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Title: The Art of Polymer Clay: Designs and Techniques for Making Jewelry, Pottery and Decorative Artwork (Watson-Guptill Crafts) by Donna Kato ISBN: 0-8230-0278-0 Publisher: Watson-Guptill Pubns Pub. Date: January, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.58 (24 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Great array of projects for intermediate poly clay artists
Comment: This is an excellent book for the intermediate polymer clay artist. The projects are fun and sophisticated. I have nearly ten different polymer clay books, but this is the only one I have found that shows you how to make full-size floral forms.
The book starts out with an excellent introduction to the basics of selecting materials and explains how to choose among the different brands of clay. Conditioning the clay, color mixing and making basic shapes is covered next. A wide variety of techniques and projects follow.
Some techniques include millefiori with instructions for making and using lace, checkerboard, pinwheel, chevron, plaid, spliced, radiating, kaleidoscope, shaded and face canes. The rose cane is gorgeous. Onlay techniques, working with glitter, metal leaf treatments and making beads are next. I love the author's ideas for quilted and Balinese filigree beads. She then goes on to explain carving clay and creating Bakelite like forms.
Next comes the process of making and using molds including taking you step-by-step through making an Asian man face pin. Then, imitative techniques simulating precious stone like jade, marble, ivory, agate and red jasper are covered. There is a great recipe for turquoise. Translucent effects for creating opals and metal effects for creating mokume gane and patinas are a great help. There is even a technique to get a marbled paper look.
Vessel construction follows. Projects included a woven vessel, unlined pot, mosaic bowl and curved box. The book ends with a few sculpture lessons including making a harvest candlestick with several vegetable forms. A great seahorse sculpture and a creating a realistic doll's head are also here.
Though the instructions are fine for someone with a little polymer clay experience, they are in some cases simply not detailed enough for a total beginner. However, with so many beautiful projects and ideas, this book will provide inspiration for years.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Classic Technique-Based Book
Comment: Donna Kato is known throughout the polymer clay world for her tools, her techniques, and her art. This book is an excellent distillation of all she's learned and invented about polymer clay work.
Unlike many of the PC books on the market, Kato doesn't spend any time on projects. There are many, many techniques - Ballinese Filligree, the Clichy Rose Cane, several different types of faux materials, just as examples - but she doesn't tell you how to apply them or use them. This is fabulous for those who can use the techniques as springboards, and makes the book far more useful than any project-based book could be.
However, the technique-based approach is a little intimidating for the novice clayer; I bought this book a month after I cracked open my first packet of Sculpey III, and there wasn't much in The Art of Polymer Clay that was useful to me. Four months later, I started to get into it, and now this is one of my favorite PC books.
The basic information is extensive, but some of it, like the types of clay section, is out-dated. However, as I've said, this isn't the most helpful book for the beginning clayer - The Polymer Clay Techniques Book is probably that - so the front material is a bit beside the point. (However, everyone should read the whole book, as there is fabulous information in all the chapters.)
If I had to (horrors!) reduce my collection of PC books to just five, The Art of Polymer Clay would be one of them. It is a great book for any clayer at any level - one of the classics of the PC library.
Rating: 2
Summary: Disappointing.
Comment: Kato's artwork is great, but I didn't learn anything new from this book, and I read it as a beginner. Nearly all of the techniques were things I'd either figured out on my own, or read on the Internet or in the 1 other polymer clay book for beginners that I'd picked up (which honestly wasn't even very good!).
Skip this one. There are much better books out there, with many more techniques to learn and enjoy.
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Title: The Polymer Clay Techniques Book by Sue Heaser ISBN: 1581800088 Publisher: North Light Books Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.99 |
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Title: Polymer Clay Extravaganza by Lisa Pavelka ISBN: 1581801882 Publisher: North Light Books Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.99 |
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Title: Liquid Polymer Clay: Fabulous New Techniques for Making Jewelry and Home Accents by Ann Mitchell, Karen Mitchell ISBN: 0873495632 Publisher: Krause Publications Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.99 |
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Title: Creative Clay Jewelry: Extraordinary, Colorful, Fun Designs To Make From Polymer Clay by Leslie Dierks ISBN: 0937274747 Publisher: Sterling Publishing Pub. Date: 30 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay : 30 Techniques & Projects That Imitate Precious Stones, Metals, Wood & More by Irene Semanchuk Dean ISBN: 1579904084 Publisher: Lark Books Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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