Ceramics: Mastering the Craft

by Richard Zakin

A fascinating blend of the technical and aesthetic aspects of ceramics, this second edition features historical background information, analysis of image creation strategies, and numerous technical photos. Photo essays show such processes as raku, throwing on a wheel, slab construction, hand forming in a press mold, working with colored clay, creating a mold-formed vessel, and several others. &break;&break;Potters will find invaluable information on buying and formulating clays, creating form in clay, clay imagery, ceramic surfaces, choosing and applying glazes, firing clay bodies, analysis of glaze recipe types and kiln designs, and much more. Also included are dozens of clay body and glaze recipes. &break;&break;This greatly expanded and updated edition features more than 300 beautiful color photos of the most innovative work being done in the ceramics field today.

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, another Ceramics 'how to' book... but this one was a pretty good read, actually. In fact, I would classify this one as good enough to add to my own very small selection of books on making Ceramics, and I'm going to be picky about the size of the library for my own Studio!

It covers a lot of ground, and while it does include a lot of eye-candy pictures, it doesn't do so without reason. It shows different techniques and styles which can be taken to new formats, or to wider extremes.

There's a lot of good basic info there too, like some clay recipes that are really quite well done. Some scientific data that some folks use and some won't, isn't a bad inclusion- some of us like to tinker, and having this information at hand is a good thing!

There is even some information and examples of very non-traditional firing kilns, built by hand, by the artists who use them.

Overall, this is a pretty good book to have around!