Four works by George School ceramics teacher Amedeo Salamoni are featured in Ceramics Today, a new book that highlights the creations of 120 ceramic artists around the world through 495 color photographs. The book was edited by Jeffrey B. Snyder and published by Schiffer Ltd.

Made of wood-fired stoneware thrown on a potter’s wheel, Amedeo’s pieces in Ceramics Today include a round turquoise vase, a bulb-shaped bronze-and-gold vase, an elongated beige vase with a carved surface, and a beige-and-yellow bottle. Embellished with melted glass, decorative clay features, natural ash deposits, and a ceramics technique known as “flashing,” the works range in height from six-and-a-half to twenty-two inches.

“I begin by concentrating on producing simple, yet classic forms on the wheel,” said Amedeo. “The process of wood firing in an anagama kiln is what inevitably gives the pots their ultimate beauty.”

At George School, Amedeo teaches Advanced Ceramics along with a new course that was added for the 2010-11 year, Ceramics Concentration: Mixed Media Sculpture. In the sculpture class, he teaches the fundamentals of creating and appreciating non-representational sculptural forms in clay and a variety of alternative materials.

“Amedeo is very hands-on in his teaching. Oftentimes he lets students experiment, while offering techniques or ideas to keep their creative flow moving,” said Maxwell Mustardo ’11, a student in Mixed Media Sculpture who has studied ceramics at George School for three years. Maxwell credits Amedeo with introducing him to salt-firing, a technique in which sea salt is vaporized and carried through a kiln chamber on flames to coat ceramic pieces with a glaze.

Arya Mazanek ’11, who is taking the sculpture class towards her International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, said she learned a valuable lesson from Amedeo when part of her first sculpture fell apart. “I learned that a mistake can actually be a blessing,” said Arya. “I consulted with Amedeo and he guided me in finding a way to solve the problem. In the end, I found that attaching the parts in a different way proved to make the whole piece more durable and more convenient for transporting.”

Topics covered in Mixed Media Sculpture include techniques in clay, principles of balance and weight, elements of design, hand building techniques, and fabrication techniques. The course is one of twenty-eight offered by George School’s Arts Department in ten different visual and performing arts forms. George School’s arts curriculum includes Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate course options.