Customer Reviews

Practical Solutions for Potters: 100s of your top questions with 1000s of practical solutions

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I recomend this book to anyone who does or is interested in pottery. This book has every question to do with pottery and their solution. Every page is filled with color photos and great ideas. I have learned so many things from this book and yet every time I open it I learn something new and useful. It shows how to glaze and decorate your peices in so many different techniques and ways. This book is a great gift for any potter, and a book you are sure to use a life time.

This book is what I have been looking for for years !

I have taken 6 pottery classes over the last 10 years and I finally got my own wheel and kiln. Now what ? None of the classes taught me how to fire my work (they had me leave it on the firing shelf and when I came back next week, it was done).
This book gives me loads of confidence to start practicing on my own.

Practice is what makes you good at pottery and Practical Solutions for Potters makes it possible for me to dive in with both hands and do my thing. I did fine in the classes because when I ran into a problem (sagging walls for example) the teacher would come along and help me fix it. But as I began throwing pots all by my lonesome, I kept wishing I had an experienced potter to run to when I had problems. This book is the next best thing. In fact, probably better !

I'm a hands-on learner and the plethera of illustrations in this book make it so easy to find answers quickly AND to understand the instructions. It has answers for hand-built, for wedging and centering the clay, for throwing the pieces, for glazing and different techniques, and for firing.

Why did it take so long for someone to come up with a good guide for potters? I don't know. I've probably bought 5 or 6 books before this one and all of them were a waste of money.
Thanks Gill Bliss. You are the Communicator Extraordinnaire !

I recommend this book for advanced as well as beginner potters.
This book is crammed with useful techniques as well as good,
illustrative photos.

The solutions cover a good spread of problems - but do not cover the basics. I still recommend it as a supplement for beginner potters, as a lot of common problems are explained well here.

For advanced potters, some techniques in this book may be redundant, but there are a lot that should provide some new directions. For example, covered in this book is how to make a good teapot that can pour well - always a good topic to review;
However topics such as: How can i Make More dynammic work - offers some new directions. Or, How can i translate my drawn designs into clay?

The largest sections are handbuilding and throwing, but there are some good sections on decorating. The kiln and firing section was a bit weak - as this is a complicated topic.

I have many pottery books, but find this refreshingly well done.
I do not have to comprise on good subject matter vs good photographs. It's a great book....