About this PageWe live in an age of information overload; what I’ve tried to do is provide only high-quality resources that are worth your time. While I have work to do organizing the resources on this page, I thought it better to give them as-is than not give them!
Technical InformationDigital Fire-excellent reference website for all things ceramic-https://digitalfire.com/
https://insight-live.com/ Glaze calculation
Ceramic Arts Network-an organization, has a magazine style website with lots of information https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/
The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA)-https://nceca.net/
Glazy All about glazing https://glazy.org/
Washington Street Studios-TONS of videos, including glaze chemistry explained so well anyone can understand
https://www.youtube.com/c/WashingtonStreetStudios
Alfred University is renowned for their ceramics program, and Val Cushing was one of their most famous faculty. There is still a lot of information online that he put up for his students; here’s his online resources page. There is so much linked off of here that I would have put separately, but I thought why re-invent the wheel. (Pun intended)
http://ceramicsfieldguide.org/chapter-11/ceramics-online/
Simon Leach-grandson of Bernard Leach and author of books himself, now lives in central PA https://www.youtube.com/c/sleachpots
Very informal videos on all things pottery, be sure to watch his demo of how to throw a cylinder - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6txowE9xfc
St. John’s Potter Minnesota
https://youtu.be/dVDEHXyVY7o?si=U6TunPMLpsySBmky
Ceramic History VideosThese videos were selected from a working artist’s point of view; most show how things were made, not just what they looked like when completed
Greek Black Figure
https://youtu.be/FpLPx_Akl7Y
Roman Samian Ware
https://youtu.be/O6j83z22yr8
Jomon Pottery
https://youtu.be/VRxcHHLSe8Y
Medieval Pottery
https://youtu.be/0mjgrPH564k
Iznik Tiles
https://youtu.be/nwdd1S7-YDU
Spanish Lustreware
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/xa6688040:spain-portugal-15th-16th-century/xa6688040:15th-century-spain/v/treasure-from-spain-lusterware-as-luxury
Bernard Pailissy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFiamoZrwR8
Chinese Porcelain Master
https://youtu.be/r39FVwabqgg
Maria Martinez (Indigenous American)
https://youtu.be/nyAZYXrlL3w
Pablo Picasso (Spanish/worked in France)
https://youtu.be/KPbJjM9laxE
Bernard Leach (England)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCyC3ezscqw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xhkPudrcU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxpcUnquXJI
Shoji Hamada (Japan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwFtg8mBW3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ZFcT0wCzc
Beatrice Wood
https://youtu.be/Yxv8k6g3i-A
Peter Voulkos
https://youtu.be/CuNAdtbxRPw
https://youtu.be/c7E_qAMZGk0
Grayson Perry
https://youtu.be/_Yboc75WufE
BooksGeneral
Leach, Simon with Dehnert, Bruce. Simon Leach’s Pottery Handbook, Abrams, New York, 2013. This is a really great book for the pottery student, chock full of helpful photographs. You don’t need any prior ceramics knowledge to read this book, and it covers the basics extremely well. It does go past the basics but is less in-depth with the more advanced topics.
Nelson, Glenn C., Ceramics, A Potter’s Handbook, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, NY, ISBN 0-03-064163-2. I picked up a used copy of this cheaply, it’s has MANY editions and copyright years. It’s really packed with information, no fluff in this one. Not as pretty as more current books, but is surprisingly comprehensive for a book of this size.
Cushing, Val. Cushing’s Handbook, Self-published 1994. If you visit Alfred University they carry it in their store, and currently it’s available from Ceramic Arts Network. Some of the information in this book just simply can’t be found anywhere else. This is not a beginners book.
Clay and Glazes
Levy, Matt. Wild Clay: Creating Ceramics and Glazes from Natural and Found Resources. Takuro Shibata and Hitomi Shibata. Hervert Press, 2022 ISBN 13: 9781789940923. Notes: This book is packed with important information about the nature of clay, is highly readable, understandable and attractive
Britt, John. The Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes: Glazes & Firing at Cones 4-7, Union Square & Co. 2014. Notes: This isn’t just a recipe book with beautiful photos, it helps give you a broad understanding of what glazes are and how they function. 8 of the 10 current studio glazes were taken from this book, highly recommended. (See also the author’s book on High-fire glazes)
Britt, John. The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes: Glazing & Firing at Cone 10 – Union Square & Co.; Illustrated edition (August 1, 2007) ISBN 978-1600592164 Notes: My go-to book for high fire glazes. Like the Mid-range book also by John Britt, gives lots of good information about glazing and things that effect your glaze outcomes besides just the recipe.
Rhodes, Daniel. Clay and Glazes for the Potter, This book dates back to the 1950’s and has gone through MANY editions in different years with different publishers, so go by the title and author when looking it up. Notes: It is a classic, and was the textbook that was my constant companion in the 1970’s when I began formulating clays and glazes in the late 1970’s. Not an easy read, but a great reference for the serious ceramic student/artist.
Daly, Greg, Lustre. A & C Black, London, and University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2012. This book covers the various types of lustre (sometimes it’s spelled luster) which gives a metallic, and or opalescent effect to ceramics. For those fascinated by lustre, this book will let you in on how it can be done.
Martin, Andrew. The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting, Lark Books, New York, 2006. This book covers a range of ceramic mold making from the standpoint of an artist (as opposed to commercial manufacture.) It covers a variety of techniques from simple press molds to much more complex and master molds, and how and to some extent why to use them.
Kilns
Rhodes, Daniel. Kilns; Design, Construction and Operation, Chilton Book Company, 1968. This is a classic on kilns that begins with the history, and is a must for serious ceramic artists even if you don’t ever intend to build your own, so that you understand how they work.
Olsen, Frederick L Olsen. The Kiln Book; (3rd edition) Materials, Specifications & Construction, Krause Publications, 2001. This book is really packed with kiln information. In all honestly probably more in depth than a student will want to read, but if you’re really serious about ceramics an excellent resource.
Design and History
Metropolitan Museum of Art-this is a link to the advanced search page. Note that in the media filter, there are other ceramic related filters like “clay” and “celadon” that you can also try. Also note that there are filters for place and time period.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?material=Ceramics&showOnly=withImage
Paul Greenhalgh. Ceramic Art and Civilization, Bloomsbury Visual Arts 2020, 2021. This is a very readable book if you want to get an overview of the history of ceramics. The author has a sense of humor, and the book is written from a very of-the-moment point of view.
Cushing, Val. The Ceramic Design Book; A Gallery of Contemporary Work, Lark Books, Asheville, North Carolina, 1998. This book has lots of inspiring color photos, great for browsing and sparking the imagination.
Leach, Bernard. The Potter’s Challenge, Dutton, 1975. Notes: my ceramics teacher loaned me her copy of this book in 1975, and it made a lasting impact on me. The photos are black and white, you might not find it as important as past generations, but Leach and was a major influence on modern ceramics.
Murfitt, Stephen. Contemporary Raku, Crowood Press Ltd., Ramsbury, 2022. This is not a “how to” book, it assumes you know how to do Raku firing. It focuses on the work of particular artists and how they adapt this method of firing for their own particular artistic aims.
Online Articles on Specific TopicsHere are some great articles on topics. This part of the list could go on forever, so I put it at the end in case it gets too long!
Leaching-the question of food safety in ceramic glazes is not black and white. Here’s an article that goes more in-depth on the topic than I usually have time to cover in class. https://digitalfire.com/glossary/leaching#:~:text=Ceramic%20glazes%20are%20not%20as,leached%20by%20acids%20and%20bases.
How to do a leach test https://digitalfire.com/test/glle
Testing for shrinkage and absorption https://digitalfire.com/test/shab
Quick reading Glaze recipe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6qqxv8vLZI
Flocculation and Deflocculation for Glazes, John Britt. This is one episode of a 35 part course on glazes. Even though this sounds advanced, this information helps beginners make sense of glaze behavior, and the author shows and explains it so well anyone can understand it.
https://youtu.be/fpQns05RdVU
Triaxial Blend-https://youtu.be/_KdPb45WE7g
Making flat tiles https://youtu.be/4cFWzoyaF1Q
Making Clay from Dirt
https://youtu.be/Yu7DwSs_vsU?si=9lDi_JcPxt5u3BpV
Technical InformationDigital Fire-excellent reference website for all things ceramic-https://digitalfire.com/
https://insight-live.com/ Glaze calculation
Ceramic Arts Network-an organization, has a magazine style website with lots of information https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/
The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA)-https://nceca.net/
Glazy All about glazing https://glazy.org/
Washington Street Studios-TONS of videos, including glaze chemistry explained so well anyone can understand
https://www.youtube.com/c/WashingtonStreetStudios
Alfred University is renowned for their ceramics program, and Val Cushing was one of their most famous faculty. There is still a lot of information online that he put up for his students; here’s his online resources page. There is so much linked off of here that I would have put separately, but I thought why re-invent the wheel. (Pun intended)
http://ceramicsfieldguide.org/chapter-11/ceramics-online/
Simon Leach-grandson of Bernard Leach and author of books himself, now lives in central PA https://www.youtube.com/c/sleachpots
Very informal videos on all things pottery, be sure to watch his demo of how to throw a cylinder - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6txowE9xfc
St. John’s Potter Minnesota
https://youtu.be/dVDEHXyVY7o?si=U6TunPMLpsySBmky
Ceramic History VideosThese videos were selected from a working artist’s point of view; most show how things were made, not just what they looked like when completed
Greek Black Figure
https://youtu.be/FpLPx_Akl7Y
Roman Samian Ware
https://youtu.be/O6j83z22yr8
Jomon Pottery
https://youtu.be/VRxcHHLSe8Y
Medieval Pottery
https://youtu.be/0mjgrPH564k
Iznik Tiles
https://youtu.be/nwdd1S7-YDU
Spanish Lustreware
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/xa6688040:spain-portugal-15th-16th-century/xa6688040:15th-century-spain/v/treasure-from-spain-lusterware-as-luxury
Bernard Pailissy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFiamoZrwR8
Chinese Porcelain Master
https://youtu.be/r39FVwabqgg
Maria Martinez (Indigenous American)
https://youtu.be/nyAZYXrlL3w
Pablo Picasso (Spanish/worked in France)
https://youtu.be/KPbJjM9laxE
Bernard Leach (England)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCyC3ezscqw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xhkPudrcU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxpcUnquXJI
Shoji Hamada (Japan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwFtg8mBW3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ZFcT0wCzc
Beatrice Wood
https://youtu.be/Yxv8k6g3i-A
Peter Voulkos
https://youtu.be/CuNAdtbxRPw
https://youtu.be/c7E_qAMZGk0
Grayson Perry
https://youtu.be/_Yboc75WufE
BooksGeneral
Leach, Simon with Dehnert, Bruce. Simon Leach’s Pottery Handbook, Abrams, New York, 2013. This is a really great book for the pottery student, chock full of helpful photographs. You don’t need any prior ceramics knowledge to read this book, and it covers the basics extremely well. It does go past the basics but is less in-depth with the more advanced topics.
Nelson, Glenn C., Ceramics, A Potter’s Handbook, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, NY, ISBN 0-03-064163-2. I picked up a used copy of this cheaply, it’s has MANY editions and copyright years. It’s really packed with information, no fluff in this one. Not as pretty as more current books, but is surprisingly comprehensive for a book of this size.
Cushing, Val. Cushing’s Handbook, Self-published 1994. If you visit Alfred University they carry it in their store, and currently it’s available from Ceramic Arts Network. Some of the information in this book just simply can’t be found anywhere else. This is not a beginners book.
Clay and Glazes
Levy, Matt. Wild Clay: Creating Ceramics and Glazes from Natural and Found Resources. Takuro Shibata and Hitomi Shibata. Hervert Press, 2022 ISBN 13: 9781789940923. Notes: This book is packed with important information about the nature of clay, is highly readable, understandable and attractive
Britt, John. The Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes: Glazes & Firing at Cones 4-7, Union Square & Co. 2014. Notes: This isn’t just a recipe book with beautiful photos, it helps give you a broad understanding of what glazes are and how they function. 8 of the 10 current studio glazes were taken from this book, highly recommended. (See also the author’s book on High-fire glazes)
Britt, John. The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes: Glazing & Firing at Cone 10 – Union Square & Co.; Illustrated edition (August 1, 2007) ISBN 978-1600592164 Notes: My go-to book for high fire glazes. Like the Mid-range book also by John Britt, gives lots of good information about glazing and things that effect your glaze outcomes besides just the recipe.
Rhodes, Daniel. Clay and Glazes for the Potter, This book dates back to the 1950’s and has gone through MANY editions in different years with different publishers, so go by the title and author when looking it up. Notes: It is a classic, and was the textbook that was my constant companion in the 1970’s when I began formulating clays and glazes in the late 1970’s. Not an easy read, but a great reference for the serious ceramic student/artist.
Daly, Greg, Lustre. A & C Black, London, and University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2012. This book covers the various types of lustre (sometimes it’s spelled luster) which gives a metallic, and or opalescent effect to ceramics. For those fascinated by lustre, this book will let you in on how it can be done.
Martin, Andrew. The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting, Lark Books, New York, 2006. This book covers a range of ceramic mold making from the standpoint of an artist (as opposed to commercial manufacture.) It covers a variety of techniques from simple press molds to much more complex and master molds, and how and to some extent why to use them.
Kilns
Rhodes, Daniel. Kilns; Design, Construction and Operation, Chilton Book Company, 1968. This is a classic on kilns that begins with the history, and is a must for serious ceramic artists even if you don’t ever intend to build your own, so that you understand how they work.
Olsen, Frederick L Olsen. The Kiln Book; (3rd edition) Materials, Specifications & Construction, Krause Publications, 2001. This book is really packed with kiln information. In all honestly probably more in depth than a student will want to read, but if you’re really serious about ceramics an excellent resource.
Design and History
Metropolitan Museum of Art-this is a link to the advanced search page. Note that in the media filter, there are other ceramic related filters like “clay” and “celadon” that you can also try. Also note that there are filters for place and time period.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?material=Ceramics&showOnly=withImage
Paul Greenhalgh. Ceramic Art and Civilization, Bloomsbury Visual Arts 2020, 2021. This is a very readable book if you want to get an overview of the history of ceramics. The author has a sense of humor, and the book is written from a very of-the-moment point of view.
Cushing, Val. The Ceramic Design Book; A Gallery of Contemporary Work, Lark Books, Asheville, North Carolina, 1998. This book has lots of inspiring color photos, great for browsing and sparking the imagination.
Leach, Bernard. The Potter’s Challenge, Dutton, 1975. Notes: my ceramics teacher loaned me her copy of this book in 1975, and it made a lasting impact on me. The photos are black and white, you might not find it as important as past generations, but Leach and was a major influence on modern ceramics.
Murfitt, Stephen. Contemporary Raku, Crowood Press Ltd., Ramsbury, 2022. This is not a “how to” book, it assumes you know how to do Raku firing. It focuses on the work of particular artists and how they adapt this method of firing for their own particular artistic aims.
Online Articles on Specific TopicsHere are some great articles on topics. This part of the list could go on forever, so I put it at the end in case it gets too long!
Leaching-the question of food safety in ceramic glazes is not black and white. Here’s an article that goes more in-depth on the topic than I usually have time to cover in class. https://digitalfire.com/glossary/leaching#:~:text=Ceramic%20glazes%20are%20not%20as,leached%20by%20acids%20and%20bases.
How to do a leach test https://digitalfire.com/test/glle
Testing for shrinkage and absorption https://digitalfire.com/test/shab
Quick reading Glaze recipe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6qqxv8vLZI
Flocculation and Deflocculation for Glazes, John Britt. This is one episode of a 35 part course on glazes. Even though this sounds advanced, this information helps beginners make sense of glaze behavior, and the author shows and explains it so well anyone can understand it.
https://youtu.be/fpQns05RdVU
Triaxial Blend-https://youtu.be/_KdPb45WE7g
Making flat tiles https://youtu.be/4cFWzoyaF1Q
Making Clay from Dirt
https://youtu.be/Yu7DwSs_vsU?si=9lDi_JcPxt5u3BpV