Art + Drawing - Reference

Now available in its fifth edition, The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques presents a comprehensive survey of all aspects of making ceramics for craft potters and ceramic artists. With its sound, practical explanations of ceramic processes, this indispensable reference book has gained a reputation as "the potter's bible." Professional potters, beginners, students, and collectors will find authoritative information clearly and logically presented.

Frank and Janet Hamer explain the sources and character of materials, the behavior of clays and glaze minerals during forming and firing processes, forming methods, and glaze construction. In addition to brief outlines and detailed articles with cross references to illustrations, color photographs illustrate glaze effects and surfaces featured in the work of inventive, contemporary potters. The varied techniques of Raku, maiolica, crystalline glazes, salt and soda, stoneware, and porcelain are also presented in a new color section.

This new edition has been updated to include auto-reduction, crystalline glazes, insulation, stains, and specialized firing and fuming techniques. With upwards of 800 illustrations to clarify everything in the ceramic world, in its fifth edition The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques will continue to serve as the authority on all things ceramic.

Traveling from Italy to Spain, Turkey, England, Germany, and Russia, among other countries, and photographing churches, palaces, mosques, and synagogues from the second to the early twentieth century, Stephenson's work amounts to a veritable typology of the cupola. His images present complex geometrical structures, rich stucco decorations, and elaborate paintings as they have never been seen before. Brilliantly calibrated exposures reveal details and colors that would otherwise remain hidden in these dimly lit spaces.

Visions of Heaven shows more than 120 images, including the Roman Pantheon, the Byzantine churches of Turkey, the great domes of the Renaissance, the decorative cupolas of the Baroque and the Rococo ages, and a nineteenth-century synagogue in Hungary.

Symbols are an international language, but that language is far from universal. Different symbols mean radically different things in different contexts - a cross, a crane, or a swastika each have a distinct meaning for a Buddhist, an art historian, or a student of the occult.

1000 Symbols offers a comprehensive directory of symbols in clear, detailed artworks, each accompanied by a definition of the symbol's history and its cross-cultural meanings.

Beginning with an alphabetical, cross-referenced index, the book is then organized into groupings of related symbols:

Geometrical Shapes-circle, square, triangle, pentagram, crescent, and spiral are just a few of the entries.

The Universe and the Elements includes all the symbols for the world around us-earth, air, fire, and water, as well as times of day or month, and the planets.

Characters and People details the symbolism attached to specific characters or to people and their general attributes.

Living Creatures denotes the symbolism of animals, birds, fish, and insects.

Flowers, Plants, and Trees highlights the symbolism of growing things, from the oak to the lotus.

Mythical Beasts contains beasts from the myths and legends of all cultures, including hybrids such as the centaur.

Objects and Artifacts includes made or manufactured objects of symbolism, from knot to labyrinth.

Numbers and Colors outlines their symbolic attributes in different cultures and contexts.

Whether you are baffled by the relevance of the winged staff held by Mercury in a classical painting or wonder about the number of branches on the Hebrew menorah, this comprehensive directory will give you the information you are looking for, and place the explanation in its historical and cultural context.

This classic art reference shows artists how to handle materials safely while practicing their craft.