clay introduction - art education...
TRANSCRIPT
Clay Introduction
Basic Vocabulary
Clay: Particles of decomposed rock combined with water
to create a plastic malleable body which is then fired in a
kiln to fuse the particles back into a stone-like state.
Mold: A form used for support and shaping clay.
Ceramics: Objects made from earthy materials with the
aid of heat, or the process of making these objects.
Pottery: Originally a term for earthenware, now loosely
used to refer to any type of ceramic ware, as well as to the
workshop where it is made.
Earthenware: Pottery that has been fired at a low
temperature (below cone 2) and is porous and relatively
soft. Usually red or brown in color. Used for domestic
ware, glazed or unglazed.
Stages of Clay
Greenware
Bisque ware
Glaze ware
Greenware
Unfired pottery or sculpture. -Leather hard: the condition of a clay body when much of the
moisture has evaporated and shrinkage has just ended, but the clay is
not totally dry. Carving, burnishing or joining slabs are often done at
this stage
-Bone dry: Clay becomes fragile as moisture completely leaves the
clay body, making it easily breakable. It is ready for the first firing
Bisque ware
Bisque: Unglazed ceramic ware that has been fired at a
low temperature to remove all moisture from the clay body
and to make handling easier during glazing.
Glaze ware
Fired glaze ware -Glaze: Any vitreous coating that has been melted onto a clay surface
by the use of heat. Made of finely ground minerals that, when fired to
a certain temperature, fuse into a glassy coating. Glazes may be matt
or glossing, depending on their components
-Underglaze: A special paint for clay that colors it, but does not
produce a glassy-like surface. Used for detail work.
Foot: The base of a piece of pottery, usually left unglazed
in high-fired ware on which the ware usually rest;
occasionally glazed in low-fire, in which case the ware
must be put on stilts to keep it from sticking to the shelf.
Wedging
Any one of various methods of kneading a mass of clay to
expel the air, get rid of lumps, and prepare a
homogeneous material
Hand-building
Slab: Using thin sheets of clay to build a structure, the
sheets can be either rolled or stretched out.
Coiling: Method of forming pottery or sculpture from rolls
of clay melded together to create the
Pinching: The process of starting with a ball of clay,
inserting your thumb and “pinching”the clay between your
thumb and fingers.
Score and Slip
Slip: A mixture of clay and water often used to join to
pieces of clay together. It can also be used for casting
pottery or sculpture in molds.
Score: To scratch the surface of the clay; aids in joining
two pieces together
Throwing
Forming objects on the potter's wheel using a clay body
with plastic qualities
Bat: A plaster, wood, or plastic disk or square slab on
which a pot is thrown or is placed to dry when removed
from the wheel. Also used when hand building.
Centering: The act of aligning the clay on the potter's
wheel in order to proceed with forming and shaping.
Banding Wheel
A turntable that can be revolved with one hand to turn a
piece of pottery or sculpture while decorating it with the
other hand.
Firing
Heating pottery or sculpture in a kiln or open fire to bring
the clay or glaze to maturity. The temperature needed to
mature a specific clay or glaze varies.
Kiln: A furnace or oven built of heat resistant materials for
firing pottery or sculpture, sometimes referred to as a “Kil”
Cone: A pyrometric cone is a triangular shaped piece of
ceramic materials carefully formulated to melt at a specific
temperature. They are placed in the kiln to monitor and
determine kiln temperature.
Low Fire: The range of firing of clays and glazes in which
the kiln temperature reached is usually in the cone 015 to
cone 1 range.
Bisque Firing: The process of firing ware at a low
temperature, usually from cone 010 to 05, to produce
bisque ware.
Glaze Firing: The firing during which glaze materials melt
and form a vitreous coating on the clay body surface.
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