Garth Mullins - Pottery Book for Beginners: A Potters Guide to Sculpting 20 Beautiful Handbuilding Ceramic Projects Plus Pottery Tools, Tips and Techniques to Get You Started

Pottery Book for Beginners

A Potter's Guide to Sculpting 20 Beautiful Handbuilding Ceramic Projects Plus Pottery Tools, Tips and Techniques to Get You Started

By

Garth Mullins

Copyright 2021 Garth Mullins

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Disclaimer

This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information regarding the subject matter covered. However, the views expressed in this publication are those of the author alone, and should not be taken as expert instruction or professional advice. The reader is responsible for his or her own actions.

The author hereby disclaims any responsibility or liability whatsoever that is incurred from the use or application of the contents of this publication by the purchaser or reader. The purchaser or reader is hereby responsible for his or her own actions.

Introduction

P ottery making is an old art with the first records of clay designs going back to 4000 B.C. in Egypt and 3000 B.C. in China.

To begin making a piece of pottery, the potter must put together a ceramic/clay body into a specific object (cup, jug). These could be made either by hand or wheel-thrown techniques and subsequently heating at a high temperature in a furnace to eliminate water from the clay. This gives rise to modifications in molded objects, enhancing their strength to last for a long time while shaping them up.

The process of decorating the clay body can start either before or after firing, but the clay does require some preparations to form a piece of work effectively. The clay preparations may involve pressing the clay using bare hands (kneading), the process that ensures that moisture finds its way evenly through the whole slab.

De-airing is the next stage in the preparatory process when using clay. This can be done either manually via wedging or by using a vacuum machine attached to a pugmill; if the de-airing and de-moisturizing of the clay are complete, the clay's shaping in any possible way to form an object. The object formed is made to dry up, and then it is fired.

Whether you are contemplating getting into ceramics or being an enthusiast, knowing everything about creating and forming ceramic objects is important. Assuming you want to enter into ceramics, knowing the techniques you can employ to come up with the best products will offer great assistance to achieve your goal. If you go into the business of collecting ceramics, knowing the difference between mass-produced and handmade can make an incredible difference.

Chapter 1

The Basics of Pottery Making

What is Pottery?

P ottery is the final result of forming vessels and other objects, including clay and ceramic materials, which are usually heated to make them hard and long-lasting.

It is also known that pottery is created out of ceramics and incorporates different kinds of pottery wares like stoneware, porcelain, and earthenware. Ceramic ware is not pottery unless it is heated and that is when the clay will form.

History of Pottery

O ne school of thought agreed that the first potters came to be in Mesopotamia in the years between 4,000 and 6,000 BC. This was a revolution and not evolution in the way people of old made items out of clay. The revolution did remove the limitations placed on the long process of using bare hands to mold clay by the ancient people but to have the freedom to explore new forms and new designs.

Pottery has had inherent artistic merit, but when the revolution came with the potters wheel's arrival, the emphases were drastically changed. Pottery was previously known to serve useful purposes; it is now believed to be serving aesthetic ones.

Previously, archaeologists discovered the earliest types of potter were ostensible without decoration and glaze but that wasnt the case everywhere. Around 6,000 BC, it was found out that some places such as China, Europe, and the Middle East had emerged with different design techniques.

Their designs had made a remarkable impression because their paintings did tell past and original findings of Pharaohs period in office and highly decorated plates and bowls. Ceramists were highly skilled by the work they produced, which also included the ability to produce animal figures. But these innovations were possible because of the discovery of the potters wheel.