Beginner's Guide to Pottery & Ceramics

The ideal first book for anyone curious about pottery and ceramics. Jacqui Atkin draws on over three decades of hands-on experience and years of teaching to walk complete beginners through every core technique, from pinching and coiling to throwing on the wheel, decorating, glazing, and firing.

Why Start Here

Atkin covers the full breadth of ceramics in a single, well-organized volume. The book opens with a clear overview of clay types, tools, and studio setup, then moves through handbuilding techniques (pinching, coiling, slab work) before introducing the potter’s wheel. This wide scope is its greatest strength: instead of committing to one method before you know what suits you, you get to try them all and discover your own preference.

Step-by-step photographs accompany every technique, showing exactly what your hands should be doing at each stage. Atkin writes with the calm authority of someone who has watched thousands of beginners encounter the same problems and knows precisely how to help. The practical projects, from simple coiled vases to marbled clay boxes, give you real things to make while you learn.

The final chapters on decoration and firing cover inlays, slips, sgraffito, feathering, burnishing, and resist techniques. Published by Search Press in 2017, the book reflects current materials and methods.

What to Expect

At 128 pages, this is a concise but thorough introduction rather than an encyclopedic reference. The difficulty is gentle throughout, with each technique building on the previous one. You will need access to clay, basic tools, and eventually a kiln (though many projects can be completed with air-dry clay or at a community studio). Atkin’s clear structure makes it easy to dip in and out as your interests develop.