Demonstrates methods of making potters more self reliant and independent of supply companies by using their own raw materials

Demonstrating four different clay-firing techniques, this book illustrates the diverse results that each can produce.

Designed as a follow-up to Kiln Building", this book offers radical new ideas and different approaches to an old subject. The book is not intended to be a complete guide to building kilns, instead it provides basic essential guidelines for the beginner, along with many images of a variety of types of kiln, giving inspiration and a fresh look at kiln building. Minimal text and images cover the new developments in the field, giving new insights to old-hand kiln builders and broadening the horizons for beginners."

The classic devotional, updated with page after page of full-color photographs and a fresh, new design! Most Christians have heard that God is the potter and we are the clay, but Diana Pavlac Glyer, who has spent countless hours at the potter's wheel, shows in this remarkable book that this is far more than a casual metaphor. As God hovers over His creation, centering us or shaping us or even restoring us from collapse, He may transform us in ways we never imagined. "In one hundred pages, Diana Glyer offers her readers fifteen marvelous chapters for reflection and more. You can feel her love of pottery and join her as she tells the story of creating something beautiful. Each chapter of 'Clay in the Potter's Hands' offers the reader an opportunity to accompany the potter at work. The author gently and easily moves from the potter's wheel to texts from the Bible that offer examples of each stage of development of the artist's work. These are accompanied by marvelous insights and questions for the reader to consider; then each chapter concludes with a prayer that brings the entire segment together." Father John Chandler, S.J., Honolulu, Hawaii "This is a really good book! It manages to combine depth and simplicity, which is rare, but I think it is the way it treats our experience of pain and broken-ness which really sets it apart. The chapters on Returning, Repairing and Redeeming were especially moving and significant for me. This book is going to be so helpful to so many people!" Malcolm Guite, Priest, Poet, Chaplain at Girton College, Cambridge, England

A wide-ranging history of seventy years of change in political media, and how it transformed -- and fractured -- American politics With fake news on Facebook, trolls on Twitter, and viral outrage everywhere, it's easy to believe that the internet changed politics entirely. In Political Junkies, historian Claire Bond Potter shows otherwise, revealing the roots of today's dysfunction by situating online politics in a longer history of alternative political media. From independent newsletters in the 1950s to talk radio in the 1970s to cable television in the 1980s, pioneers on the left and right developed alternative media outlets that made politics more popular, and ultimately, more partisan. When campaign operatives took up e-mail, blogging, and social media, they only supercharged these trends. At a time when political engagement has never been greater and trust has never been lower, Political Junkies is essential reading for understanding how we got here.

This book covers techniques of firing and finishing at low temperature without using glazes. Many ancient cultures and contemporary potters use methods of low firing, adding slips and burnishing pieces to create a more natural finish. The advantages are that it can be done without a kiln using old dustbins, pits dug out of the earth, or bonfires, meaning that providing you have outdoor space, it can be done on a low budget. This book is a step-by-step practical approach and beginner's guide, which focuses on how to do low firing and natural finishes, with many illustrations of beautiful work by contemporary makers. Chapters include burnishing, terra sigillata, smoke-firing, pit-firing, saggar firing and raku techniques.

Beginners can try hand building, and progress onto the fundamentals of wheel-throwing. They?ll get expert tips on shaping spouts, handles and feet; adding texture, color, and luster; and combining techniques to create a variety of attractive projects.

My purpose in writing this book has been to present in as clear and understandable form as possible the important facts about ceramic materials and their use in pottery. The ceramic medium has a rich potential. It is so various and adaptable that each culture and each succeeding generation finds in it a new means of expression. As a medium, it is capable of great beauty of form, color, and texture, and its expressions are unique not only for variety but for permanence and utility as well. To make full use of the medium, the ceramist or potter not only needs skill, imagination, and artistic vision, but he also needs to have a sound knowledge of the technical side of the craft. This knowledge has not been easy to come by, and many of those seriously engaged in pottery have learned through endless experimentation and discouraging failures. It is hoped that the present work will enable the creative worker to go more directly to his goal in pottery, and that it will enable him to experiment intelligently and with a minimum of lost effort. While technical information must not be considered as an end in itself, it is a necessary prerequisite to a free and creative choice of means in ceramics. None of the subjects included are dealt with exhaustively, and I have tried not to overwhelm the reader with details. The information given is presented in as practical form as possible, and no more technical data or chemical theory is given than has been thought necessary to clarify the subject. This work is organized as follows: Part One—Clay Chapter I. Geologic Origins of Clay Chapter 2. The Chemical Composition of Clay Chapter 3. The Physical Nature of Clay Chapter 4. Drying and Firing Clay Chapter 5. Kinds of Clay Chapter 6. Clay Bodies Chapter 7. Mining and Preparing Clay Part Two—Glazes Chapter 8. The Nature of Glass and Glazes Chapter 9. Early Types of Glazes Chapter 10. The Oxides and Their Function in Glaze Forming Chapter 11. Glaze Materials Chapter 12. Glaze Calculations, Theory and Objectives Chapter 13. Glaze Calculation Using Materials Containing More Than One Oxide Chapter 14. Calculating Glaze Formulas from Batches or Recipes Chapter 15. Practical Problems in Glaze Calculation Chapter 16. The Composition of Glazes Chapter 17. Types of Glazes Chapter 18. Originating Glaze Formulas Chapter 19. Fritted Glazes Chapter 20. Glaze Textures Chapter 21. Sources of Color in Glazes Chapter 22. Methods of Compounding and Blending Colored Glazes Chapter 23. Glaze Mixing and Application Chapter 24. Firing Glazes Chapter 25. Glaze Flaws Chapter 26. Engobes Chapter 27. Underglaze Colors and Decoration Chapter 28. Overglaze Decoration Chapter 29. Reduction Firing and Reduction Glazes Chapter 30. Special Glazes and Glaze Effects

"A book of advances wheel techniques and inspiration for potters who have basic skills but would like to learn more about throwing large forms, lids, handles, darting, and more"--