Ceramic Videos With Daphne Smith: Firing Ceramics; How To Throw Large Pots

Ever since Patrick Swayze gave a sensual massage to a lump of clay in Ghost, the ceramist's art has taken on a bit of a sexy sheen. Pottery lovers will enjoy two new video courses on throwing and firing. Ceramic Videos With Daphne Smith: Firing Ceramics is one of 11 titles in a series by renowned ceramic artist and instructor Daphne Smith. Straightforward, down-to-Earth, and very safety-conscious, Smith shows viewers how to set up and maintain their kilns and shelves, demonstrates how to arrange different types of ceramics (greenware, glazed, and overglazed items) in the kiln, and covers common overfiring and underfiring problems. Particular attention is paid to using a false bottom (for more even firing, thanks to better air circulation), stilting techniques, and ways to monitor temperature with inexpensive witness cones. Smith is an excellent instructor, and the visual presentation is simple but very effective. Other titles in the series include: Casting and Molds, Cleaning Greenware, Glazes, Stains, and Brushes.Master potter Stephen Jepson (Stephen Jepson's Introduction to Throwing Clay on a Pottery Wheel [VL-7/93]) and Danish National Throwing Champion Bill Gossman combine forces to throw pots large enough to hold a reasonably well-attended cocktail party. Standing chest high and weighing in excess of 200 lbs., these are not your basic dinner table pitchers. After a brief introduction, Jepson begins with a relatively small project (an 18 inch cylinder) and then, along with Gossman, makes a large pitcher, a two-section pot, a bowl so large that Shaquille O'Neal couldn't palm it, a really big pot (using 30 lb. clay coils to build up the sides), and a large platter that is roughly 3 ft. in diameter. While there are more cameras and slicker production values in this new tape, more is not necessarily better: unlike the focused presentation and one-on-one of the first video, How to Throw Large Pots tends to ramble a bit in places. The give and take between Jepson and Gossman could have benefited from tighter editing. Still, the accomplishments on display in the video speak for themselves, and for viewers who want to tackle a gargantuan pottery project, this is the tape to watch.Ceramics With Daphne Smith: Firing Ceramics is highly recommended. How to Throw Large Pots is also highly recommended. (R. Pitman)