Clay

1. Clay Terms and Processes

2. Preparing Clay • Wedging – a process of clearing air bubbles out of clay by slamming it on a hard surface • Kneading - a process of removing the air bubbles from clay by kneading it like dough for bread

3. Methods of hand-building • Coil – a process of building ceramics by rolling clay out into long ropes and coiling it around a flat base

4. Methods of hand-building • Pinching – a process of creating ceramics by taking a ball of clay and creating a hole in the middle, then pinching it around between finger and thumb to create the shape you like

5. Methods of hand-building • Slab – ceramics created by rolling out thick, flat slabs of clay, then constructing them into 3-D forms

6. The pottery wheel • Wheel – the spinning machine that is used to create radial-balanced structures with clay • Throwing – the process of building a structure on the pottery wheel

7. Once the clay is dry… • Kiln – a furnace for firing ceramic • Firing – the heating of clay or glaze to a specific temperature • Glaze – a glassy coating that bonds to ceramic surfaces by heat; this is essentially “paint” for ceramics and adds color to them

8. Conditions of clay • Greenware – unfired clay object

9. Conditions of clay • Leather hard – raw clay when most of the moisture is out but it is still soft enough to carve or adjoin to other pieces

10. Conditions of clay • Bone-dry – unfired clay with no absorbed moisture

11. Conditions of clay • Bisque – clay that is fired once, but unglazed

12. Conditions of clay • Glaze ware – clay that has been glazed and re-fired

13. Other important terms • Slip – clay mixed with water to use as “glue” for your separate clay pieces • Score – cutting small notches into the part of the clay which you are going to “slip” in order to create a good, solid hold between pieces