Whether you're a skilled artist, a beginner, or simply a connoisseur of the craft, reviewing top pottery websites can provide inspiration, support, materials, and techniques - not to mention some great pictures and videos. These top sites can help you hone your pottery skills while also providing valuable information.
1. Ceramic Arts Network
Ceramic Arts Network offers a wealth of information for pottery enthusiasts. For starters, they offer a daily blog with how to articles, Q and A's with artists, and helpful tips. They also offer dozens of free guides, from pottery wheel tips to information on kilns and glazes.
You can also find ceramics recipes, information about industry events, and shop for things like books and guides. They are a partner in creating the popular CLAYflicks streaming instructional videos, which you can access for free just by creating an account. Clay Geek recommends this website for its inspiration and helpful how-to guides.
2. Clay Times
Clay Times is a magazine that comes in both a print and a digital version, but its website also has plenty of helpful information for those who love pottery. Art Show praises it for its helpful reference articles. It also includes a section for classified ads, a guide to pottery classes by state, and a shopping section with videos, guides, and teaching materials.
3. Ayumi Horie
Ayumi Horie is an award-winning pottery artist, and her website was named as one of the best according to the American Craft Council. Potter Joel Cherrico also names her as one of the top five potters who embody the art of business. She received a Distinguished Fellow grant by United Sates Artists in 2015, and is well known for her activism and social media savvy. Her website offers helpful instructional videos, blog posts on pottery, and an online shop featuring her unique creations.
4. Simon Leach Pottery
Simon Leach is another award-winning potter and author, and is referred to as one of the world's most famous potters. His books have received top accolades from places such as American Craft and Ceramics Monthly. His website stands out with its massive video collection (it's linked to over 1000 instructional pottery videos). You can also get details about his popular live workshops and view examples of his work on his site.
5. Hsin-Chuen Lin
Hsin-Chuen Lin's website is also linked to a massive collection of popular videos. Big Ceramic Store calls his video series "inventive" and "well-made," and his videos have received over eight million views.
His work as received multiple awards both nationally and internationally. Along with the instructional videos, on his site you can read his artist statement, view examples of his work, purchase handmade pottery tools, and learn more about the artist. He's a talented potter with over 30 years of experience.
6. CFile.org
CFile.org is a website created by Garth Clark, whose writings have been said to have help shape the field of ceramics. He founded galleries in New York and Los Angeles and has published over 60 books on ceramic artistry. He also founded the Ceramic Arts Foundation and served as its director for over 30 years.
CFile.org is an online campus that offers lectures, videos, exhibition catalogs, teaching materials and more. You can sign up for a free membership to access the materials.
7. Field Guide for Ceramic Artisans
This comprehensive online field guide covers a large amount of information important for beginning artists. It includes information on things like setting up your pottery studio, selecting kilns, shipping your work, exhibitions, and sales. It also features interviews with successful professional potters and educators. It's listed as a top pottery site according to Pottery Making Info.
8. Lakeside Pottery
The Lakeside Pottery website is helpful on a variety of levels. Not only do they offer custom pottery and pottery repair services, they also provide a large number of online pottery lessons with complete how-to guides. The website also has project ideas, tips for improving pottery studios, kiln and glazing help, and repair lessons. It has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, where reviewers praise its professionalism.
