Carve Your Clay: Techniques to Bring the Pottery Surface to Life

by Hilda Carr

Focusing on the pottery surface, Carve Your Clay covers a wide range of decorative carving techniques, from piercing, etching, inlaying to sgraffito, faceting, and fettling.

The techniques are taught through 20 projects in Hilda’s signature style, with clear, step-by-step photography and easy-to-follow instructions to achieve beautiful results. With easy guides on how to create form as well as glazing and firing, this is a comprehensive guide suitable for new and practising potters alike.

• ISBN13: 9781782218524
• Publish Date: 19 May 2020 (first published 10 April 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Search Press Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 144
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Carve Your Clay is a collection of surface enhancement tutorials for clay projects. Due out 18th August 2020 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is a well presented and perfectly accessible tutorial for working patterns and surface embellishments into a base object. The tutorials are very well illustrated and include step by step process photos. The objects are a mixture of decorative and functional, all are beautiful. The tutorial techniques run the gamut from beginner to advanced.

Each tutorial includes materials including type of clay and tools and supplies in a sidebar with both American standard and metric weights and measures given (yay!). The techniques include carving, beveling, imprinting, sgraffito (carving through a layer to show a contrasting color layer), combing, turning, incising/piercing (gorgeous candle holder project), a sort of repoussé imprinting, and several more.

The tools are basic and will already be available in most pottery studios. The clays are a mixed lot and the author includes some specific recommendations for each project.

This would make a superlative selection for a makers group/studio or for the home library. There are numerous well illustrated tutorials included and the finished objects are all wonderful.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.