Vocab

Question 1

ceramic

Answer 1

anything made of clay (there are different types of clay, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain) and has fone through firing process(es), making the objects more durable than the original eaw clay (e.g.: toilets, mugs, sculptures, electrical insulators, planter pots)

Question 2

kiln

Answer 2

what you put raw clay objects into and transforms raw clay into permanent objects (ovens are for cakes and kilns are for clay)

Question 3

oxidation

Answer 3

a kiln environment that uses electricity to fire clay objects. Inside the kiln chamber, oxygen is available which affects how glazes turn out (can also be referred to as electric firing)

Question 4

reduction

Answer 4

a kiln environment where oxygen is deficient and carbon monoxide is created to interact/affect the glaze and clay colours. These kilns are fueled by gas or wood (we have a gas kiln)

Question 5

glaze

Answer 5

the glass-like exterior surface of a clay object, matt or glossy, serves to seal the porous clay from liquids and gives better sanitation and durability (cousin of glass)

Question 6

cones

Answer 6

units to measure the mature/vitrification temperature/ point of specific clays (*when there’s a 0 in front of a number the temperature is lower than when the number is by itself, eg. 06<6)

Cone 04 1950 degrees F (low fire

Cone 06 1850 degrees F (mid-temperature, this is what we use)

Cone 6 2250 degrees F

Question 7

vitrification

Answer 7

the process of clay becoming more glass-like and more impervious to water (only applies to clay)

Question 8

fire

Answer 8

the process of raising temperatures in order to make clay permanent/ durable and therefore ceramics (baking is for muffins and firing is for clay)

Question 9

low fire

Answer 9

refers to a firing process ranging from about 1000-2000 degrees F (eg. earthenware clay is a low fire clay, most common low fire temp is cone 04)

Question 10

mid fire

Answer 10

refers to firing process ranging from 2150-2300 degrees F (eg. mid-fire stoneware mid-fire “porcelain”, we use mid-fire cay of cone 6 clay)

Question 11

high fire

Answer 11

firing process ranging from 2300-2400 degrees F (this is where “real porcelain” needs to be fired at but there’s high fire stoneware too)

Question 12

greenware

Answer 12

a clay object that has not gone through any firing process

Question 13

leather hard

Answer 13

part of the greenware stage when a clay object is firm enough to touch without leaving fingerprints everywhere but can still be worked, it is still wet and feels cold to touch (different stages, soft leather hard and hard leather hard)

Question 14

bone dry

Answer 14

a clay object that has not gone through any firing processes and is completely dry to the touch, should not be as cold to touch as leather hard phase (dry only to touch, must be at this stage before firing)

Question 15

bisque

Answer 15

the first kiln firing to give some strength for easier handling of the clay object. Kiln temp range from cone 06 to cone 04

Question 16

bisqueware

Answer 16

a clay object that has gone through the first kiln firing

Question 17

silica

Answer 17

pure glass and one of the main ingredients in clay and glazes. Gives strength to clays and melts in glazes to form a glass-like durable surface

Extended exposure by inhalation in powder form can cause silicosis or lung cancer (never dry sand because of this)

Question 18

sgraffito

Answer 18

cutting or scratching through an outer layer of slip/underglaze to expose the different colours of clay beneath (from italian “graffito” meaning to scratch)

Question 19

mishima/sangam

Answer 19

an inlay technique where you cut into the clay, fill the grooves using slips of underglaze and finally after the slip/underglaze is leather hard, you scrape away the slip/underglaze exposing the fine lines filled with the coloured slip/underglaze

Question 20

resist

Answer 20

a decorative medium (eg. wax, PVA, latex or paper used to prevent slip or glaze from sticking to the ceramic surface underneath)

Question 21

clay

Answer 21

decomposed granite becomes the mineral feldspar + time (geological scale) + water/ weathering then settles in different parts/ elevation of earth and becomes clay

Question 22

clay body

Answer 22

refers to the kind of clay you are using which has specific formulations made by different ingredients added to the naturally occurring clays (eg. stoneware, earthenware, and porcelain are clay bodies)

Question 23

slab

Answer 23

a chunk of clay that has been rolled out into a thinner sheet of clay and used as one method of construction

Question 24

decorative slip

Answer 24

liquid clay made out of colourants, composed of clay, water, colourants, and melting agent. It is used at a leather hard stage only. Underglaze is a commercially made slip that has additional ingredients added for better brushability and adhesion to clay. It can be brushed on at a greenware stage or on bisque ware but greenware is better

Question 25

joining slip

Answer 25

clay that is a watered-down version of your clay body used to attach sections of clay together

Question 26

casting slip

Answer 26

liquid clay that has a defloculant to keep it in a liquid state without the necessary water to make it too liquidy. It is used to pour into plaster moulds

Question 27

terra sigillata

Answer 27

an extra fine and runny decorative slip with colourants (historically black, red, or white) brushed on and burnished to a soft sheen. (used historically on pots globally, eg. Greek pots) low fire only

Question 28

score

Answer 28

an action to join two pieces of clay together by scratching the surface of the clay to create grooves