Customer Reviews

The Craft and Art of Clay (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a large book chock full of information, and provides an in-depth survey of ceramics. There are many photographs about techniques and many illustrations of beautiful artistic ceramics pieces. Also it contains lots of technical information, tables, etc.

Since other reviews have covered the merits of this book quite well, I'll mention a few issues:

First, there are lots of sample photos of different clay bodies under different firings and different glaze colors and combinations, etc., but they are all *way too small* to really see the characteristics of each sample. Also sometimes there is a series of photos, e.g. throwing a pot, building a kiln, and when they are all arranged on the page, each one is too small (and many are b&w, from previous editions?) Otherwise the book is very well illustrated with a wide variety of work.

The glaze discussion does not cover the properties of glaze bases and coloring oxides much at all, which is something I would expect in a book of this comprehensiveness. It does spent some time on commercial fritted stains and Mayco glazes, which other books don't, and can be useful to some, especially for low-temp work. But if you really want to get into glazes, this is not the book.

For many advanced topics, she has just a mention that leaves me hungry for more. E.g. lusters she briefly mentions using and making, but Rhodes has a much more thorough discussion of making lusters. Paperclay is mentioned briefly but not enough to really tell me how to make it or use it. For many of the topics in the book, more detailed discussions are possible and likely available elsewhere. However she has assembled lots of brief mentions of different and experimental work that you might not encounter in other ceramics survey books, so it is useful for knowing what else I want to look into.

[This review pertains to the 4th edition, 2003.]

I received this book as a Christmas gift in 2003 from my boyfriend, as I had just started learning to throw forms back in September. I'm still taking classes and this is the best and most complete reference I've seen yet. I've purchased and looked at quite a number of books, but nothing else I've seen compares to this one.

But I have a caution for the beginning potter; there is absolutely no substitute for studio experience and classes. My instructors told me right from the beginning, quite rightly, that the art of claymaking requires hours and hours of practice. No way around it. This book is not intended as a stand-alone reference. Perhaps it could be for the more experienced potter.

But for a beginner such as myself, it is a great reinforcement for what I'm learning in class. It also gives me great ideas on glazing, types of pots to throw, etc.. I need to work with my instructor on much of this, but I still find it extremely useful.

The book expands on subjects that we don't really discuss in detail in class. It talks about things such as: what are glazes (composition and origin) and how does the chemical process work? What are the main glazing techniques? What are all the various types of clay and where do they come from? How does one choose a clay to work with? Since the art and history of clay making varies from culture to culture, a lot of different styles and techniques are included, making this a well-rounded book.

Many parts of the book are very technical (a little intimidating to me) and are probably best suited for the 'master' clay artist. However, I still find it extremely useful. It's really the "Oxford Dictionary" of Claymaking.

This book should definitely be a part of a serious claymaker's library (but not the only book!)

This is a great book for anyone who wants to work with clay. It is clearly written with prospective and actual studio potters in mind.

The book originally came out in 1992, and is now in its fourth edition. And, after mentioning some safety issues, it has plenty of instructional material on how to shape clay, and what tools to use. There are sections on hand building: pinching, coil building, and slab building. Then there's plenty about the technique of "throwing" clay on a potter's wheel, with nice sequences of photos. This takes plenty of skill and practice! As the author says, the wheel is very sensuous, rhythmic, and hypnotic. Peterson is always warning us to treat clay properly: if you attack it in one way and then hit it from another direction in the same place, you may find cracks there in firing, induced by the strains you imposed on it. It's simply wrong to overwork clay.

Still, many potters and artists like to produce many objects with the same overall shape. And that means making and using molds made from plaster, and making casting slips, so Peterson shows us quite a bit about these. After this comes a discussion of decoration. This involves artistry and visualization.

There is a good discussion of types of clays, and explanations of what earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain are. We're shown different types of clay bodies, including terra sigillata and raku (a process which requires a clay body that has some dirt mixed in with it to make it porous enough to avoid thermal shock). And there is a wonderful chapter on glazes. Following that, there is plenty about kilns and firing, including using cones, inconel tubes, and pyrometers to measure temperature.

A technical section explains how to do calculations on glazes, and there are charts of coefficients of expansion, data on frits, color charts of clay and glaze combinations, and much more.

There is a historical overview, which includes a discussion of the studio potter movement and the contributions to it from Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada. And we see some of the work of Maria Martinez and Lucy Lewis in Pueblo Indian ceramics. There is also an excellent portfolio of interesting works. I especially like some of the low-fire ones.

This is a very useful resource and I highly recommend it.

If you are just learning, or are stuck in a rut, this book is a great reference for potters of all skill levels.

This book is an excellent reference for different levels of clay/ceramics work. It is a beautiful "coffee table book" as well.
It came in perfect condition.

This is a most useful and interesting book for anyone interested in clay.
It provides tons of information on history, process, various techniques, particular artists, and is wonderfully illustrated. It is not only informative but also beautiful to leaf through. I'm glad I sent for it.

The Craft and Art of Clay by Susan Peterson, Jan Peterson is the first book I have bought on line. I had borrowed it from the University (I am a 2nd year student at Southern Cross) library and when I found myself extending the loan I thought it would be worth purchasing this book. It is even better now I own it. Its simple approach to this art that I have not done before makes this book refreshingly easy to read. It can be used for looking up specifics and for a general thumb-through, for interest.
As a person new to ceramics I wanted a book that wouldn't talk over my head and I also didn't want to read it through then find it has nothing more to offer.
I have found this book to have both basic and advanced information in an easy to read form. I am very happy to recommend it to every and anyone interested in starting to work with clay for students studying 3D and in particular ceramics and I am sure I will continue refer back to this book, throughout my professional career.

Susan Peterson was my advanced ceramics professor while I attended Hunter College (NYC) long ago. My little clay tile is in the books! We learned chemistry of clays/glazes and much more.

For those wanting one of the best books on clay this is it... her husband as well was a ceramics engineer (if memory serves) so her information and background was on the cutting edge. As well she knew much of historical ceramics.

For those who were doing work that needed an extensive understanding of properties of clay she was a unique and highly informative professor (I had been in clay for over 40 years, more if one counts my mud pies as a child) (and now I know what that mud means, one - if they have the knowledge can make one's own clay from knowing how to collect it along rivers so on). This we learned from Susan (along with firing techniques, many ideas which she again, added from her own knowledge to the base). One learns what "clay" is, how it is created by nature, and what one can do with it. She knows the historical background from around the world - as well as modern techniques, many of which she created, as well as founding ceramics divisions in many colleges.

She could look at one's research end result (glaze or clay body) and know exactly what was needed to obtain the desired end result! (which chemicals) That meant if you had an idea in mind, you could create it!

Highly recommend.

I got this as a text for a college ceramics course, but it is far more than an ordinary text book. Not only is it informative on a variety of ceramic styles and techniques, but features lovely color illustrations of ceramics from a variety of times, places and artistic traditions. It is as much a coffee table book as a text.

The book had many pictures of finished products and a lot to read. I am visual and was thinking maybe it would show step by step pictures and how it is done. I have never used clay or done any sort of pottery, so it didn't really help me. I bought it for my class in college, but I never used it. Instead, I just got my hands dirty and learned by doing.