Review by Pat Lindemann; 2007

The Art & Craft of Ceramics; Techniques, Projects, Inspiration

by Maria Dolors Ros i Frigola

	The Art & Craft of Ceramics by Maria Dolors Ros i Frigola The Art and Craft of Ceramics is a good sourcebook for a variety of vocabulary and demonstration of techniques. Beautiful photographs clearly demonstrating what to do and not to do Sections on ash glazes, copper red glazes and others Step by step photos and descriptions of throwing, coil building, and other hand building.

The Art & Craft of Ceramics by Maria Dolors Ros i Frigola

The Art and Craft of Ceramics is a good sourcebook for a variety of vocabulary and demonstration of techniques.

Beautiful photographs clearly demonstrating what to do and not to do
Sections on ash glazes, copper red glazes and others
Step by step photos and descriptions of throwing, coil building, and other hand building.

“You have to practice over and over again, with patience; in this art form, time is on the artist’s side. When something turns out badly, you must try again. Never be satisfied and never get discouraged.”
~ Maria Dolors Ros i Frigola

This quote is from the introduction of the book and has much to say about the author’s manner in this book. She is patient and quite comprehensive in her explanations of techniques. Besides providing a bit of history of contemporary ceramics in the first chapter, she does a fine job of showing a cross section of clay-work.

She begins at the beginning and shows how raw materials become the clay we work with. Moving on towards tools and how to use them with clay, and on to firing methods, there is much good information. For those who do lots of looking at pictures, like me, even her captions have meaning.

There is a lengthy section on molds and casting, explaining some primitive mold processes, as well as more sophisticated. Glazes are another topic that she covers well, with countless pictures of glaze tests. There is a chapter on step by step demonstrations of many things from throwing in sections to building sculptural forms. Pros Excellent definitive photographs showing some beautiful work, and do’s and don’ts of clay work. Cons Clay is such a broad subject, hence, any book that attempts to cover it history to technique is going to leave something out. While this is a good beginner’s text, if you are an experienced potter or ceramicist, you may be disappointed. This book has much information to offer a novice, or even a relatively skilled potter.

There is a lengthy section on molds and casting, explaining some primitive mold processes, as well as more sophisticated. Glazes are another topic that she covers well, with countless pictures of glaze tests. There is a chapter on step by step demonstrations of many things from throwing in sections to building sculptural forms.

Pros
Excellent definitive photographs showing some beautiful work, and do’s and don’ts of clay work.
Cons
Clay is such a broad subject, hence, any book that attempts to cover it history to technique is going to leave something out. While this is a good beginner’s text, if you are an experienced potter or ceramicist, you may be disappointed.

This book has much information to offer a novice, or even a relatively skilled potter.

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The Art & Craft of Ceramics; Techniques, Projects, Inspiration

by Maria Dolors Ros i Frigola