Tag Archives: book

Ceramics for Beginners: Hand Building

Ceramics for Beginners: Hand Building by Shay Amber

This summer I have been looking at a lot of books, buying them and checking them out at the library. I decided that perhaps some reviews were in order. I look for books that might give me inspiration, teach me a new skill, guide me through a project idea or lead my artwork in a new direction. I also browse books that might aid me in my classroom instruction, or ones that might provide students with ideas and inspirations for their own classroom projects. Here I will attempt to share the ones I like and didn’t like, and would love your feedback!

I love books with lots of pictures. I am a visual learner (as many artists are) so I like to see things step-by-step whenever possible. If there is too much text I will be completely turned-off and quickly dismiss the book or blog. I saw this book and thought it might be perfect for my students when working with clay.

Time will tell if it is a good book for the classroom, but I am totally inspired to get back to the classroom and make something. It is an all inclusive book giving details about all the tools, materials and equipment necessary for doing basic hand built projects. You will probably skip over a lot of the pages, like I did, if you have already spent time creating in a clay studio.

BJP prototype

BJP_prototype with pages side by side and open, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy. Check out my flickr for more views of this project.

This is what I whipped up today to be my prototype for my bead journal project. I was having a hard time trying to explain what I wanted to do. Plus I thought I better make one to see if it really worked the way I wanted it to.

So These are some fabric and paper collages that have been sewn and embellished with ribbons and beads. They are cut in an alter book type shape. They have a layer of cardstock on the inside for support. They have 2 old paint brushes that slide into the back to support the book so it can stand. (will have to come up with a slightly better way to get them into the pages, as I just cut a hole in the fabic and shoved them in. the Ribbons are sewn to the back in such a way as to allow the different ‘chapters’ to be tied to each other. Another set of ribbons hold the front doors closed. in the final pages these will be little metal bead clasp things I found that have the letter S on them.

Since these are prototypes the edges are unfinished. and the outsides are fairly plain.

These are made from scraps in my studio.

In other news… my favorite online fabric store is now selling fabric for my favorite TV show.