Beginners can try hand building, and progress onto the fundamentals of wheel-throwing. They?ll get expert tips on shaping spouts, handles and feet; adding texture, color, and luster; and combining techniques to create a variety of attractive projects.

In Handbuilt, A Potter's Guide, pottery expert Melissa Weiss shows you the basics of crafting without a wheel, how to harvest and work wild clay, and using natural glazes. 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.

In A Potter's Workbook, renowned studio potter and teacher Clary Illian presents a textbook for the hand and the mind. Her aim is to provide a way to see, to make, and to think about the forms of wheel-thrown vessels; her information and inspiration explain both the mechanics of throwing and finishing pots made simply on the wheel and the principles of truth and beauty arising from that traditional method. 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.

Bring out your child’s creativity and imagination with more than 60 artful activities in this completely revised and updated edition Art making is a wonderful way for young children to tap into their imagination, deepen their creativity, and explore new materials, all while strengthening their fine motor skills and developing self-confidence. The Artful Parent has all the tools and information you need to encourage creative activities for ages one to eight. From setting up a studio space in your home to finding the best art materials for children, this book gives you all the information you need to get started. You’ll learn how to: * Pick the best materials for your child’s age and learn to make your very own * Prepare art activities to ease children through transitions, engage the most energetic of kids, entertain small groups, and more * Encourage artful living through everyday activities * Foster a love of creativity in your family

Throwing large work is a challenging area and takes a differentapproach to throwing normal ware. This book looks at throwingpurely from the perspective of making very large work. It assumes thereader can already throw, but different techniques are needed whenmaking large work because of all the added problems - it can buckleduring making, collapse if not moved to the kiln safely and warp in thefiring. Not to mention that the techniques needed to physicallythrow much larger work are very different. This book looks at allof this, offering clear guidance on how to make work successfully,covering the various techniques used, (such as throwing on coils andthrowing in sections, or blow-torching work before continuing to throw)as well as how to avoiddisastrous pitfalls. Although we do have bits of information in otherbooks, this would be a handy guide collecting all the relevantmaterial. The handbook we already have called Large-scale Ceramicsfocuses on handbuilding.

Planters, Vases, Dishes and More, Without a Pottery Studio! You’ll be amazed by what you can create with polymer and air-dry clay. These affordable, easy-to-find clays present endless possibilities for artisan-quality home decor and gifts. Francesca Stone, creator of the decor blog Fall For DIY, presents simple step-by-step techniques for shaping and decorating clay with just a few household tools. All final pieces can be air-dried or baked in a standard home oven. Featuring a gorgeous, modern palette of natural colors, these projects are deceptively easy and effortlessly chic. Personalize your home with practical and beautiful items like the Terra-Cotta Jewelry Dish, Hanging Herb Garden Planter and Salt-and-Pepper Pinch Pot. Get creative with color and geometric shapes in home accents such as the Color-Block Photo Holder and Abstract Floral Block Platter. This book is the perfect primer to start making beautiful clay pieces at home and get that handmade ceramic look without the expenses and challenges of traditional pottery.