The Workshop Guide to Ceramics


Book Description

Presents instructions and techniques for creating ceramics, covering forming techniques, glazing, firing, and more --




The Porcelain Workshop


Book Description

In 2004 and 2005, Antonio Negri held ten workshops at the College International de Philosophie in Paris to formulate a new political grammar of the postmodern. Postmodernity, Negri suggests, can be described as a "porcelain workshop": a delicate and fragile construction that could be destroyed through one clumsy act. Looking across twentieth-century history, Negri warns that our inability to anticipate future developments has already placed coming generations in serious jeopardy. In the impassioned debates recounted in this book, Antonio Negri attempts to describe the formation of an alternative political horizon and looks for a way to define the practices and modes of expression that democracy could take.




Working With Porcelain


Book Description




Complete Pottery Techniques


Book Description

Discover how to develop your pottery design skills and bring your ideas to life from start to finish. Covering every technique from throwing pottery to firing, glazing to sgraffito, this pottery book is perfect for both hand-building beginners and potting pros. Step-by-step photographs - some from the potter's perspective - show you exactly where to place your hands when throwing so you can master every technique you need to know. Plus, expert tips help you rescue your pots when things go wrong. The next in the popular Artist's Techniques series, Complete Pottery is the ideal companion for pottery classes of any level, or a go-to guide and inspiration for the more experienced potter looking to expand their repertoire and perfect new skills. With contemporary design and ideas, Complete Pottery Techniques enables the modern maker to unleash their creativity.




Simon Leach's Pottery Handbook


Book Description

“A definitive guide for every step of pottery making, from styling small tools to building one’s own kiln” (Publishers Weekly). At one time or another, every potter gets frustrated at the wheel. Whether struggling to center the clay or attach a handle with precision, potters of all levels crave advice and answers, and world-renowned ceramicist and YouTube sensation Simon Leach has plenty to give. In Simon Leach’s Pottery Handbook, he presents clear tutorials and loads of original instruction on all of the core techniques, from studio setup to basic throwing, to applying appendages, trimming, glazing, and firing. For each technique, detailed step-by-step photography captures the subtle, intricate movements. Praise for Simon Leach’s Pottery Handbook “An amazingly detailed, step-by-step text for all major processes in ceramics. The in-depth perspective starts with his directions for making simple tools (a wire tool and a sponge stick) and is bolstered by charts and information-packed sidebars (e.g., for removing air bubbles and troubleshooting your first pull). Every topic that novices must master is covered, such as working basic shapes (cylinder and variations dishes) trimming, decorating and glazing, and firing.” ?Booklist “Among how-to books, this volume stands out. This gem is as carefully honed as the skills it seeks to share.” —American Craft “For those of us who learn best with a combo of text and demonstrations, Simon Leach’s new book is the perfect fit.” ?Ceramics Monthly




Ken Matsuzaki


Book Description

Under the guidance of Master Potter and National Living Treasure Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Ken Matsuzaki has emerged as a leading figure in modern Japanese ceramics. Matsuzaki’s work reflects the heritage of traditional Japanese folk pottery while showcasing the artist’s creativity, intuition, and skill. Grounding his pieces in the Mingei pottery tradition, which emphasizes that the beauty of an object is found in its use, Matsuzaki has developed an individual style that honors tradition and builds on it in in new directions. This volume, which includes an in-depth interview with the artist, an essay by Professor Andrew Maske, and full-color illustrations, will introduce the reader to both the history and the future of Japanese ceramics.




The Invisible Core


Book Description

Life and reflections of a woman artist and craftsman who has lived and worked in northern California for more than thirty years.




The Porcelain Thief


Book Description

A journalist travels throughout mainland China and Taiwan in search of his family’s hidden treasure and comes to understand his ancestry as he never has before. In 1938, when the Japanese arrived in Huan Hsu’s great-great-grandfather Liu’s Yangtze River hometown of Xingang, Liu was forced to bury his valuables, including a vast collection of prized antique porcelain, and undertake a decades-long trek that would splinter the family over thousands of miles. Many years and upheavals later, Hsu, raised in Salt Lake City and armed only with curiosity, moves to China to work in his uncle’s semiconductor chip business. Once there, a conversation with his grandmother, his last living link to dynastic China, ignites a desire to learn more about not only his lost ancestral heirlooms but also porcelain itself. Mastering the language enough to venture into the countryside, Hsu sets out to separate the layers of fact and fiction that have obscured both China and his heritage and finally complete his family’s long march back home. Melding memoir, travelogue, and social and political history, The Porcelain Thief offers an intimate and unforgettable way to understand the complicated events that have defined China over the past two hundred years and provides a revealing, lively perspective on contemporary Chinese society from the point of view of a Chinese American coming to terms with his hyphenated identity.




Vessels


Book Description

This is the first book to showcase the work of acclaimed ceramic artist Jennifer McCurdy. Collectors and art enthusiasts will be delighted to gaze at these luminescent forms, lyrically accompanied by the poetry of Jennifer's sister, Wendy Mulhern. Dozens of color photographs, plus a section on evolution and process that's illustrated with forty-five color images, clearly show the depth and brilliance of Jennifer's work. In this collaboration Jennifer and Wendy celebrate art and how it holds things that can't be contained in any other way. These vessels, of porcelain and poetry, resonate with each other, engaging an intimate conversation. The evolution and process section provides insight into both the internal process of artistry and the physical and temporal dedication essential to bringing forth a life's body of work.




Hand Building


Book Description

Ceramics are always popular with crafters, and hand building with low-fire earthenware is a natural place to start. This book by artist Shay Amber will inspire even the most intimidated beginner.