500 Animals in Clay: Contemporary Expressions of the Animal Form

As a potter I do not do this type of sculpture and thats why I like this plucky little missive from the far side.Every artist has a few unexplored fantasies leaping into view ,this book does an admirable job of taking you on safari.100 excellently rendered photos from about 250 artists .Originally I did not like the book because compared with the Lark publication 500 Bowls which I bought at the same time and have referenced extensively ,this book gets pulled out occasionally and that brings up why I wrote this review. I have always confined my reading of ceramics to professional/trade periodicals like Ceramics monthly, and the like.My teachers,mostly academics, in the 70s taught me to do so. With the internet you are free to be more creative with fewer resources. [...]

I've been wanting to get into ceramics for a while and this book was just the thing to get my creative juices flowing. It has many (500 actually) beautiful pieces to admire, with such a wide array of styles. It's definitely not a "how to" book, with just enough info to get a basic idea of how each piece was created, but the beautiful photographs and variety makes it well worth purchasing.

I work in ceramic materials, and this book has to be right beside 500 figures as my 2 very favorite books from lark. I am not bothered by the lack of technical information, usually if one has been working in ceramics for a while, it is pretty easy to see what the artist used,and the book does provide descriptions in glazing methods and clay bodies! Mostly, I found this book a hoot in seeing how other artist view critters, the artistic interpretation is amazing, and often very humorous! Again, I took my copy to the shared studio I work in, and everyone was spellbound at the variety of works...My copy is getting a bit dusty now...I might order a second one, and give my old one to the studio library...

As a potter, I love books like this just as much as those with more technical information. I turn to them over and over when the muse is taking a little siesta. Tons of great ideas here for everyone, no matter what your style.

Like all the 500 Lark books this one has beautiful photographs and lots of inspiration. If you are an animal lover, and ceramist, like I am you will love it. I would like a little more information about how the pieces are created, but that is rarely the case with these books - still well worth the price.