The Ceramic Spectrum

(Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Veteran potter Hopper (Functional Pottery) has rewritten and updated another of his successful guides for studio potters. The new edition reflects the many changes in glaze technology since the first edition of this book was published in 1984. Most striking is the shift to all color photography of samples and finished pieces by other artists a necessity when discussing glazes. Although this is a technical work, the text is interesting and readable. It belongs in academic and specialized public library crafts collections, particularly those wanting to replace the first edition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

The accepted standard for understanding glazes, this book explores glaze and color making in a hands-on way that follows the empirical understanding used for thousands of years. Hopper provides an impressive description of his extensive research into glaze, color, texture, and surface enrichment. It is the perfect practical complement to any glaze theory or process of calculation, including glaze calculation software programs.

The Ceramic Spectrum is mainly a story of personal discovery over a 45-year period, of playing with materials and fire and observing their interaction, of looking at colors and textures in nature and visualizing how to achieve them with ceramic materials, of looking at hundreds of thousands of glaze and color tests, always looking for the elusive or the unknown and sometimes being granted the unimaginable. Long-term interests in geology and ceramic history have also fueled this passion to understand and use elements of the earth to create objects of both usefulness and contemplation. Hopper helps eliminate confusion for others through his personal experiences and observations with this medium. Pottery making is a continuum where one generation has learned from previous generations, some as a family pursuit and some through the inevitable seduction of material and process.

The primary intent of The Ceramic Spectrum is not as recipe book, but to demystify an extremely complex subject. Although it has over 500 recipes, all of which work perfectly well and have been widely tested, they are given to suggest parameters in which these glazes develop, to show some of the variables that control both surface and color. This book aims to make available to the student of ceramics whether beginner, advanced, or professional an approach to the study of ceramic glaze and color development which does not rely on the use of published formulas, recipes or the mathematics of ceramic glaze calculation.

Glaze making is a process of creative thought. It goes back to the empirical methods, through intuition and observation of materials and fire, in use for nearly 5,000 years before the understanding of glaze formulation by mathematical equation and molecular weight of chemicals.

The aim of this book is to encourage personal curiosity and exploration of materials for glaze and color, so that anyone can develop their own glazes, without pain or anguish, and with a very exciting learning experience.

The text is perfect as a course outline for either the individual or the group, where shared experiences tend to enhance and speed up the learning process. It should also be usable as a research tool for the understanding and development of colors, which may have previously seemed beyond reach.

"For those who feel intimidated by chemical/mathematical formulation, it is my hope that in the exploration of this book it will be possible for the reader to find a new direction in the search for an individual idiom" Robin Hopper

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: American Ceramic Society; Second Edition edition (December 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574983024
• ISBN-13: 978-1574983029
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #382,796 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to know about color in glaze this is it!, October 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ceramic Spectrum: A Simplified Approach to Glaze & Color Development (Hardcover)

This book has many great bits of information vital to your glaze color problems. I feel that it is an absolutly must have. Robin has distilled much of the "secret colors" from the past and leads you through many glaze problems.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Great!!!!!, February 27, 2002

By	"ridgerunrbunny" (Fredericktown, Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ceramic Spectrum: A Simplified Approach to Glaze & Color Development (Paperback)

This book has more information on glazes and colorants than any other book I own. Robin Hopper's explanation on the breakdown of glaze and color development is truly amazing. This is not a book for the "I want it done easy person", but a book for the the person who wants to know how something is done. He leaves computer technology out and leaves knowledge up to human resource and personal experience. Unlike other books, I truly LEARNED something from this one.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, great service from Amazon, September 5, 2005

By	Maxwell Casey "Max" (Monroe, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ceramic Spectrum: A Simplified Approach to Glaze & Color Development (Paperback)

The Ceramic Spectrum is filled with detailed information and wonderful color pictures of glazing procedures and results. Extremely detailed color pictures of different glazes, errors made during glazing as well as mixing or modifying glazes from existing compounds. This book covers details from simple glazing techniques to complex crystalline glazes, and textural glaze applications. It has detailed explanations of glaze testing, color testing, glaze application and application faults. Almost all subjects are covered with color pictures of different techniques, faults and treatments. A totally complex subject treated in understandable terms. If you want to mix glazes, understand glaze procedures and techniques, avoid common errors, etc. this is the book for you. Excellent.