Dear Molly,
Thank you for making the book New Ceramic Surface Design. It’s a corker and I am keeping it out for easy reference.
While I own a couple other treasured surface design books (Robin Hopper’s Making Marks and The New Ceramic Surface by Mattias Ostermann,) I have never read them cover to cover, penciling notes in the margins and flagging whole sections, like I have yours.
I know nothing you cover is a really new technique. Believe me, I have tried mishima, stamping, textures, doodles, resists, stencils and my favorite, sgraffito, many times before. I have watched DVDs, taken classes and explored the surface design chapters in many other books over the years. So what’s different and valuable about yours?
Here, I’ll tell you:
- Your charming voice. I sense your playfulness and joy as much as your expertise.
- The bounty of illustrations, which are large and generous but not gratuitous and don’t skip important details.
- The Artist Inspiration pages. They are well-chosen and informative and spot on in their placement.
- The Tools list and photo before every new technique.
- The “Tip” and “Try It!” boxes sprinkled everywhere.
- The sweet lagniappe sections: Templates, Resources, Recipes and Glossary.
- The thoughtful discussions about inspiration, composition, color and lines.
What I really can’t wait to use:
- The Saral Red transfer paper – because the wax in graphite paper and carbon paper have been giving me fits for years now. You just took away a major headache!
- Washi Tape – it sounds like the perfect solution to my tape sticking and residue problem
- Lightweight clear packing tape in order to make…
- Transfer Templates! Again, you just solved another major hassle in being able to confidently place patterns where I want them.
- After I settle down with the above remedies, I’m looking forward to generally fooling around combining and layering your techniques, marrying form and surface and having a blast.
It pretty much all comes down to you being the generous and knowledgeable “friend with a good eye” you speak of on page 34.
Gratefully yours,
–Liz Crain, who also thinks the spiral binding is a nice touch so this reference book and be fully referenced.
