There's no doubt author Stan Bitters is a world class master ceramicist as dozens of black and white and color photos in this book--from more than 30 years ago--make obvious. Giant clay murals, fountains, free-standing sculptures, walkways, pots and planters are pictured and discussed. He's an artist top-flight architects, interior designers and builders--both public sector and private--turn to to transform everyday building facades into unique and monumental works of art of earthy but handsome warmth and majesty. And his free-standing sculptures are equal to the rest of his commanding work.
Bitters is a good writer, infusing his simple and straight-forward book with a beautiful mixture of artistic philosophy, approaches toward design, and technical know-how. Though you won't find any diagrammed how-to instructions here, there's enough plain old hard-earned practical information and technical tips to be invaluable to nearly any ceramacist who is thinking big. And Bitters conveys enough passion and enthusiasm, humbly but powerfully, to inspire artists working in nearly any medium.
This could well be considered a classic book, one that ceramicists will only wish contained even more pages to more fully capture the artistic wisdom and technical know-how that obviously runs so deep and broad through Bitters life and soul.
