Customer Reviews

A Potter's Workbook

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

 

 

Clary Illian has given the ceramics community an amazing gift by writing this book. Not only is she thoughtful and clear, she inspires potters (whether beginners or professionals) to make better, more personal pots. Filled with examples -- beautifully photographed by Charles Metzger -- which add flesh to her supurb text. Every potter should consider this must-reading.

I have been teaching ceramics for over 20 years and have been looking for a book like this one to share with my students. I am also a studio artist and have and will find it an invaluable tool when considering the importance of form while I work. Clary Illian is a fabulous potter. She has a great love of the material and her instincts and knowledge about beauty in functionality in pottery is clear and lovely.

Once you have some skill at basic throwing, this is the book you need! Clary examines aesthetic principles of pottery. If you have wondered aloud just what has happened to your pot as it emerges on the wheel, you can get your answer here. Why does your pot look cumbersome while the person next to you has double the clay and yet their creation is light and airy? If you have pondered the question, you need a course in the matter. There are no colored pictures because the book is about form and not about glazes or other embellishment. No more bowlng pin vases for me. I am on to lovlier pots!

An excellent resource for the novice or the professional. Wonderful read, and great pictures.

Clary Illian presents a decent book dealing with the conception of form in pottery. She details aspects of functional pottery such as volume in relation to function, and little details like rims and bases, handles and spouts.

Overall I think her approach is extremely limited. she mentions only briefly in the beginning chapter that she will be presenting only a functional approach. But even within that approach I feel she takes a very narrow stance.

This book is OK if you want to study how to become a potter who makes functional pots (but not if you want to actually glaze those pots). It will not help you contextualize the role of hand-made ceramics in postmodern america, which is something that I think all ceramists need to think about.

Pros: not just a schematic approach, but a workbook of ideas and concepts, as they relate to functional pottery. Ms. Illian clearly has a deep appreciation of the material as well as a great deal of experience (she worked for bernard leach!).

Cons: reads like journal scribblings. often more white space than words or pictures on the page. very limited vocabulary and conception of clay. many of the sketches and greenware examples (they're all greenware) feel like complete throw-aways.

The book arrived in great condition and very quickly. I would definitely use this vendor again.