never stop learning. With compelling projects, expert insight, step-by-step photos, and galleries of work from today’s top artists, these books are the perfect studio companions. Also available from the series: Mastering Hand Building and Mastering Kilns and Firing.
11Handbuilt Pottery Techniques Revealed: The Secrets of Handbuilding Shown in Unique Cutaway Photography
12Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
13Simon Leach's Pottery Handbook
Praise for Simon Leach's Pottery Handbook:
“A definitive guide for every step of pottery making.” —Publishers Weekly
“Third-generation potter Leach, with technical and photographic assistance from Bruce Dehnert and Jared Flood, capitalizes on his celebrity with an amazingly detailed, step-by-step text for all major processes in ceramics. The in-depth perspective starts with his directions for making simple tools (a wire tool and a sponge stick) and is bolstered by charts and information-packed sidebars (e.g., for removing air bubbles and troubleshooting your first pull). Every topic that novices must master is covered, such as working basic shapes (cylinder and variations dishes) trimming, decorating and glazing, and firing.” —Booklist
“This book has some of the most gorgeous photography I've seen…” —Susan B. Anderson blog
“Among how-to books, this volume stands out. This gem is as carefully honed as the skills it seeks to share.” —American Craft
“For those of us who learn best with a combo of text and demonstrations, Simon Leach’s new book is the perfect fit.” —Ceramics Monthly
14Amazing Glaze: Techniques, Recipes, Finishing, and Firing
Whether you look forward to glazing your work or are guilty of saying "I hate glazing!" Amazing Glaze is for you. Join author and Odyssey Clayworks founder Gabriel Kline on a journey that makes glazing less intimidating and more fun. Start in the "glaze kitchen" where you'll set yourself up for success, then move on to learning the tools and techniques for glazing right every time. Along the way, Gabriel shares dozens of tried-and-true recipes and combinations for both mid-range and high-fire.
The recipes and the foundational techniques here are just the beginning. Learn about layering with slip and underglaze, work with resists, and combine techniques to take your glazing above and beyond. Whether you're after crystalline effects, an elusive red, or a crash-course in applying luster, it's all here. A variety of artist features and stunning gallery work from today's top artists will leave you inspired and ready to get glazing!
15Handbuilt, A Potter's Guide: Master timeless techniques, explore new forms, dig and process your own clay
Handbuilt pottery is the perfect way for new potters to dive into this unique medium because it doesn't require access to a potter's wheel. In Handbuilt, A Potter's Guide, Melissa Weiss takes an organic approach to harvesting and working with local clays, and even shows you how to mix your own glazes to use on functional pottery for use at home.
Students of pottery the world over have traveled to North Carolina to attend Weiss's classes. Now you don't have to! In this book, Melissa provides you with a solid course on slab and pinch-pot techniques that allow beginning students to master the basics and progress through finished wares.
Looking to go a little deeper? Melissa also offers her unique knowledge of how to dig and process local clays for use in pottery, and for the techniques she has developed for creating unique glazes with ash, salt, and other dry materials.
Melissa will also introduce you talented contemporary potters, who will share their work, tips, advice, and techniques.
Learn the basics of handbuilding and more with this engaging guide.
16Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni
17Rock Art Handbook: Techniques and Projects for Painting, Coloring, and Transforming Stones
18Making Pottery You Can Use: Plates That Stack - Lids That Fit - Spouts That Pour - Handles That Stay on
Everyone who owns a beloved mug that has just the right handle, an agreeably "deep" cereal bowl, or a plate that fits perfectly in the dishwasher knows that once you've found these pieces, you wish you had more of them. In Making Pottery You Can Use, you'll learn how to create the pieces that will work best for you. Each element of the creative process is explained, including:
Deciding the function of the item
Working out proportions and making basic drawings
Choosing the right clay and tools
Design decisions, techniques to consider, variations to contemplate
Picking the best method: throwing, slabbing, or coiling
Choosing food-safe glazes, and more
Successful teacher, designer, and author Jacqui Atkin explains how to throw and hand-build pieces that are beautiful and practical, from plates, cups, and saucers to casserole dishes, pitchers, and tureens. Get started today and you'll have pieces that marry beauty, form, and function, and are perfect for all of your needs.
19The Potter's Book of Glaze Recipes
20Mastering Cone 6 Glazes: Improving Durability, Fit and Aesthetics
21The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight Into Beauty
22The Encyclopedia of Pottery Techniques
23500 Cups: Ceramic Explorations of Utility and Grace
24A Potter's Workbook
Each chapter begins with a series of exercises that introduce the principles of good form and good forming for pitchers, bowls, cylinders, lids, handles, and every other conceivable functional shape. Focusing on utilitarian pottery created on the wheel, Illian explores sound, lively, and economically produced pottery forms that combine an invitation to mindful appreciation with ease of use. Charles Metzger's striking photographs, taken under ideal studio conditions, perfectly complement her vigorous text.
25High-fire Glazes (Ceramic Arts Handbook)
26The Easy Keto Meal Prep: 800 Easy and Delicious Recipes - 21- Day Meal Plan - Lose Up to 20 Pounds in 3 Weeks
Starting a new diet is often tough. But here that won't be a problem with our 21 day meal plan. You will now exactly what you need to eat along your days. No stresses!
If you're constantly on the rush and don't want to spend hours in the kitchen preparing food then the Freestyle point system is exactly what you been looking for!
You will soon experience the flexibility provided for you as you begin your daily activities. Just know how to handle the 'free' foods and don't go overboard.
If you want the full view, just add this great cookbook to your unique cooking library today!
27The Potter's Bible: An Essential Illustrated Reference for both Beginner and Advanced Potters
28The Potter's Complete Book of Clay and Glazes: A Comprehensive Guide to Formulating, Mixing, Applying and Firing Clay Bodies and Glazes
29Centering in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person
30500 Animals in Clay: Contemporary Expressions of the Animal Form
31Ceramic Sculpture: Making Faces: A Guide to Modeling the Head and Face with Clay
The Children's Book
A spellbinding novel, at once sweeping and intimate, from the Booker Prize–winning author of Possession, that spans the Victorian era through the World War I years, and centers around a famous children’s book author and the passions, betrayals, and secrets that tear apart the people she loves.
When Olive Wellwood’s oldest son discovers a runaway named Philip sketching in the basement of the new Victoria and Albert Museum—a talented working-class boy who could be a character out of one of Olive’s magical tales—she takes him into the storybook world of her family and friends.
But the joyful bacchanals Olive hosts at her rambling country house—and the separate, private books she writes for each of her seven children—conceal more treachery and darkness than Philip has ever imagined. As these lives—of adults and children alike—unfold, lies are revealed, hearts are broken, and the damaging truth about the Wellwoods slowly emerges. But their personal struggles, their hidden desires, will soon be eclipsed by far greater forces, as the tides turn across Europe and a golden era comes to an end.
Taking us from the cliff-lined shores of England to Paris, Munich, and the trenches of the Somme, The Children’s Book is a deeply affecting story of a singular family, played out against the great, rippling tides of the day. It is a masterly literary achievement by one of our most essential writers.
This book is about how it is that we create lives, how our well-being later on is very much shaped by early childhood. [source]
33Wheel-Thrown Pottery (DIY)
A production potter for more than 30 years, Bill van Gilder, host of DIY Network’s Throwing Clay, has traveled around the world to learn, teach, and exhibit his craft. He is a regular contributor to Clay Times magazine, and is on the faculty of The Art League School in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2000, he founded the Frederick Pottery School in Maryland.
34500 Bowls: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Design
35Beginner's Guide to Pottery & Ceramics: Everything You Need to Know to Start Making Beautiful Ceramics
Step-by-step photographs and clear instructions will guide you through the core techniques, including pinching and coiling and throwing and trimming. Discover inspirational projects as your skills progress, from simple coiled vases with painted decoration to marbled clay boxes with transparent glazes. Learn how to decorate and fire your clay vessels with myriad textures, using methods such as inlays, slips, sgraffito, feathering, burnishing and resist.
Following the impressive projects inside, you can put your new-found skills into practice and develop your creativity.
36Utsuwa Katachi: Japanese Ceramics And Forms (English and Multilingual Edition)
37The Art of Enameling: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration
38The Polymer Clay Techniques Book
Here are all the techniques you need to create oven-clay projects: buttons, beads, jewelry, figurines, boxes, mosaics, and frames.
The book begins with some basic techniques to get you started, including rolling, baking, and gluing. It then moves on to marbling effects, simulating textiles, making frames, building miniature pots, and creating faux stones.
Inspirational examples of work from some of the best polymer clay artists in the world will fire your imagination and provide ideas for developing your own designs.
39Dry Glazes
In Dry Glazes, artist and educator Jeremy Jernegan covers everything ceramicists need to know to create and manipulate a range of matte glazes, from satin to cratered. This compact yet complete guide contains more than 270 formulas and recipes for slips, sigillatas, vitreous englobes, oxides, and stains. Jernegan gives clear and thorough instruction on application and firing methods, including raku. He also explains safe and environmentally responsible ways to handle the chemicals involved. Dry Glazes not only contains step-by-step color photographs of test tiles and procedures; it features illustrations of works by contemporary makers who have used matte glazes to great effect.
With over one hundred illustrations and an in-depth treatment of techniques, materials, and creative approaches, Dry Glazes is a smart addition to any clay worker's library. It is a practical and inspirational resource for ceramics practitioners, instructors, and students who want to make or alter their own glazes.
A Selection of Designs Inspired by Iznik and Delft Pottery in Cross Stitch
41George Ohr, Art Potter: The Apostle of Individuality
42Science for Potters
43The Ceramics Bible: The Complete Guide to Materials and Techniques (Ceramics Book, Ceramics Tools Book, Ceramics Kit Book)
44The Craft and Art of Clay
45The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz
Bonnie Fitzgerald's Guide to Mosaic Techniques: The Go-To Source for In-Depth Instructions and Creative Design Ideas
Includes 10 project descriptions, such as a mirror frame, table top, house number, and two- and three-dimensional artworks. Plus, you'll find tips and sample mosaics from some of the world's leading mosaic artists throughout the book!
47Pottery by American Indian Women: The Legacy of Generations
48Complete Pottery Techniques: Design, Form, Throw, Decorate and More, with Workshops from Professional Makers
Covering every technique from throwing pottery to firing, glazing to sgraffito, this pottery book is perfect for both hand-building beginners and potting pros.
Step-by-step photographs - some from the potter's perspective - show you exactly where to place your hands when throwing so you can master every technique you need to know. Plus, expert tips help you rescue your pots when things go wrong.
The next in the popular Artist's Techniques series, Complete Pottery is the ideal companion for pottery classes of any level, or a go-to guide and inspiration for the more experienced potter looking to expand their repertoire and perfect new skills.
With contemporary design and ideas, Complete Pottery Techniques enables the modern maker to unleash their creativity.
49Gilded Vessel: The Lustrous Art and Life of Beatrice Wood
50Terra Sigillata: Contemporary Techniques
51Clay and Glazes for the Potter
52The Complete Pebble Mosaic Handbook
Maggy Howarth is one of the world's foremost pebble mosaic experts, known for the innovative traditional and contemporary designs she has used to create outdoor mosaics around the world.
This new edition is updated, revised and expanded by 32 pages to incorporate many new inspirational designs from the author's studio, Cobblestone Designs, including an experiment in 3-D, spirals and roundels, and large mosaic designs for community spaces. There is also a special section that explores pebble mosaics as a decorative art throughout history.
The book provides practical step-by-step instructions for creating mosaics using traditional and modern materials, tools and techniques. The 400 beautiful color photographs and illustrations offer inspiration and make this a stunning how-to book and wish-book.
The sections and their chapters are:
Core Techniques The basic principles of mosaic In-situ techniques Precast technique Using the computer to make patterns New developments in pebble mosaic
Around the World Pebble mosaic traditions from around the world Contemporary pebble mosaicists
Gazetteer of Design Ideas and Templates by Maggy Howarth Allover patterns; Chinese allover patterns; interlacing patterns; allover centrical designs; borders; stars; sun and moon; spiral, cross and maze; human figures; mythological figures and anthropomorphic creatures; stick figures; animals; reptiles and fish; birds; insects; flowers; trees; other suitable subjects.
53500 Raku: Bold Explorations of a Dynamic Ceramics Technique
54The Art of Stone Painting: 30 Designs to Spark Your Creativity
"A fantastic book!" — The Classy Chics
"This is a gorgeous book and I found so much inspiration reading through it." — The Gingerbread House
Transform ordinary stones into colorful works of art with this easy-to-follow guide. Popular stone artist F. Sehnaz Bac, a seasoned archaeologist who markets her painted Sassi dell’Adriatico (Stones of the Adriatic) on Etsy, presents step-by-step instructions for creating 30 fantastic designs. Full-color photographs accompany directions for painting themes that range from trees, flowers, and animals to mandalas, geometric patterns, holiday motifs, and more.
Starting with the basics — including finding and choosing stones as well as tools and materials — the guide offers a variety of techniques, including painting stones with colors or inks, painting on natural stone, and sealing the finished work. Projects range from simple to advanced and include suggestions for indoor and outdoor display, as well as instructions on how to style wearable objects such as pendants. A complete selection of templates provides motifs for every project as well as ample inspiration for developing your own designs.
"The instructions are clear and engaging, while the photos are lovely and inspiring. Rock painting has become a really fun family activity for us all." — Sharing Craft Ideas
"This is brilliant, fun, and truly inspirational! Highly recommend it." — splashesintobooks
55Glazes Cone 6: 1240 C / 2264 F
In Glazes Cone 6 Mike Bailey surveys the growing trend in middle-temperature firing and guides the reader by practical knowledge. He discusses a range of different glazes, including special effects, glaze stains, and underglaze colors, giving both recipes and tips for ensuring success.
300+ Mosaic Tips, Techniques, Templates and Trade Secrets
57The Art of Crystalline Glazing: Basic Techniques
58500 Plates & Chargers: Innovative Expressions of Function & Style
59Graphic Clay: Ceramic Surfaces Printed Image Transfer Techniques
60The Pottery Gardener: Flowers and Hens at the Emma Bridgewater Factory
61The Potter's Studio Handbook: A start-to-finish guide to hand-built and wheel-thrown ceramics
62The Encyclopedia of American Art Tiles: Region 6 Southern California
63Handmade Tile: Design, Create, and Install Custom Tiles
No matter how many years of experience you have as a ceramic artist or how many home-improvement projects you've tackled, nothing prepares you for the unique world of ceramic tile. From concept and design, through firing and installation, ceramic tiling is one of the few places in a home where art is permanently installed as a feature of a room.
In Handmade Tile, Forrest Lesch-Middelton shares everything he's learned as the founder and owner of the custom tile business FLM Ceramics and Tile. From his years as a one-man operation to his current production facility, Forrest has seen it all and helps you every step of the way. Whether you want to make your own tile, or want to use artistic and custom-made tile in your home, this book has everything you need.
Key features of the book include:
Making Tile: key tools, rolling, cutting, extruding
Decorating: glazes, image transfer, cuerda seca, underglaze, slip
Designing Your Space: tile in context, choosing your tile, codes and standards
Installation: removing old tile, backing, preparing surfaces, setting, grouting
Galleries and interviews with today's top workings artists in tile round out the package. Featured artists include Allison Bloom, Boris Aldridge, Disc Interiors, PV Tile, and more.
64Deadly Little Voices (Touch, #4)
High school junior Camelia thought her powers of psychometry only gave her the ability to sense the future through touch. But now she’s started to hear voices. Mean voices. Berating her, telling her how ugly she is, and that she’d be better off dead. It’s a troubling development that has Camelia terrified for her mental stability, especially since her deranged aunt with a suicidal history just moved into the family house. More torturing, ex-boyfriend Ben, who has similar psychometric abilities, has been spending more time with their classmate Alejandra, even as her own feelings for Adam grow stronger. Still, the bond between Camelia and Ben is palpable.
With the line between right and wrong fraying, Camelia turns to pottery to get a grasp on her emotions. She begins sculpting a beautiful figure skater, only to receive frightening premonitions that someone’s in danger. But who is the victim? And how can Camelia help them when she is on the brink of losing her own sanity?
Miller's Antique Marks
66The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques
Frank and Janet Hamer explain the sources and character of materials, the behavior of clays and glaze minerals during forming and firing processes, forming methods, and glaze construction. In addition to brief outlines and detailed articles with cross references to illustrations, color photographs illustrate glaze effects and surfaces featured in the work of inventive, contemporary potters. The varied techniques of Raku, maiolica, crystalline glazes, salt and soda, stoneware, and porcelain are also presented in a new color section.
This new edition has been updated to include auto-reduction, crystalline glazes, insulation, stains, and specialized firing and fuming techniques. With upwards of 800 illustrations to clarify everything in the ceramic world, in its fifth edition The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques will continue to serve as the authority on all things ceramic.
67Uncommon Clay (Deborah Knott Mysteries, #8)
68Lehner's Encyclopedia of Us Marks on Pottery, Porcelain Clay
69500 Pitchers: Contemporary Expressions of a Classic Form
70Hypertufa Containers: Creating and Planting an Alpine Trough Garden
Hypertufa containers—also known as troughs—are rustic, striking, versatile, and perfect for small, Alpine plants. A mix of cement, perlite, peat, and water, they are simple and affordable to make at home. In Hypertufa Containers, Lori Chips details everything you need to know to make your own troughs and successfully garden in them. This hardworking book includes step-by-step instructions and color photography for making hypertufa containers in a variety of shapes and sizes. Plant portraits include growing and cultivation information, along with potting tips.
71Surface Design for Ceramics
72Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks: Pottery and Porcelain 1850 to Present
Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks provides the quickest and easiest way for professional and amateur collectors to identify more than 3,500 American, European, and Oriental marks. The perfect companion to the Kovels' original best-seller, Kovels' Dictionary of Marks -- Pottery and Porcelain: 1650 to 1850 (still in print after more than 42 years and 41 printings), Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks is the most comprehensive reference for nineteenth- and twentieth-century marks. Together, the two volumes are an indispensable guide to porcelain and pottery marks of the last four centuries.
Also available from Three Rivers Press, Kovels' Dictionary of Marks--Pottery & Porcelain: 1650 to 1850
73500 Tiles: An Inspiring Collection of International Work
From press-molded pieces to carved works showcasing spectacular surface treatments, these magnificent tiles will inspire beginners and professionals, as well as collectors and enthusiasts. Some of the larger handcrafted displays here were made to decorate public and private spaces; others use single tiles to interpret nature, tell a story, or make a bold cultural observation. As always in this acclaimed series, all the contributors are accomplished artists, renowned in the field. Mary Lynn Buss creates the ultimate kitchen backsplash: a field of mosaic-tiled long-necked irises. Peter King and his wife and working partner Xinia Marín fashion large, expressively rendered, and sculptural installations. And Melody Ellis’s low-relief earthenware tiles pack intriguing narratives into every tile.
74Handbuilt Ceramics: Pinching * Coiling * Extruding * Molding * Slip Casting * Slab Work
75The Potter's Bible
76The Ceramic Spectrum
Title: The Ceramic Spectrum
Author: Hopper, Robin
Publisher: Amer Ceramic Society
Publication Date: 2008/12/01
Number of Pages: 256
Binding Type: PAPERBACK
Library of Congress:
77The Complete Potter
78How to Make Clay Characters
79Pots in the Kitchen
80500 Figures in Clay: Ceramic Artists Celebrate the Human Form
81The Encyclopedia of Mosaic Techniques: A Step-by-Step Visual Dictionary with an Inspirational Gallery of Finished works
82Zen And The Art Of Pottery
This unique book is at once a celebration of pottery, the art and its traditions, and a hands-on guide to its methods. The first chapters discuss principles and practice, discipline and tradition—the Zen potter's attitudes to life and work. Later chapters translate those ideas into practical potting techniques, presenting both rudimentary and advanced lessons. The book also includes photographs and descriptions of pots by the author, his Japanese master, his students, and by a number of renowned modern potters.
83When Clay Sings
Clay has its own small voice, and sings. Its song has lasted for thousands of years. And Byrd Baylor's prose-poem as simple and powerful as the clay pots, sings too.
84Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet
85The Potter's Complete Studio Handbook: The Essential, Start-to-Finish Guide for Ceramic Artists
Inside, you'll find:
—expert tips and tricks for selecting and preparing your clay, constructing slab projects, throwing and centering clay on the wheel, firing your project to perfection
—16 beautiful and functional projects with step-by-step photos using wheel-throwing, hand-building, and slipcasting techniques that can be done at home
—more than 40 formulas for unique clays and glazes with instructions on how to use them plus troubleshooting tips from the experts
—behind-the-scenes access to production and mining facilities . . . and much more!
86Inside Japanese Ceramics: Primer of Materials, Techniques, and Traditions
While presenting the time-tested techniques of the tradition, author Richard L. Wilson also accommodates modern technologies and materials as appropriate. Wilson has gathered a wealth of information on two fronts--as a researcher of Japanese pottery and art history, and as a potter who has studied and worked for years with master Japanese potters. In his introduction, he provides a short history of Japanese ceramics, and in closing he looks beyond traditional methods toward ways in which Western potters can make Japanese methods their own. Richly illustrated with 24 color plates, over 100 black-and-white photographs, and over 70 instructive line-drawings, Inside Japanese Ceramics is indispensable for potters as well as connoisseurs and collectors of Japanese ceramics. Above all, it is an invitation to participate--to study, make, touch, and use the exquisite products of the Japanese ceramic tradition.
87The Kiln Book
In The Kiln Book, master potter and kiln builder Frederick L. Olsen thoroughly describes fundamental kiln construction methods and design principles in clear, straightforward language. No one has made more custom kilns in more countries than Olsen. His kiln bible explains the inner workings of crossdraft, downdraft, updraft, and multidirectional draft kilns. It discusses the importance of proper masonry work and gives insights into the variety of refractory materials and their applications. The book also offers expert guidance on firing techniques and optimal firing schedules for various kiln styles. In addition to providing building guidance for the three major types of fuel-fired kilns, The Kiln Book includes information on electric kilns and other specialty designs. The practical instructions and illustrations are supplemented with tables, technical specifications, and other practical data.
Richly illustrated with color photographs, building plans, and diagrams, The Kiln Book is an essential text for professional potters who want the freedom and control of firing works in their own kiln and for ceramics educators who wish to share the kiln-building experience with their students.
88The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story
89Fairies, Gnomes & Trolls: Create a Fantasy World in Polymer Clay
90The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius
Born in 1856 in Biloxi, Mississippi, George grew up to the sounds of the civil war and political unrest.When he was 22, his boyhood friend introduced him to the pottery wheel. The lost young man suddenly found his calling.
"When I found the potter's wheel I felt it all over like a duck in water."
He started creating strangely crafted pots and vases, expressing his creativity and personality through the ceramic sculptures. Eventualy he had thousands at his fingertips. He took them to fairs and art shows, but nobody was buying these odd figures from this bizarre man. Eventually he retired, but not without hiding hundreds of his ceramics.
Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, authors of the award winning Ballet for Martha, approach this colorful biography with a gentle and curious hand.
91Pottery on the Wheel
92500 Figures in Clay Volume 2
93Newcomb Pottery and Craftworks: Louisiana's Art Nouveau
94Torch-Fired Enamel Jewelry: A Workshop in Painting with Fire
Torch-Fired Enamel Jewelry combines beading and wire-working techniques with the
intense beauty of torch-fired enameled beads. Metal becomes your canvas as you learn the basics of enameling with a torch, then dive into 22 exquisite pieces, ranging from quirky "cattywampus" earrings to ethereal pendants to delicate multi-stranded necklaces. Find out how easy it is to create unique and colorful enamel pieces in this innovative, comprehensive guide to the world of torch-fired enameling.
Inside you'll find:
- A hands-on, in-depth approach to enameling beads, pendants and other metal findings using a torch instead of a kiln.
- An extensive enameling workshop, with information on equipment, materials and safety considerations.
- Tips and tricks for making truly unique pieces: learn how to modulate color, create burnt edges and manipulate the gas/oxygen ratio to achieve color flashes and smoky hazes.
- Jewelry and metal-working techniques, from wire-wrapping to etching copper sheet, that create a perfect backdrop to your stunning enamel creations.
Light the torch, gather your enamels and start painting with fire in Torch-Fired Enamel Jewelry.
look. make. meet.
95The Potter's Manual
96Handmade Pottery at Home: Simple Ceramics to Make on Your Kitchen Table
97Mimbres Pottery: Ancient Art of the American Southwest
98Glaze: The Ultimate Collection of Ceramic Glazes and How They Were Made
An overview of the artists' workA technical description of the featured pieceThe artist's creative intention behind the glazes usedGlaze recipes
Pieces are organized by temperature range, with special firing techniques for salt and wood, and sub-categorized by method of application, so the potter can easily find work that relates to his or her own practice, or simply discover other incredible approaches. With more than 450 beautiful color illustrations, a technical how-to section, and a detailed glossary, "Glaze" is an absolute must have for potters of all levels.
99A Killer Collection (Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries, #1)
And when a fellow collector is murdered, Molly quickly develops an uncanny understanding of the criminal mind.
100