http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564963152/rakuclayartis-20

Creative Pottery is a very nice book that examines the works of nine very distinct clay artists. One artist focuses primarily on Raku and several of the other artist's work would lend itself to a Raku glaze treatment.

The book is broken into three parts: Form, Surface, and Firing. Lana Wilson is one of the artists featured in the form section. She hand builds pieces using soft slabs and lots of stamps. I would think her work would look very interesting Raku-fired, given all the cracks and crevices that exist in her pieces.

Steven Hill is one of the artists in the Surface section. He creates large flowing bulbous forms, which I think would look great with a copper matte Raku glaze.

In the firing section is the Raku artist Jim Connell who creates large lidded spiral faceted vessels. He uses a unique twice-firing technique with his Raku glazes. He first fires the Raku glaze in a Raku kiln like a high fire glaze. Then he refires the piece in a typical Raku fashion of pulling it from the kiln at the maturity temperature and placing it in a reduction chamber.

Each artist demonstrates the creation of his or her work in a step-by-step process, which makes if very easy for the novice potter to learn a new technique. Following each instructional section is a gallery section containing a collection of pieces that detail the work of several artists that can provide one with inspiration on their own work.

Order a copy at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564963152/rakuclayartis-20