Recommended Books
Books that I have on my shelves and reference frequently.
If you’re looking for good books, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve selected my favorite titles from my ever-growing collection and organized them into categories to make browsing easy.
A POTTER’S BOOK
Bernard Leach
This is my absolute favorite and has just become available again. If you only get one book, this should be it.
MASTERING THE POTTERS WHEEL
Ben Carter
I highly recommend this one for both beginners and teachers. I use many of Ben’s ideas as jumping off points for student projects.
THE POTTERS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Neal French
POTTERY FORM
Daniel Rhodes
POTTERY ON THE WHEEL
Elsbeth S. Woody
A POTTERS WORKBOOK
Clary Illian
CERAMICS: A POTTERS HANDBOOK
Glenn C Nelson, Richard Burkett
Get this one used if you can. New copies are now hard to find and expensive.
THE JAPANESE POTTERY HANDBOOK
Penny Simpson, Lucy Kitto, Kanji Sodeoka
CERAMIC DESIGN COURSE
Anthony Quinn
THE CHINESE POTTER
Margaret Medley
SETTING UP YOUR CERAMIC STUDIO
Virginia Scotchie
THE POTTERS MANUAL
Kenneth Clark
An oldie but goodie, for a more up to date throwing handbook I would recommend Mastering the Potters Wheel by Ben Carter.
I’ve included a few books covering all the basic hand-building techniques including coil, slab and pinch method.
MASTERING HANDBUILDING
Sunshine Cobb
PINCH POTTERY
Susan Halls
THROWING AND HANDBUILDING, FORMING TECHNIQUES
Anderson Turner
CERAMIC STUDIO: HAND BUILDING
Shay Ambler
HANDBUILT POTTERY TECHNIQUES REVEALED
Jacqui Atkin
CERAMICS FOR BEGINNERS: ANIMALS & FIGURES
Susan Halls
HANDBUILDING CERAMIC FORMS
Elsbeth S. Woody
MASTERING CONE SIX GLAZES
John Hasselbeth and Ron Roy
If you are new to making your own glazes this is the book I recommend you start with. It is easy to understand and clearly explains what is a glaze.
This one is now very hard to find & expensive when available.
CLAY AND GLAZES FOR THE POTTER
Daniel Rhodes and Robin Hopper
THE CERAMIC GLAZE HANDBOOK
Mark Burleson
CHINESE GLAZES
Nigel Wood
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO MID-RANGE GLAZES
John Britt
ORIENTAL GLAZES
Michael Bailey
CHINA PAINT AND OVERGLAZE
Paul Lewing
THE CERAMIC SPECTRUM
Robin Hopper
COPPER RED GLAZES
Robert Tichane
CELADON BLUES
Robert Tichane
ASH GLAZES
Phil Rogers
So many great surface decoration techniques and so little time. These books may help you reign in your vaccu horri (fear of empty spaces) or feed it! Either way you won’t regret adding these books to your library.
SURFACE DESIGN FOR CERAMICS
Maureen Mills
IMAGE TRANSFER ON CLAY
Paul Andrew Wandless
CERAMIC TRANSFER PRINTING
Kevin Petrie
GRAPHIC CLAY
Jason Bige Burnett
NEW CERAMIC SURFACE DESIGN
Molly Hatch
A great contemporary survey of artists and techniques!
SURFACE DECORATION FOR LOW-FIRED CERAMICS
Lynn Peters
Just a basic list of kiln and firing books. Pick one and see where it leads you.
FIRING
David Jones
ELECTRIC FIRING: CREATIVE TECHNIQUES
Anderson Turner
This one is now hard to find and pretty expensive when it is available. Keep an eye out for a used one in good condition.
THE KILN BOOK
Frederick L. Olsen
ALTERNATIVE KILNS AND FIRING TECHNIQUES
James C Watkins, Paul Andrew Wandless
MASTERING RAKU
Steven Branfman
Another one that is getting hard to find and expensive when available. If you’re interested in raku, it’s packed with great information.
RAKU ART AND TECHNIQUE
Hal Riegger
Some of my favorite tile making books, If I were only going to pick one I’d go with with MAKING & INSTALLING HANDMADE TILES by Angelia Pozo. It is a great reference for beginners and has many creative ideas and projects.
THE TILE ARTISTS MOTIF BIBLE
Jacqui Atkin
MAKING & INSTALLING HANDMADE TILES
Angelia Pozo
TILE
Jill Herbers
THE TILE BOOK
Elizabeth Hilliard
A little bit of something for everyone, whether you interest is in making pottery for the garden, learning about slip casting, or trying your hand at architectural ceramics.
CERAMIC EXTRUDING, INSPIRATION AND TECHNIQUE
Tom & Jean Latka
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO MOLD MAKING AND SLIP CASTING
Andrew Martin
CERAMICS FOR GARDENS AND LANDSCAPE
Karin Hessenberg
ARCHITECURAL CERAMICS
Peter King
WALL PIECES
Dominique Bivar Segurado
Just warning you, I’m a bit of a ceramics history/theory geek. If you want to know more about the love of mud why not check out one or two of the books in my collection.
THE HISTORY OF GREEK VASES
John Boardman
COLOR AND FIRE, DEFINING MOMENTS IN STUDIO CERAMICS
Jo Lauria
CENTERING
MC Richards
FINDING ONES WAY WITH CLAY
Paul Berensohn
THE UNKNOWN CRAFTSMAN
Soetsu Uanagi
THE CERAMIC ART OF JAPAN: A HANDBOOK FOR COLLECTORS
Hugo Munsterberg
CERAMIC MILLIENNIUM
Various
POTTERY IN THE MAKING: CERAMIC TRADITIONS
Ian Freestone and David Gaimster
CLAY
Suzanne Staubach
20TH CENTURY CERAMICS
Edmund de Waal
THE POTTERS EYE, ART & TRADITION IN NORTH CAROLINA POTTERY
Mark Hewitt, Nancy Sweezy
LOW-FIRE CERAMICS; A NEW DIRECTION IN AMERICAN CLAY
Susan Wechsler
Getting hard to find & expensive when available.
A few basic books on china/porcelain painting. I have no formal training as a china painter but I have found these books to be a helpful resource.
CHINA PAINT AND OVERGLAZE
Paul Lewing
PAINTING ON PORCELAIN
Annick Perret
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO PAINTING AND DECORATING PORCELAIN
Patricia Newell-Dunkley
You really cannot go wrong with any of the books in the 500 series. They are all wonderful visual resource for ideas on form, decoration and design. Since there are so many I recommend you stick with the books that highlight the forms you are most interested in making.
500 PRINTS ON CLAY
500 PLATES AND CHARGERS
500 CERAMIC SCULPTURES
500 PITCHERS
500 TEAPOTS VOL. 2
500 BOWLS
500 CUPS
THE BEST OF 500 CERAMICS
500 FIGURES IN CLAY VOL. 2