Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the best book on handbuilt ceramics I've ever seen., 7 April 1999
By A Customer
This book is actually three books in one. First, it contains a large collection (310 images) of beautiful color plates showing a huge variety of ceramic work in a wide variety of styles that is nothing short of inspirational. This alone is worth the price of the book. It is the equal of any museum exhibition or juried ceramics show book I've seen. Secondly, it is an excellent basic-through-advanced 'encyclopedia' of handbuilt terms, techniques and materials written in a clear, unambiguous style with carefully photographed examples that clearly illustrate the topic being discussed. The text and photos combine to make this book an absolute pleasure to read. You never have to scratch your head and wonder if you understand -- everything is clearly and perfectly explained. And finally, the book contains a series of eight projects which serve to thoroughly introduce the basics of handbuilding with clear, 'how-to' photographs accompanying the text which serve to demonstrate exactly what is being talked about. There is also a materials list and a step-by-step discussion of problems, pitfalls, and the techniques involved. This book would be a bargain at three times the price.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An unbiased review, good with some flaws., 30 Dec 2006
Be cautious of the previous 4 reviews by "a reader". See if you agree with me that they appear to have been written by the same person. The book is American, and no effort appears to have been made to check relevance for the UK. See the appendices of "Raku: A Practical Approach by Steven Branfman" for an example of how this should be done (UK equivalents for all raw materials carefully researched.) You may need that book or something similar if you are going to attempt to replicate any of this book's glaze recipes with raw materials from a UK supplier. Firing temperatures are all given in cones, which if you don't use them, means you'll be flipping to the back of the book all the time for the chart; where temperatures are given they're in Farenheit first; and fibre blanket is described as "space age ceramic fibre"! A number of little things like this build up to make the text read a bit like a pottery book written in the 1970s. I have several of such, and of course the basic techniques of handbuilding are much the same as those then. It did at times make me ask "do we need another book on handbuilding?"
Then there's the common one for very many pottery books recently produced - trying too had to please the publisher. The early chapters are not about handbuilding, they're about basic pottery, types of clay, glazing, firing etc. Nothing wrong with it, but be aware that it is the same stuff as you'll already have if you have any basic pottery "How to do it" book. The middle section is better, it is about handbuilding, and the "projects" described in step by step detail will be useful to anyone improving their work. (Even so, not every "step" is illustrated, which was an opportunity missed.) Then the book leaps to chapters on taking commissions for installations in public buildings. Frankly rather bizarre, because if you're an artist working at that level, you won't need the rest of the book, and if you need the rest of the book, your thumb pots are probably still some way short of the international acclaim they deserve.
Why do I give it 4 stars anyway? Because the text is adequate, the photography is excellent, I'm resisting the temptation to "mark it down" in response to the 5 star reviews which I don't trust, and because the current price is really fantastic for a glossy pottery book. What about those pictures then? I'd have liked more detail about the decoration, but there is a great range particularly of semi-figurative constructions. Well photographed and lots of them. At this price certainly worth buying to browse through as a catalogue of inspiration.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best new projects and ideas!, 2 Mar 1999
By A Customer
This book has many new ideas and projects using timeless techniques of coiling, pinching and extruding. This book is so popular with my students that it has indefinitely dissappeared from my studio! I now have two books and may purchase a third.!
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