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Clay: A Studio Handbook
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Manufacturer: American Ceramic Society
List Price: $44.95
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Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in ceramics, author Vince Pitelka has created the most practical, all-inclusive studio handbook for students, studio artists, educators and all those interested in the art of clay. The ten chapters in Clay: A Studio Handbook address the full range of ceramic processes, and bring a lifetime of ceramic knowledge directly into the hands of potters. Concerned about safe and efficient studio operation, Pitelka pays diligent attention to safety practices.
Professional potters, students, teachers even serious weekend potters will find this book is their single best resource for gaining, retaining, and expanding a solid understanding of clay. And after that, this book helps you move your work forward, with detailed descriptions of techniques you may have tried and abandoned, or techniques you've been yearning to try out but didn't have clear guidelines for.
Nothing on earth is more essential, more organic, more basic than clay. Children play in the dirt. They make mudpies. Kids like that (if they're lucky) grow up to be potters like us. We have a freedom that's often hard to put into words a freedom to express joy, sorrow, hope, whimsy, and more in a medium that flows beneath our fingers like a river of creativity. When it dries, we coat it in the color of our own imagination and relinquish it to another of nature's most basic elements: fire. What comes out of the cooled kiln is a snapshot in time, a moment of history forever frozen in its place a beautiful piece in the present that could easily become an artifact of the past in a future we may never see.
As potters, as artists, we don't always see ourselves as playing a crucial role in history. But, then, neither did the first people who put hand to clay and made the first artistic expression of the human spirit in a form you could hold in your hand. Many of us work on instinct, on intuition beyond our time. But even with inspiration, the laws of physics still hold sway over the clay, and the more we know about its properties and potential, the farther we can take our work. There is such a vast amount of knowledge you need to excel as a ceramics artist, and no one head can hold all that information.
And what if you're serious, but not a professional? Clay: A Studio Handbook is like having a giant secret stash of Albany slip hidden away in your studio (see pages 5 and 146 to see why that would be an advantage). Clay: A Studio Handbook answers life's most pressing questions in the field of clay:
Why does my beautifully shaped bowl come out of the kiln twisted?
How do I incorporate more color into my work without glazing my pieces to death?
When are my pieces dry enough to fire? Can I accelerate the drying process without putting my work at risk?
What do I do when everything I throw comes off the wheel and heads right back into the recycling pile?
Where do I begin to set up my own studio?
Who can help me solve the big problems and the little ones?
The author, Vince Pitelka, is an established ceramics artist. With more than 30 years of experience, Pitelka answers your questions about materials, studio safety, tools, equipment, clay and glaze mixes, firing processes and techniques, and more.
Pitelka's descriptions and explanations cover every area of ceramics you can imagine, from pinch pots to studio setup to manageable marketing. Brush up on techniques as diverse as nerikomi (p. 118) and mishima (p. 108), or explore an unconventional approach to slab building.
This is the most practical, hands-on reference book on clay you can own. Whether you're a seasoned professional, a teacher, a student, or a determined dabbler, this book is a valuable resource you don't want to be without. You'll go back to it again and again.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 738
EAN: 9781574980905
ISBN: 1574980904
Label: American Ceramic Society
Manufacturer: American Ceramic Society
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2001-03-01
Publisher: American Ceramic Society
Studio: American Ceramic Society
SIMILAR ITEMS:
• The Potter's Professional Handbook
• Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques: Raku * Saggar * Pit * Barrel (A Lark Ceramics Book)
• The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes: Glazing & Firing at Cone 10 (A Lark Ceramics Book)
• Making & Installing Handmade Tiles (A Lark Ceramics Book)
• Coloring Clay (Ceramics Handbooks)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS:
It says it all -
Great book! This book will give the beginner potter all the information you could possibly need when starting your new adventure in pottery. Along with a great teacher this book has me up and running! Recommend it to anyone getting started in pottery.
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, simply quality bar stools
Very informative book -
This book packs a lot of information into it's pages. It works well as a book to sit down and read through and as a reference book. Very well laid out, good directions and pictures, very inclusive. I highly recommend it.
A Ceramics Degree -
I took two years of a ceramics class, which was enough to get me a job in the 70's as a studio assistant and earn some extra money while going to school. There were a lot of techniques we used that I didn't understand, but I got by.
Now that I have the luxury of immersing in ceramics again, I wanted to know what I was doing, and what all those lucky four year+ ceramics majors got to play with.
This is the book for it- it's actually an upper level ceramics handbook. Easy to read, easy to understand, and all that incredible depth of information that can make you good at what you do.
Vince Pitelka has a website for his college courses (based on the book) along with additional handouts and resources at:
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/syllabi-handouts/handouts-info.htm
I'm SO pleased I found this book. . . Thanks, Vince!
Pitelka's "Clay:A Studio Handbook" -
I have read several books (library) on pottery and technique and THIS book, for all inclusive information, beats them all. One definitely that should be in everyone's studio. Easy to quick reference. Easy to read and understand. I actually could visualize making forms as I read the text. It gets right down to the molecular events that happen in the kiln, things I didn't know before. Wonderful work!! Take a class, then read this book. You'll want to play with clay the rest of your life.
Great selections of branded hammocks at
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Perfect studio handbook -
This book is wonderful. It contains information on everything from properly wedging and centering clay, to how to set up your own studio and select equipment. It's informative without being so academic that it's hard to read. I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to supplement their knowledge of ceramics. I have more hands-on pottery experience than academic, so this answers all the little things I've been wondering about such as "What is the difference between earthenware and stoneware?", "How does a noborigama work?", or "What is the proper way to photograph my work?" This is the perfect studio reference book.
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