Kara Leigh Ford - Pottery for Beginners: Projects for Beautiful Ceramic Bowls, Mugs, Vases and More

PROJECTS FOR BEAUTIFUL CERAMIC BOWLS, MUGS, VASES and MORE

Creator of Kara Leigh Ford Ceramics

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: http://us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

To all the women who choose a different lifethis one is for you.

The direct engagement of hand and materialin this case, claygives birth to deep creativity and connects us to who we are as a species, as human beings. We become less about what we own and more about what we know and feel. A humane future is necessarily about knowing more and having less. Keith Luebke

We are lucky to be living at a time when there is a great resurgence of interest in pottery, with many taking pottery classes and finding it relaxing and rewarding. After taking a few classes, the next step for some might be to buy tools and equipment and set up their own workspace, while others may prefer to keep pottery as a hobby. As well as refining pottery form and decoration, there is much to learn about glazing and firing, which is usually taken care of by technicians at evening classes. To learn and understand the process, you might need some guidance to help you take your interest to the next level.

I first met Kara Leigh Ford on social media, where I watched with interest as she grew her pottery business, building a studio in her garden near Bath in Somerset, developing her range of tableware and teaching others pottery. Kara trained in fine art and shows a great sense of design in her tableware range. She has put together a beautiful color palette of glazescrystalline blues, greens and heather pinksinspired by her walks on the South West Coast Path. I was delighted to meet Kara in person when she attended one of my glaze workshops in Dartington, Devon. She was friendly, warm and very enthusiastic about finding her own range of glazes. Her enthusiasm shines through in this book. I hope you will gain inspiration and enjoy making the projects.

This is a really useful book for beginners on how to make pottery by hand, with projects using both hand building and throwing on the wheel, illustrated throughout with beautiful photos of her process and finished work. The book is suitable for beginners who want to gain confidence with clay as well as makers who are looking for ideas for new projects. Kara has also written chapters on glazing, decorating and firing, showing how to achieve great results using stoneware clay and commercial glazes fired in an electric kiln.

Linda Bloomfield

Potter and author of Advanced Pottery and The Handbook of Glaze Recipes

People often believe themselves to either be creative or not. I strongly believe everyone is creative. You dont need an artistic background to enjoy clay. There really is little reason you cant start pottery at any time in your life, on any budget. Im thrilled to be your guide for the beginning of your journey into the wonderful world of ceramics.

This book is the perfect companion for anyone who fancies trying their hand at pottery. I give you all the basic background knowledge you need to start enjoying clay with ten step-by-step, detailed yet easy-to-follow hand building and throwing projects including mugs, plates, bowls, spoons, vases and lots more. I also provide you with beginner knowledge of glazing, with detailed instructions for eight different glazing and decorating techniquesall of which can be mixed and matched to create truly unique pottery pieces of your own.

This book is suitable for all novice potters who are looking to embark upon or expand their pottery education, providing a detailed yet fun kickoff point to start and grow your relationship with clayI guarantee it will be a lifelong love affair. The projects in this book are designed specifically with gift-giving in mind. Presenting a loved one with an object steeped in love that you have taken time with, no matter how skillfully made, is a truly heartfelt gesture that spreads the joy of this wonderful craft even further.

The possibilities are endlessI encourage you to have fun, experiment and find your own style. All you need to start is curiosity and clay.

If you dont already know me, Im Kara from Kara Leigh Ford Ceramics. I am a potter. I make pots, talk about pots and teach others how to make pots. Im passionate about sharing this wonderful craft with the world. Im mostly self-taught and began pottery as a hobby nearly 15 years ago. After finishing my degree in fine art, I was working a 9 to 5 office job and needed to do something creative to keep myself sane. I tried pottery for the first time at an evening class and fell in love. In 2015, I left my day job to follow my dream and set up my own pottery studio. I now teach others pottery in person and online via my Pottery Club. I sell my work on my website, and in shops and galleries all over the world. Through my large Instagram following, I share my love of clay with anyone who will listen.

Im still close enough to the start of my pottery journey to remember clearly what it was like to be a beginner and how scary and overwhelming all the different pottery terms were. The difference between earthenware and stoneware, greenware and glazeware baffled me, as they might for you too. I dont aim to cover everything with this book, but I will try to demystify pottery for you and explain everything you need to know to simply get started, not taking anything for granted.

Get comfortable being a beginner. In the modern world, we all seem to want to learn everything there is to know instantly, but there is so much to learn in pottery that, even after 15 years of working with clay, the only thing I truly know for sure is that Ill never know everything. For me, that is all part of the joy of discovery. I look forward to continuing the learning process for the rest of my life. I always joke with my husband that Im never going to retire from pottery because there are just too many things to learn. There are so many different ways of making things in pottery and no one way is the right way. Every potter has found their own little tricks, secret methods and techniques. In this book, I will share some of mine with you.

I designed this book to be an easy reference tool as well as a source of a lot of fun projects from which you can practice your newfound skills. I grouped all the making projects at the front and glazing projects near the back of the book because in pottery, it makes sense to make a batch of work which can be bisque fired (dont worry, Ill explain what bisque fired is later) together. You can then choose from the various glazing and decorating techniques, mixing and matching to adorn your pots and get them fired a second time together.