The Beginner's Guide to Decorating Pottery

Starred review from July 1, 2023

Ceramic artist and designer Reinhardt offers the third book (after Sunshine Cobb's The Beginner's Guide to Hand Building) in the "Essential Ceramic Skills" series. Reinhardt's title is a great introduction to surface decoration; it focuses on the most appealing aspect of pottery making--the patterns and glazes. The book gives useful tips for safety and how to position pieces in the kiln. She also warns crafters to test underglazes. The book encourages experimentation and describes how it led to the author's signature gold luster and the decision to make functional objects as well as art pieces. The author provides instructions for creating tableware, coasters, ceramic beads, and vases. For the tableware and spoons, there are explanations about how to use nontoxic, food-safe glazes. In the "Gallery" sections, the book spotlights the creative work of other ceramicists. There's also an extensive list of supplies, tools, and publications, plus recommendations for books, workshops, residencies, and podcasts. VERDICT Functional and beautiful, this book will likely inspire readers want to perfect their pottery techniques. An excellent and useful purchase for libraries with vibrant art communities.--Chantal Walvoord

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 21, 2023
Ceramics artist Reinhardt debuts with a helpful primer on ceramic surface design techniques. These include additive and subtractive relief (adding clay shapes to or carving out clay from the surface of a piece); applying glaze, underglaze (paint put on before the glazing process), and luster; and inlaying (using different colors of clay in one piece). Reinhardt shows how to put these techniques to use with straightforward projects. For example, creating coasters involves applying black and white glaze in a checker pattern on small circular pieces of fired clay, while the more ambitious planter is constructed by adding decorative rectangles to the side of a large clay bowl. Expounding on her “top five design principles” (form, color, pattern, texture, and function) to consider when decorating pottery, she encourages readers to find inspiration for patterns by walking through nature and notes that clays with lots of grog (granular bits of “ground up fired clay”) “finish with a rough, earthy, speckled texture.” Despite the book’s title, Reinhardt writes that readers “should already have a basic understanding of the ceramics process,” and true beginners may struggle to follow the undefined terminology (bisqueware, underglaze, slip-casting). Still, intermediate ceramicists will appreciate the ideas on how to liven up their pottery. This is worth a look.