Creative Pottery: A Step-By-Step Guide and Showcase
By Michelle Coakes
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564963152/rakuclayartis-20
Creative Pottery is a very nice book that examines the works of nine
very distinct clay artists. One artist focuses primarily on Raku and
several of the other artist's work would lend itself to a Raku glaze
treatment.
The book is broken into three parts: Form, Surface, and Firing. Lana
Wilson is one of the artists featured in the form section. She hand builds
pieces using soft slabs and lots of stamps. I would think her work would
look very interesting Raku-fired, given all the cracks and crevices that
exist in her pieces.
Steven Hill is one of the artists in the Surface section. He creates
large flowing bulbous forms, which I think would look great with a copper
matte Raku glaze.
In the firing section is the Raku artist Jim Connell who creates large
lidded spiral faceted vessels. He uses a unique twice-firing technique
with his Raku glazes. He first fires the Raku glaze in a Raku kiln like a
high fire glaze. Then he refires the piece in a typical Raku fashion of
pulling it from the kiln at the maturity temperature and placing it in a
reduction chamber.
Each artist demonstrates the creation of his or her work in a
step-by-step process, which makes if very easy for the novice potter to
learn a new technique. Following each instructional section is a gallery
section containing a collection of pieces that detail the work of several
artists that can provide one with inspiration on their own work.
Order a copy at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564963152/rakuclayartis-20
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