With more and more of us turning to making, and buying handmade products, a book like this is both a joy and a useful guide to getting into or learning more skills in a hobby. We are seeing a boost in potters, perhaps part thanks to shows like The Great Pottery Throwdown, but I believe in an attempt to pursue tangible, hands on activities like working with clay, that are so good for our mental health and wellbeing in these times so consumed by technology and 24 hour connection to devices.
This book is a great introduction to the craft as well as having great ideas (20 projects) for how to carve patterns into your vases, pots and bowls.
The author helps you out step by step, and the photographs lead you through the process so you aren't left wondering if you're doing it wrong.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Carve Your Clay is a collection of surface enhancement tutorials for clay projects. Due out 18th August 2020 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is a well presented and perfectly accessible tutorial for working patterns and surface embellishments into a base object. The tutorials are very well illustrated and include step by step process photos. The objects are a mixture of decorative and functional, all are beautiful. The tutorial techniques run the gamut from beginner to advanced.

Each tutorial includes materials including type of clay and tools and supplies in a sidebar with both American standard and metric weights and measures given (yay!). The techniques include carving, beveling, imprinting, sgraffito (carving through a layer to show a contrasting color layer), combing, turning, incising/piercing (gorgeous candle holder project), a sort of repoussé imprinting, and several more.

The tools are basic and will already be available in most pottery studios. The clays are a mixed lot and the author includes some specific recommendations for each project.

This would make a superlative selection for a makers group/studio or for the home library. There are numerous well illustrated tutorials included and the finished objects are all wonderful.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Carve Your Clay by Hilda Carr

In pages 28-129 I found this an interesting, comprehensive, easy to understand book detailing how to create beautiful carved clay pieces that would be lovely to have in one’s home. It made me wish I had a potter’s wheel, clay and tools to play with. I also wondered what came before and after the pages I was able to download.

What I liked:
* The details of how items were created
* The use of varied colors of slip to create a shape then what happens when it is carved
* inlaying color – putting color into carved areas versus carving into an all over wash
* varieties of carving
* use of more than one color of clay to create an object
* techniques used to create lids, handles and other items
* All of it really
* The gorgeous pieces shared in the book

What I didn’t like
* Missing pages
* Not seeing the index, introduction, cover, back-cover, preface, etc.

Did I like this book? What I saw of it I did like

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

I received an Advanced Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really excellent, and provided a whole heap of really great tips. The pictures in particular were helpful in terms of breaking down the process and showing exactly how to achieve the end result you wanted, and the accompanying information was clearly laid out and easy to follow. I'll definitely be trying out a lot of these techniques soon!

Thank you #NetGalley for the review copy of #CarveYourClay

This book provides step-by-step instructions that include detailed photos, and each project also has a brief introduction explaining the advantages and/or disadvantages of the methods, skills learned and practiced, or ideas for variations. The projects are all practical and usable objects such as dishes, candlesticks, jars, etc. which I personally think makes everything a little more motivating because you know you'll get some use out of whatever you make!

I started doing pottery in 2012, I mainly use the wheel, but I attended also some hand-building classes and I was happy to receive and advanced copy of Carve your clay.
I love carving and I was hoping to find new ideas and new techniques in this book. Let me say, this preview isn't the complete book, so I don't know if there are more complicated projects and the ones I could see were not really challenging and there was only one that I never tried. I don’t know if I am going to buy the book because I think it can give a first idea of carving decoration but for an experienced carver there isn’t much to learn or take inspiration from it.
For a new potter though it can be a good book because it explains quite a few projects with a lot of photos and step by step instructions.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

(For some reason when I download this book it starts at page 28 and finishes abruptly on page 129 - tried on multiple devices)

I know absolutely nothing about pottery but have always wanted to learn. This book is informative and the instructions given seem easy to follow. The only thing I will say is, from what I got to see, a lot of the designs seem pretty much the same. Again, I know nothing of pottery so maybe these techniques and designs are the most popular within the craft world. But I would have loved to have seen some more colour and distinction between some of them.

I have been a potter for over 40yrs and this book is the best I have come across on the topic of decoration and with the simplicity of information and educating. There are step by step photos and a real understanding of the craft and design. This is truly a must for potters.

I always jump at the chance to review a book on pottery - my guilty pleasure - so “Carve Your Clay” was welcomed with open arms. I agree with the previous reviewer that the cover image does not do the book justice: it is far better than that. But then there are images missing within, so that point might well be remedied prior to publication. The book is well structured into chapters dealing with straight carving, inlays, agate and devil’s work to name but a few. The bonus of it is that there are instructions as to the MAKING of every item as well as the mere decorative aspect of the carving. I have done a course on inlaying, but this book proved to be more knowledgeable and I managed to take several tricks-of-the-trade away with me. Illustrations are detailed and to the point. Highly recommended!

A great book for ceramic artists. Beautiful photos and concise text describe step-by-step technique to master your craft. With fantastic projects to learn from, the author teaches valuable techniques such as hand building, forming, pinching, coiling and slip-casting in details. Learn how to texture, paint and carve unique patterns on your vessels to take them to the next level.  A must-have reference book for any ceramic studio. 

As for the cover, it could use a stronger image, it just doesn't show the true value of the content of the book.