Customer Reviews

Smashing Glazes

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

 

 

I was greatly disappointed with this glossy glaze/coffee table book. I could not honestly imagine anyone would be interested in re-creating the glazes used on the second-rate ceramics pictured here. Sure, the photos are nice and the layout is attractive, but the selected works are mostly sculptural, with the glazes being not really essential to the focus of the work.

The book is thoughtfully organized by maturing temperatures of the glazes, and recipes are given. I was suprised to see so many commercial glazes, stains and clay bodies used. The whole thing came across as a come-on for Guild.com and its pottery supply company sponsers.

Peterson chooses a wide variety of functional and sculptural work, from low fire through high fire, and has the artist explain their processes and give recipes. What more could you want! As a ceramic artist, it takes going to a lot of workshops, talking to a lot of artists, and reading a lot of books to get the breadth of information she puts forward in a succinct and visually pleasing manner.

The pieces chosen represent a thoughtful variety of work being done in both functional and sculptural ceramics. Each piece is superlative in its relationship between surface and form. As a ceramic artist I found myself with many ideas and left with the resources to explore and execute those ideas. It was like going to a really great show and being told all the artist's recipes and secrets.

While not exhaustive of information (see Dan Rhodes), it presents everything in a very visually appealing manner while not losing technical information. This is to be expected from the author of the classic "The Craft and Art of Clay."

Susan Peterson does it again!

If you are looking for a catalogue of new glazes to try this is not the book for you. It offers, as it suggests, technical information on the surface finishes of 53 artists' works, but they are chosen to represent the entire spectrum of ceramic surface finishes, many of them (in my view) being decidedly uninspiring. Having said that, if further books were written in this style, each covering specific areas of ceramics - ie high fired surfaces, non-fired, reduction, alternative firings etc, I would very happily add them to my collection.

This is a good glaze book, but it is not the best glaze book I have ever bought :/ There are a ton of inspiring photos, but not as much written information as I would have liked.

I love this book and use it often as a reference for glazes. I appreciate the broad range of glazes offered, and the fact that this book doesn't cater only to potters, and "functional" ceramics. There's a variety of functional and sculptural styles that offer inspiration for any artist.

My husband and I have met Susan Peterson and many of the potters that are in the book. The book presents works by the artist as they would present them to a friend. The photos and writings really put the glaze recipes in focus.