The Complete Potter's Companion

by Tony Birks and Paul Birks, Tony; Bryant

Book Overview

Revised and updated, this classic potter's volume explains everything from preparation through firing, with stops along the way for detailed instruction and techniques, accompanied by more than 450... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0821224956
• ISBN13: 9780821224953
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Bulfinch Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

What a Wonderful Book!!

I purchased this book based on previous reviews and was not disappointed! I find this to be the easiest to read and most useful of all my pottery books. If you could only have one book on pottery, this would be a good choice. It is beautifully written and illustrated. I found the advise and methods in it extreamly sensible and user friendly. I have only been potting for a couple of years, and found much to learn. There are chapters on clay, glazing, decorating, method for wheel and hand building, and much more. The author de-mystifies glazing and gives several recipes for different cone temperatures that you could actually make yourself (and without even knowing the molecular weights!). I really appreciated the common sense, classroom approach and highly recommend this book to anyone interested in pottery.

Finally, a well written art book!

I recently spent a long evening at the bookstore perusing all the ceramics instruction books, and this was the best of the batch. It is well laid-out and has beautiful photographs of techniques and finished projects, but what really sets it apart is the clear and elegant writing. An excellent book.

Instruction and Inspiration

This book is a combination of basic all-around information on pottery techniques that is presented with lots of examples of beautifull pieces that will get your creative juices flowing. It covers a wide range of subjects including basic turning, handles and spouts, coiling, slabwork, pinching, extruding, molding, glazing and decorating. This book really lives up to its name. Every time I open this book, I get a new idea. Great stuff!

Complete coverage of a complex subject

As usual a Birks book is complete. Pictures, detail instructions, and more pictures. Many ideas for the beginner and experienced potter. Large format and National Geographic quality will make any purchaser happy they ordered this book. The only subject not covered in detail is the building of a kiln.If you want to construct your own kiln this is not the book for you. However, all other subjects are thoroughly explained.

This book gets my vote as best all-around text for students

The image on the cover sets the tone here as Tony Birks lays out the basics of forming clay and developing beautiful, useful surfaces while inspiring us throughout with image after image of high aesthetic merit. Birks is an excellent writer and he presents information with clarity and colour in a simple and comprehensible manner (e.g. "Clay is weathered, decomposed granite and consists mainly of alumina and silica.") The written text is complemented with photographs of artworks, artists, and techniques, all produced in full color. There seems to be a "just right" amount of information provided in each section which motivates but doesn't overwhelm. Although not officially a text book (where's the section on hazardous wastes?), I recommend it to students since it is such a work of art itself. It's merits are underscored by a price which is half that of "official" but often less appealing ceramic texts