Pottery: The Technique of Throwing [While Supply Lasts]

by John Colbeck

Paperback: 157 pages
Publisher: Gentle Breeze Publishing (2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1-889250-46-5
Dimensions: 9.75" x 7.25" x 0.4"
Shipping Weight: 0.67 lbs.

Throwing is the process of shaping clay by hand on the potter's wheel. By this method, a given form can be created quickly and subtly varied in endless ways. Although generally thought to be difficult to learn, throwing can, in fact, be mastered by anyone willing to devote sufficient time to practice.

In an extremely clear, instructive text, John Colbeck discusses clay and its preparation by mixing, wedging, and kneading, as well as the pros and cons of the various kinds of wheels. With numerous photographs documenting all the steps, he covers the basic operations: centering the clay on the wheel; opening the clay to create the initial wall and base; thinning and shaping the wall; and throwing a complete form. He then talks about the various kinds of forms that can be thrown on a wheel; cylinders, open forms, cones, spheres, waisted forms, showing how to raise them and explaining what goes wrong, when and why.

You will learn many techniques beyond throwing itself. For example: how to alter a thrown; how to make edges, ridges, ribs and lids; how to use calipers for measuring; how to produce quantities of identical forms; how to create flat forms; how to throw large scale pieces; and how to throw a series of small forms from a single large lump of clay.

With its detailed series of pictorial demonstrations, allowing the reader to watch over the shoulder of a skilled professional at work, and its authoritative text, this is a basic volume for every potter's bookshelf.