Ceramics

What are the 7 stages of clay?

Slip, plastic, soft leather hard, leather hard, bone dry, bisque, glaze-ware

Slip

Clay is suspended in water. It is mushy and wet; needs to be wedged. Could be used as a decoration. Mainly used for attaching clay together.

Plastic

Clay that is wet enough that it can be shaped into forms by hand or on the wheel without breaking.

Soft leather hard

This clay is partly dry and firm enough to hold some of its shape. It can bend, but slightly.

Leather hard

Good fine to build or carve details into your clay, not flexible.

Bone dry

This clay is completely dry and it is very fragile. Ready to be fired in the kiln.

Bisque

This clay has been in the kiln once. It is now rock hard and won't change its shape. Ready to accept glaze.

Glaze-ware

When the bisque has been fired twice. Glossy, colored, and water-proofed. Ready to be taken home.

Greenware

Greenware is when clay

hasn't been fired yet. (Recycle)

What are the four hand building techniques?

Pinching, coiling, slab, slump molds

porcelain

is a high-fired, translucent, and delicate type of ceramic.

base

The bottom part of which something rests or is supported.

stoneware

Stoneware is a strong, durable, and non-porous ceramic fired at high temperatures.

coiling

build by stacking roiled pieces of clay

carving

Tool to remove small clay pieces from a larger whole piece in order to create a form or finish artwork

brushing

Applying glaze or slip with a brush

wedging

It's kneading clay to remove air bubbles and bring clay to a uniform consistent moisture level

score/scoring

you make scratches in pieces of clay that you want to connect together.

slab building

a pottery technique where you construct forms by joining flat pieces of clay, usually leather hard.

pulling

stretching and smoothing a piece of clay by hand using water

pinching

squeezing a piece of clay between the thumb and the forefingers to make a hollow shape

modeling

the act of creating three-dimensional (3D) form