Customer Reviews

The Art of Polymer Clay: Designs and Techniques for Making Jewelry, Pottery, and Decorative Artwork

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Donna Kato is known throughout the polymer clay world for her tools, her techniques, and her art. This book is an excellent distillation of all she's learned and invented about polymer clay work.

Unlike many of the PC books on the market, Kato doesn't spend any time on projects. There are many, many techniques - Ballinese Filligree, the Clichy Rose Cane, several different types of faux materials, just as examples - but she doesn't tell you how to apply them or use them. This is fabulous for those who can use the techniques as springboards, and makes the book far more useful than any project-based book could be.

However, the technique-based approach is a little intimidating for the novice clayer; I bought this book a month after I cracked open my first packet of Sculpey III, and there wasn't much in The Art of Polymer Clay that was useful to me. Four months later, I started to get into it, and now this is one of my favorite PC books.

The basic information is extensive, but some of it, like the types of clay section, is out-dated. However, as I've said, this isn't the most helpful book for the beginning clayer - The Polymer Clay Techniques Book is probably that - so the front material is a bit beside the point. (However, everyone should read the whole book, as there is fabulous information in all the chapters.)

If I had to (horrors!) reduce my collection of PC books to just five, The Art of Polymer Clay would be one of them. It is a great book for any clayer at any level - one of the classics of the PC library.

OK, so I already own three other books on Polymer Clay. Did this book have information not contained in my other three books? Was this book's new information of sufficient quantity that I couldn't just memorize the new techniques and not spend the money?

Billed on the back cover as the "ultimate polymer clay book," every page holds the same promise. This book demonstrates the absolute versatility of the polymer clay medium.

Donna's organization of polymer clay techniques makes perfect sense. She starts with the basics, then explains canes and loaves, followed by a host of surface treatments. Mould-making is next, then there are Tory Hughes's imitative techniques for bone, stone, and coral. Donna gives liberal credit to Tory. Next, Donna hits on sculptural techniques in three chapters: vessels, floral forms, and figurines.

Vernon Ezell's photographs are colorful and sharp, enhancing Donna's instructive text. You may have seen an article or two by Donna in Jewelry Crafts or Lapidary Journal magazines. This book contains all of her ideas from those articles and lots more.

I pondered for four days whether I should spend the money for this book. I bought it. You should too if you already work with polymer clay or are considering whether you should start. It's a real inspiration!

This is an excellent book for the intermediate polymer clay artist. The projects are fun and sophisticated. I have nearly ten different polymer clay books, but this is the only one I have found that shows you how to make full-size floral forms.

The book starts out with an excellent introduction to the basics of selecting materials and explains how to choose among the different brands of clay. Conditioning the clay, color mixing and making basic shapes is covered next. A wide variety of techniques and projects follow.

Some techniques include millefiori with instructions for making and using lace, checkerboard, pinwheel, chevron, plaid, spliced, radiating, kaleidoscope, shaded and face canes. The rose cane is gorgeous. Onlay techniques, working with glitter, metal leaf treatments and making beads are next. I love the author's ideas for quilted and Balinese filigree beads. She then goes on to explain carving clay and creating Bakelite like forms.

Next comes the process of making and using molds including taking you step-by-step through making an Asian man face pin. Then, imitative techniques simulating precious stone like jade, marble, ivory, agate and red jasper are covered. There is a great recipe for turquoise. Translucent effects for creating opals and metal effects for creating mokume gane and patinas are a great help. There is even a technique to get a marbled paper look.

Vessel construction follows. Projects included a woven vessel, unlined pot, mosaic bowl and curved box. The book ends with a few sculpture lessons including making a harvest candlestick with several vegetable forms. A great seahorse sculpture and a creating a realistic doll's head are also here.

Though the instructions are fine for someone with a little polymer clay experience, they are in some cases simply not detailed enough for a total beginner. However, with so many beautiful projects and ideas, this book will provide inspiration for years.

As a craft instructor and a newcomer to the delights and discouragements of polymer clay, I needed HELP! Donna's book is that help. Donna covers it ALL from the different types of poly clay and their uses to tools and techniques; from beginner to advanced. Using the instructions in the chapter "Basic Canes and Loaves" I made my first loaf, a pinwheel design and from the loaf, created a miniature quilt in polymer clay! I felt like I was truly successful.... I've a long way to go but I'll keep this book in my craft book collection & recommend it to others interested in polymer clay. It is my standard reference on polymer clay!

As the proud owner of practically every book on polymer clay, I have to say that Donna Kato's is right up there on top. Easy to understand techniques and doable projects illustrated. Donna makes it easy for all of us. She is humble and focused in her explanations, doesn't feel the need to express how much she's contributed to the field; that is evidenced by her fabulous designs and terrific instructions. BUY THIS BOOK!

This is the first polymer clay book that I've BOUGHT, although I've gotten several out of the library. She gives good instruction on a bit of everything - caning, sculpture, carving, balinese filigree, flowers etc. The work used in the book as examples of the techniques is also excellent - I have to admit I haven't liked more than fifty percent in some of the other books I've seen.

[ETA Oct 2010: This review was written in 2004 regarding the 1997 edition of this book. Since then the author has produced additional polymer clay books, as well as a 2006 edition of this book. I have not seen the newer 2006 edition, so I do not know if any of my comments below apply to the newer edition or not.]

Donna Kato is one of the greats in the PC world. On the Carol Duvall show you can see her and others from her company teaching all sorts of interesting techniques (in fact, this is what made me return to the world of polymer clay which I left some time ago when I started silversmithing and glassblowing). And, her development of a new improved brand of polymer clay is just as important as her teaching.

You know the phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants"? Donna Kato's work and book have made significant advances in the field, so now there is a new crop of more recent books that have even more. This book is now dated. It was published in 1997. The information in it is still good, but there are newer techniques not included in the book. There are lots of great recent books out which teach polymer techniques.

Also I agree with the reviewer who said it was "not very instructive". There are not step by step photos and "recipes". I was eager to see this book when I heard it so highly recommended, and was disappointed with it when I finally saw it. Again, there are better ones for this, such as Heaser's The Polymer Clay Design Book.

This book was worth 5 stars when it came out, but now it is worth less because of newer competition. It is still a good book, but consider some of the recent ones as well.

It would be really cool if Donna Kato were to write a new book incorporating all the new stuff that is out there.

As a relative newcomer to the world of polymer clays, I found 'The Art of Polymer Clay' by Donna Kato both very helpful and very exciting. She opens this neatly-arranged book with a discussion of the many aspects of working with polymer clay, including reviews of the different makes of clay and how to condition them (though some of the clays discussed are harder to find or no longer on the market), tools and supplies, color mixing, curing, finishing, safety and cleanup. The author then proceeds to illustrate a great deal of techniques, from simple to complicated. Beadmaking, millefiore, and imitative techniques (achieving the look of semi-precious stones and other materials) are covered in detail. Jewelry-making is discussed extensively, and vessel construction (making things like boxes and vases)is thoroughly explained. There is a nice chapter on floral forms -- her polymer flowers are quite convincing! Figurine-making and sculpture are discussed and illustrated, though not in as great a degree of detail.

Technique and inspiration are key in 'The Art of Polymer Clay'. The projects that Kato illustrate don't limit the artist. She gives the reader the methods for building any box, not just the box she's built, for example. Her instructions are very detailed, and are often accompanied by full-color photographs. Note, however, that the reader should have some background in or a knack for design -- this is a technique book, not a project book.

I recommend this book to those who have a particular interest in making jewelry and/or constructing home decor items. It will first inspire you by illustrating the potential of the medium, then double as a handy reference book (there's a very detailed index at the end for finding the info you need quickly). There is even a directory of manufacturers -- complete with address and telephone numbers -- should you have trouble finding a certain item.

Donna Kato's 'The Art of Polymer Clay' was the first polymer clay craft book I purchased, and I saw a dramatic improvement in the quality and range of my work. Some of the projects were too complicated at first, but they kept the learning process interesting and exciting, never discouraging.

What can I say? It's simply a must-have.

Let me be upfront right at the start: Donna is a friend of mine; I worked for her when she owned a bead store here in Chicago, and at the time when she first began to work with poly clay. I've edited her project pamphlets, and I know her work very well, and have always thought that it was some of the best clay work I've ever seen.

This book is a compendium of so many techniques that it's difficult to know where to start. It's not a project-based book, so if you're looking for something to follow by the numbers, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a lot of good, sound instruction on clay techniques, this is the book for you. Bring your own ideas and let Donna help you make them reality.

I can vouch for the fact that she knows her stuff; I saw her creating many of these objects, teaching herself the strengths and weaknesses of polymer clay and learning how to push the boundaries of what could be done in the medium. She has the chops, and she's sharing them. Learn from her! You won't regret investing in this book.

I first saw Donna Kato on the Carol Duval show and I really enjoyed the things she made. When I decided to try my hand with polymer, I bought her book.

I was not disappointed! She is very thorough explaining techniques as well as comprehensive in her list of tools and supplies.

I highly recommend this book because of the above, but also because it is great fun!