I have done a bit of clay work throughout my years, starting with my early days of summer camp, then in high school and college. It's always been a very satisfying craft to form a hunk of clay into a beautiful shape.
I really enjoyed flipping through this book:
The Potter's Studio Handbook
A Start-to-Finish Guide to Hand-Built and Wheel-Thrown Ceramics
Like blacksmithing or hobby farming, pottery-making appeals to individuals who like to be creative, work with their hands, and don’t mind getting a little dirty. However, it is a hobby that is largely underserved by the publishing industry, but difficult for someone to learn without a comprehensive guide because the tools and techniques are quite complicated. The Potter’s Studio Handbook guides readers through the process of setting up their own studio and teaching them how to master the techniques at home. Once techniques are mastered, The Potter’s Studio Handbook will remain an invaluable resource to the clay artist when looking to create beautiful, yet functional projects, at home with nearly 25 projects that build upon previously learned skills.
This book teaches the three most popular techniques: wheel throwing, hand building, and slipcasting.
Teaches readers how to make many functional and beautiful projects at home.
Step-by-step photos guarantee success.
Kristin Muller has been a ceramic artist for twenty years and an arts administrator for ten. Currently the education director for Brookfield Craft Center in Brookfield, Connecticut, she has been teaching ceramics there for more than thirteen years. She holds a bachelor of science in studio arts with a concentration in ceramics from Southern Connecticut State University. Kristin has attended countless seminars and workshops with leading potters and clay artists and is currently an MFA candidate at Hood College. She has a studio and wood-fired Anagama kiln in eastern Pennsylvania, and she exhibits her work nationally and internationally.
I thought I'd share a few of the tips that I thought were particularly interesting:
This is just one of the beautiful finished pieces, a chip and dip dish, that I really liked from the book.
Pop on over to Kristin's Website to see more of her work and where she will be exhibiting.
And I thought I'd bring you a clay related fun fact from:
Supermarket Spa
by Joey Green
Mud used in spa treatments is usually a clay base to which natural ingredients like algae, kelp, herbs, minerals, peat moss, paraffin, or essential oils have been added.
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