Intro to Clay: Basic Concepts and Vocabulary

1. Intro to Clay: Basic Concepts and Vocabulary Ceramics 9-12

2. Needle Tool Wood Modeling Tool Sponge Metal Rib Loop Tools Wire Cutter Wooden Rib

3. Hand-building Technique- PINCH • Using your fingers to pinch and shape the clay.

4. Pinch Pot • Pinching is a pottery technique fundamental to manipulating clay. Making a pinch pot consists of pressing the thumb into a ball of clay, and drawing the clay out into a pot by repeatedly squeezing the clay between the thumb and fingers.

5. Pinch Pots

6. Hand Building Technique- COIL • Rolled out, snake like, pieces of clay that are added to each other to create a larger clay form.

7. Coil Construction • Coils are long, snake-like ropes of clay that are used in making pottery. It involves building the walls of a form with a series of coils into the required shape. The surface can either remain coil-textured or they can be smoothed.

8. Coil Ceramics

9. Hand building Technique- SLAB • Using flat sheets of clay to build with clay. Can be thrown or rolled out by hand, or made with the slab roller.

10. Slab Construction • A potterytechnique in which a form is built up by joining shapes cut from thick sheets of damp clay.

11. Slab Ceramics

12. Joining Clay: Slip and Score • Score- Using a tool to scratch and hatch over clay • Slip - A liquid form of clay. • Slip and Score- Using slip as a “clay cement” between two scored pieces of clay.

13. Throwing on the Wheel • Clay can be “thrown” or formed on a potter’s wheel. This will generally produce cylindrical forms.

14. Wheel Thrown Pottery

15. Glaze: a glass coating that is especially made to stick onto ceramic surfaces Underglaze: colored slips applied beneath a glaze layer Stain: raw pigments, can be water or acrylic base Burnishing: rearranging and compressing clay particles by rubbing the surface of a clay object until it becomes glossy Decorating Methods

16. Kiln • A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced • We have two kilns. Do not touch the kilns by yourself, and never open the lid.

17. Green Ware Clay that has not yet been fired

18. Bisque Ware A ceramic piece that has gone through a firing and has no moisture left.

19. Pottery • Ceramic ware that serves a functional purpose

20. Stages of Clay Wet clay: soft/plastic clay Leather hard (greenware):clay is dry enough tomaintain form and wet enough to be smoothed, carved, and added to Bone dry (greenware):clay has dried as much as possible before first firing and is extremely brittle Bisqueware:first firing where all remaining water molecules are released from the clay transforming it into ceramic (Why are air bubbles dangerous during a bisque fire?) Glazeware:second firing where glaze has melted into the ceramic surface, turning it to glass.

21. Clean-Up • Hazards of clay dust: • Silica particles = extremely tiny pieces of glass, which became airborne and easily inhaled….extremely hazardous to lungs • Solution: • WET clean-up prevents dust from building up and becoming airborne • Use wet sponges, spray bottles, and wipe everything down.