Art 102 Intro to Art Making

Art 102 Intro to Art Making

bisque or

unglazed by fired ware, usually accomplished in a low-temperature firing prior to glaze fire biscuit

plasticity

workability of the clay that allows it to bend w/o breaking or cracking

bone dry

when all the moisture has left the clay body

bat

any slab or disk used as a base for throwing or hand-building clay

greenware

Finished leather-hard or bone-dry clay pieces not yet fired; raw ware

leather-hard

the stage the clay reaches from wet to dry when most of the moisture has evaporated but when carved the clay will come off in long strips, like cutting cheese (cheese-hard)

clay body

A combination of clay and other materials formulated to have certain workability and firing characteristics.

slip

clay in liquid suspension

kiln

furnace for firing clay, slumping gas, or melting enamels

firing

The heat treatment of a ceramic product

dry foot

to clean the bottom of a glazed piece before firing

engobe

a prepared slip that is a different colotthe clay body, that is applied when the clay is wet, leather hard, bone dry, or bisquee

bisque fire

a preliminary firing usually around cone 06 to harden the clay body prior to glazing

scoring

a crosshatch method of putting together coils, slabs, or other clay forms in the leather-hard stage; same as lutting

wedging

Kneading clay in order to remove air bubbles and make mass homogenous

ceramics

the art and science of forming objects of earth materials that contain alumna, silica, and water all chemically combined, produced with heat

vitreous

to assume the nature of glass, particles of clay begin to melt and fuse together

glaze

A liquid suspension of finely ground minerals consisting of the elements of silica, alumina, and a flux in water. It is applied by dipping, pouring, spraying, or brushing. Upon firing the glaze will melt into a glassy surface coating.

ware

another word for pottery in the raw, bisque, or glaze state

lip

to edge of vessel

short

clay lacking in plasticity

clay

a decomposed granite-type rock with fine particles so that it will be plastic

oxidation

opposite of reducing fire; the firing of a kiln where combustion of the fuel is complete

stoneware

hard, dense, durable ware generally fired to 2150 degrees F or higher with 0-5% absorption

Porcelain

hard, dense, durable ware generally fired to 2350 degrees F and/or white in color and when thin translucent with 0% absorption

reduction

the firing of a kiln with an atmosphere of insufficient O, where combustion of the fuel used in firing is incomplete

pyrometric cones

small triangular objects compounded of clays to bend and melt at specific temperatures

rib

A tool used in throwing a pot to shape or straighten it; made of rubber, wood, gourd, or metal

pottery

A loosely used term; often means earthenware or just any clay piece that has been fired

slacking

breaking down clay or other ceramic materials in water

tooth

texture or quality of coarseness in a clay body; necessary in clay to make it lift and support height in hand-building; results from the addition of fine grog, and/or any slightly coarse particles

kiln furniture

refractory slabs, posts, and setters for supporting ware in the kiln

kiln wash

a protective coating of 50% Kaolin and 50% silica applied to furniture to keep excess glazing from fusing

mat/t

dull surfaces glaze with no gloss that's smooth and pleasant to touch

foot

ring-like base on a ceramic piece, bottom of vessel

pyrometer

an instrument for measuring high temperatures, especially in furnaces and kilns.

refractory

quality of resisting the effects of high temperatures

calipers

2-pronged devise used to measure in and outside diameters

down draft

a kiln where the fuel gases exit at the bottom of the kiln

up draft

a kiln ware the fuel gases exit at the top of the kiln

earthenware

a lop temp clay body with a permeable or porous body after firing to its maturity with 10-15% absorption

maturity

the temp and time that clay develops

peep hole

a hole placed in the kiln chamber to which one can observe the cones or the process of combustion

coiling

a hand method of forming pottery by building up the walls with rope like rolls of clay and then smoothing over the joints

banding wheel

a term used for any free spinning circular turntable

burnishing

Polishing with a smooth stone or tool on leather-hard clay or slip to make a surface sheen, low fire, the surface will not stay shiny at temperatures above 2000F

sgraffito

decoration achieved by scratching through a colored slip to show the contrasting body color beneath

belly

the widest part of the vessel that's above the foot and below the shoulder

pug mill

a horizontal machine with blades for mixing clay

shard

a piece of broken glass or pottery

trailing

a method of decorating, using a slip or glaze squeezed out of a rubber syringe

centering

Pushing a mass of clay on center with the centrifugal motion of a potter's wheel

intaglio

depressed surface decoration, the reverse of bas-relief

Kaolin

pure clay, China clay

anagama

Tube like single chamber hill-climbing kiln

peter voulkos

He used the medium of clay to make his abstract expressionistic art, this liberated many functional potters to express themselves without the consideration of function

mishima

Carved decoration in leather hard clay, covered with an engobe and ribbed off when drier, leaving engobe inlaid in the carving

bernard leach

In his book "A Potters Book" He presents an argument that pottery is a fine art.

mimbres

A group of Indians in Southwestern USA who made a unique contribution to clay art from AD 900 to 1200

Nobrigama

multi-chambered hill climbing kiln

Terra Sigillata

Extraordinarily fine clay particles suspended in water that shines when applied as a coating and fired at low temperatures

fluting

the cutting of rhythmical grooves in a vessel

faceting

cut or padded vessels with flat sides

piercing

cutting holes in a design on a vessel

chrome

the oxide that gives the color green

Majolica, Delft, Faience Ware

A tin opacified glaze with a glossy surface, usually white, a base for colored stain overglaze decoration originating in spain on the isle majolica in the 15th century and later copied by the dutch in the 16th century and the french in the 18th century

raku

A firing or a type of ware; porous groggy ware, with or without a glaze, put into and pulled out of a hot fire

cobalt

the oxide that dives the color blue

red iron oxide

the oxide that gives the color brown and sometimes green

copper

oxide that gives the color green or red

resist

wax, varnish, latex, or other substances applied in a pattern on the surface to cover an area while the background is treated with another material or color

salt glaze

traditionally, rock salt is thrown into the fire @ maturing temperatures of the clay until an orange-peel-textured clear glaze appears

turning

Trimming a piece in leather-hard condition on a wheel. Term used for throwing in some cultures and in the southern United States.

trompe l'oeil

"perceptive" portrayal of an object, making something unreal look as real as possible, to fool the eye

terracotta

an art historian's term for low fired, unglazed, generally red-colored ware

crawling

separation of glaze coating during firing, which exposes areas of unglazed clay caused by too heavy of an application

ball clay

Extremely fine-grained, plastic, sedimentary clay that is added to clay bodies to make them more plastic

throwing

the process of forming pieces on a revolving potter's wheel from solid lumps of clay into hollow forms

crazing

An undesirable and excessive crackle in the glaze, which penetrates, through the glaze to the clay body.

flux

a material that lowers the melting point of alumna and silica