• Essential techniques in wheel throwing, from wedging clay to throwing, centering, shaping, and trimming pots on the wheel, with a section dedicated to troubleshooting common problems
• Advanced techniques and tips for creating feet; making lids, knobs, handles, and spouts; forming bowls, cups, plates, and teapots; altering pots, including paddling and darting; throwing large vessels; and decorating and finishing your pieces
• Skill-building exercises for expanding your range and improving your techniques
• An overview of studio safety, including silica dust mitigation, handling toxic materials, correct body posture to avoid injuries, and stretching exercises
• Artist features and inspirational galleries with photos of work from today’s top working artists, including Kyle Carpenter, Sam Chung, Chandra DeBuse, Julia Galloway, Martha Grover, Ayumie Horie, Forrest Lesch-Middleton, Kristen Kieffer, Kathy King, Matt Long, Alex Matisse, Lorna Meaden, Doug Peltzman, Mackenzie Smith, Shawn Spangler, and many more

The Mastering Ceramics series is for artists who never stop learning. With compelling projects, expert insight, step-by-step photos, and galleries of work from today’s top artists, these books are the perfect studio companions. Also available from the series: Mastering Hand Building, Mastering Kilns and Firing, and Amazing Glaze.

Ben Carter is a studio potter and workshop instructor based in Santa Cruz, California. He received his BFA in ceramics/painting from Appalachian State University and his MFA in ceramics from the University of Florida. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts in Asheville, North Carolina, Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado, and the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. From 2010–2012 he served as the Education Director of the Pottery Workshop in Shanghai, China. He has lectured and presented workshops at universities and craft centers in the United States, China, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand and exhibited internationally in numerous invitational and juried shows, including the Australian Ceramic Triannale Exhibition, Shanghai University International Residency Exhibition, and Mastery in Clay at The Clay Studio. Ben's work has been featured in the Australian Journal of Ceramics and Pottery Making Illustrated.Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated named him Ceramic Arts 2016 Yearbook Artist of the Year.