Pottery Making Illustrated Articles (Simple)

  • Veritable Garden
    During my residency at Baltimore Clayworks in Baltimore, Maryland, I developed a body of functional porcelain work inspired by the bold, stylized, floral images found in traditional Japanese textiles.
  • Textured Play
    Try using DIY carved and bisqued cylinders to roll textures onto slabs and add variety to your forms.
  • Editor's Note: Doing the Dishes
    Want to know a secret? I don’t mind washing the dishes. The task represents a bit of down time, often later in the evening after the hectic activity of the day has long subsided.
  • Pottery Illustrated: Talavera Patterns
    Pottery Illustrated: Talavera Patterns
  • Packing for Success
    The first time I shipped pots to an exhibition many years ago all five pieces arrived shattered. In retrospect, I did a terrible job packing them, using layers of cardboard with a few pieces of maskin
  • In the Potter's Kitchen: Personal Crocks
    Potpies are the epitome of comfort food. They remind me of dinners as a kid, when my mom would bring a creamy, bubbling potpie to the table. With this in mind, I created personal potpie crocks that br
  • Glitter Flashing
    My interest in crystals in saturated metallic glazes led me to travel to China several times to research a 12–16th century black-pearl glaze, a component of the tenmoku glaze family. The four remainin
  • Studio Housekeeping
    When we have visitors in our studio at MudFire, the most frequent comment is “this place is so clean” followed by “I wish my studio was this clean.” With over 150 people using our studio each month we
  • Potluck, Party, and Picnic Perfect
    Want to bring a cold dish to a picnic on a hot day but afraid it will spoil? Make your own ceramic cooler with this three-piece picnic set.
  • Carving Out Your Own Niche
    Use simple printmaking techniques to create a repeatable pattern and increase your studio production.
  • Sewn and Stitched
    Inspired by textiles? Incorporate mishima, water etching, and watercolor glazes for fabric-like surfaces.
  • Sculpting with Flair
    Combine thrown forms with handbuilding techniques to create architectural-inspired forms.
  • A Well Wrapped Surface
    Try wrapping your pots with sheets covered with slip and underglaze for a fresh surface design.
  • Pottery Illustrated: Vintage Fiesta Ware
    vintage Fiesta ware drawn by Robin Ouellette.
  • InFormed Pinching
    Increase the variety of your pinch pots by brainstoming with simple clay sketches.
  • Nobashigote Throwing Ribs
    When you first learned how to throw on the wheel, did your teacher tell you not to use the throwing ribs on the inside of your thrown forms? If I remember correctly, my teacher did in my beginning thr
  • Form Follows Construction
    Using your scraps to play with new ideas may lead to discovering new forms.
  • In the Potter's Kitchen: Taco Night
    Although the positive psychological benefits of feeling comfort are subjective, most people are able to identify a nourishing meal they hold dear. Among the numerous emotional benefits of comfort food
  • Staying in Shape
    Have more success throwing globe shapes, and keeping your rims perfectly round, with this very simple homemade device.
  • Tempting Transparency
    Curious about bone china, but leery of its finicky nature? Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.