|
-
Airbrush : n atomizer that uses
compressed air to spray liquid. In ceramics, used for
spraying oxides, underglazes, glaze stains, china paint,
and lusters.
-
Alkaline Glazes : Glazes in which
the fluxes are alkalies (mainly sodium and potassium).
The earliest glazes developed in the Near East were
alkaline.
-
Alumina : One of the refractory
(high+melting) materials in glazes.
-
Armature : A framework of any rigid
material used as a support while building clay
sculpture. Most armatures must be removed before firing.
-
Ashes : In ceramics, ashes from
trees, plants, or animal bones may provide fluxes for
use in glazes.
-
Ball Clay : Aplastic, fine+grained
secondary clay. Often containing some organic material,
it is used in clay bodies to increase plasticity, and in
glazes to add alumina. Ball clay fires to a grayish or
buff color .
-
Banding Wheel : A turntable that
can be revolved with one hand to turn a piece of pottery
or sculpture while the other hand decorates it.
-
Bas+Relief (or Low Relief) :
Three+dimensional modeling that is raised only slightly
above a flat background.
-
Bat : A plaster disk or square slab
usually 3/4 to 1 to 2 in. thick on which a pot is thrown
or is placed to dry when removed from the wheel. Also
used when handbuilding.
-
Batch : A mixture of glaze
materials that have been blended in certain proportions
to obtain a particular glaze or clay body.
-
Bisque (biscuit) : Unglazed ceramic
ware that has been fired at a low temperature to remove
all moisture from the clay body and to make handbuilding
easier during glazing.
-
Bisque Firing : The process of
firing ware at a low temperature, usually from cone 01
to 05, to produce bisque ware.
-
Bizen Ware : Produced in Japan in
wood+fired kilns in which the pots are stacked along
with straw that is high in silica content. Its
combustion causes fire markings.
-
Body : Any blend of clays and non
plastic ceramic materials that is workable and that has
certain firing properties. Clay bodies are formulated to
serve particular purposes and to achieve maturity at
various firing temperatures. See earthenware, stoneware,
and porcelain .
-
Brushing : In ceramics, the
application of slip, engobe, or glaze with a brush.
-
Burner : The system through which
fuel, combined with air, is fed into the kiln, creating
the necessary mixture for combustion.
-
Burnishing : Rubbing leather hard
or dry clay with any smooth tool to polish it, tighten
the clay surface, and compress the clay particles.
-
Casting : In ceramics, the process
of forming pottery or sculpture by pouring liquid clay
(slip) into a plaster mold.
-
Celadon : The western name for a
type of glaze first used in china on stoneware and
porcelain in an attempt to imitate the color and texture
of jade. Its colors range from shades of green to gray
green tones.
-
Centering : The act of forcing a
lump of clay by hand into a symmetrical form at the
center of a spinning potters wheel in preparation for
making pottery.
-
Centrifugal force : The force
generated by a rotating potters wheel that tends to
impel the clay outward from the center of the wheel
head. The action of a potters hands in conjunction with
this force causes the wall to rise.
-
Ceramics : Objects made from earthy
materials with the aid of heat, or the process of making
these objects.
-
China : A term usually applied to
any white ware fired at a low porcelain temperature. It
was developed in Europe to compete with the expensive
imported Chinese porcelain.
-
China clay : Primary clay, or
kaolin, that is white, refractory , and not very
plastic.
-
China paint : An opaque overglaze
paint that is fired onto already fired glaze ware at
various low range temperatures. Because of the low range
temperatures used, colors like red or orange do not burn
out. Sometimes called overglaze enamel.
-
Chuck : An open container used to
hold work in place while trimming on the wheel.
-
Clay : A variety of earthy
materials formed by the decomposition of granite. In the
process, these may have been combined with a variety of
other materials, forming clay bodies with differing
maturing points.
-
Clay body : See body.
-
Coiling : A method of forming
pottery or sculpture from rolls of clay melted together
to create the walls.
-
Crawling : Characterized by bare,
unglazed areas of fired ceramic ware alternating with
thickened glaze areas. Usually caused by surface tension
in the molten glaze pulling it away from areas of grease
or dust on the surface of the bisque ware.
-
Crazing : Unintentional cracks that
occur over the entire glaze surface because the glaze
expands and contracts more than the clay body to which
it was applied. Caused by improper "fit" of glaze to
clay.
|
-
De+airing : Any method of removing
air from clay. Wedging de+airs clay to a certain degree,
a pug mill equipped with a de+airing vacuum chamber does
a more complete job.
-
Decal : An image or a design
printed with ceramic material on a special paper so that
it can be transformed to bisque ware or a glazed surface
and fired to permanency.
-
Deflocculant : Material such as
sodium carbonate or sodium silicate, used in slip for
casting aid in maintaining the fluidity of the slip with
less water. Less shrinkage will thus occur drying the
cast object.
-
Dipping : Applying glaze or slip to
the body by immersing the piece and shaking off excess
glaze.
-
Downdraft kiln : A kiln designed so
that the heat moves up through the firing chamber, dowl
through the ware, then is vented into a stack (chimney)
opening at the bottom of the kiln.
-
Drape mold : A support (such as a
stretched cloth, a wooden frame, or rope network) in or
which a clay slab is draped to shape as it stiffens. The
term is also sometimes used for hump mold over which
slabs of clay are stiffened.
-
Dry footing : A potters term for
removing all the glaze from the foot of a pot before
firing.
-
Drying : The elimination of water
from pots and sculpture. Insufficient drying before
firing can result in a piece exploding in the kiln,
while drying too fast can cause warping or crack of the
ware.
-
Earthenware : Pottery that has been
fired at low temperature (below cone 2) and is porous a
relatively soft. Usually worldwide for domestic ware,
glazed or unglazed.
-
Enamels : Low+temperature opaque or
translucent glazes that are usually painted over highel
fired glazed surfaces. More commonly called china
paints.
-
Engobe : Originally, the term
referred to slip that is applied over the entire surface
of apiece pottery or sculpture to change the color
and/or texture of the clay body. The term now often
refers to slip used for decoration .
-
Extruder : A mechanical aid for
forming moist clay by pressing it through a die. This
causes the clay to take the shape of the die. Extruders
can form clay quickly into many forms, from tubes to
tiles.
-
Feldspar : A group of common
rock+forming minerals containing silicates of aluminum,
along with potassium, sodium, calcium, and occasionally
barium. Used extensively in stoneware and porcelain
bodies and in glazes as a flux.
-
Fettling knife : Along, tapered
knife used for trimming ware and cutting slabs.
-
Firebox : The part of the kiln into
which fuel is introduced and where combustion takes
place.
-
Fire clays (refractory clays) :
Clays that withstand high temperatures. Used in kiln
bricks and also as ingredients in stoneware bodies or in
clay bodies for handbuilding or sculpture.
-
Firing : Heating pottery or
sculpture in a kiln or open fire to bring the clay or
glaze to maturity. The temperature needs to mature a
specific clay or glaze varies.
-
Fit : The adjustment of the glaze
composition to the composition of a clay body so that it
will adhere to the surface of the ware.
-
Flues : The passageways in a kiln
designed to carry the heat from the chamber to the
chimney or vent.
-
Flux : In ceramics, flux lowers the
melting point of glaze. Oxides such as iron, sodium,
potassium, calcium, zinc, lead, boric oxide, and others
combine with the silica and other heat+resistant
materials in a glaze, helping them to fuse.
-
Foot : The base of a piece of
pottery .
-
Frit : A glaze material that is
formed when any of several soluble materials are melted
together with insoluble materials, cooled rapidly and
splintered by immersion in cold water, then ground into
a powder. This renders them less soluble and less likely
to release toxic materials. Feldspar is a natural fit.
-
Glass former : An essential
component of any glaze. The main glass former is silica.
-
Glaze : Any vitreous coating that
has been melted onto a clay surface by the use of heat.
Made of fine ground minerals, that, when fired to a
certain temperature, fuse into a glassy coating. Glazes
may be matt or glossy, depending on their components.
-
Glaze firing : The firing during
which glaze materials melt and form a vitreous coating
on the clay body surface.
-
Glaze stain : Commercial blends
formulated with various coloring oxides that produce a
wide range of colors when used in glazes or clay bodies.
-
Greenware : Unfired pottery or
sculpture.
-
Grog : Crushed or ground particles
of fired clay graded in various sizes and particles.
Added to the clay body to help in drying, to add
texture, and to reduce shrinkage and warpage.
-
Handbuiding : The process of
building pots or sculpture without the use of potters
wheel. This term includes pinching and coiling and
building with slabs.
-
High+fire : Describes clay or
glazes that are fired from cone 2 up to cone 13. Ware
fired at cone 2 and up is usually considered to be
stoneware. See porcelain.
-
High relief : A sculpture whose
full contours are almost detached from a flat
background.
-
Hump mold : A mold of plaster or
terra cotta, or a found object such as a rounded rock,
an upended bowl, or a bag of sand, foam padding, or
crumpled newspaper over which a slab of clay can be laid
to shape as it stiffens.
-
Kaolin : A white+firing natural
clay that withstands high temperatures. An essential
ingredient in porcelain.
-
Kick wheel : The traditional
potters wheel which is powered by kicking a lower when
or by pushing a treadle back and forth with the feet.
-
Kiln : A furnace or an oven built
of heat resistant materials for firing pottery or
sculpture.
-
Kiln furniture : Heat+resistant
shelves, posts, and slabs that support the ware in the
kiln during firing. Kiln shelves may warp in firing if
they are not well supported.
-
Kiln sitter : A control that uses
small pyrometric cones that slump when the desired
temperature is reached and turn off power to an electric
kiln by tripping a switch or to a gas kiln by shutting
off the gas solenoid valve.
-
Kiln wash : A coating of refractory
materials (half flint and half kaolin) painted onto the
kiln floor and the top side of shelves to keep the
melting glaze from fusing ware onto the shelves.
|
-
Latex : An emulsion of rubber or
plastic material with water. Used in ceramics as a
resist material in applying glazes.
-
Lead : Until recently, when the
solubility of lead in acid foods and liquids was
understood, lead was used as a low-fire or
medium-temperature flux in glazes. Potters now do not
use lead in any glaze for containers that can be used
for food or liquid.
-
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.
-
Lip : The edge of the opening of a
pot.
-
Low-fire : The range of firing
clays in the cone 015 to cone 1 range.
-
Low relief : See bas-relief.
-
Luster : A thin film of metallic
salts usually, though not always, applied to a glazed
surface, the refired at a low temperature in reduction.
Modern luster mediums include a reducing material.
-
Maiolica : The Italian name for
tin-glaze ware that was sent from Spain to Italy via the
island of Majorca. Later, local styles of decoration
were developed in Italian pottery towns such as Faenza
and Deruta. Now a general term for any earthenware
covered in a tin-Iead glaze.
-
Marquette : In sculpture, a French
term used for quick, small preliminary sketches.
-
Matt glaze : A glaze that has a
dull, nonglossy finish due to its deliberate
composition. Alumina added to the glaze, along with a
slow cooling assists the formation of matt glazes.
-
Maturing point : Refers to the
temperature and time in firing at which a clay or glaze
reaches the desired condition of hardness and density.
Both clays and glazes have differing maturity points,
depending on their composition.
-
Mixed media : In ceramics, the
combining of various media, such as metal, wood, paper,
stone, with clay in pottery or sculpture.
-
Model : The original form in clay,
plaster, wood, plastic, metal, or other material from
which a mold is made.
-
Modeling : In sculpture, the act of
giving three-dimensional form and detail to plastic
clay, using fingers or tools.
-
Mold : Any form that can be used to
shape fluid or plastic substances. In ceramics, usually
the negative form from which pottery or sculpture can be
cast by pouring or pressing methods using either liquid
slip or damp clay. Molds can be made in one piece or in
multiple sections. See hump mold.
-
Multipart mold : See piece mold.
-
Multiples : A series of identical
objects usually referring to those formed in molds.
-
Neck : The area of a pot that
narrows in near the top before it flare out to the
opening.
-
Opacifier : A material that causes
a glaze to become opaque by producing minute crystals.
Tin, zirconium, and titanium oxides are used as
opacifiers in combination with various oxides.
-
Overglaze : Often called enamel or
china paint. A low-temperature ceramic enamel painted on
a previously glazed and fired surface, then fired for a
second time at a lower temperature, usually as the final
firing process. Bright colors like red and orange that
would burn out at higher temperatures will be maintained
in the lower firing.
-
Oxidation : The firing of a kiln or
open fire with complete combustion so that the firing
atmosphere contains enough oxygen to allow the materials
in clays and glazes to produce their oxide colors.
Electric kilns always produce oxidizing firings unless
reducing materials are added. Bright and clear low-fire
colors are associated with glazes and clays fired in a
oxidation atmosphere.
-
Oxide : A combination of an element
with oxygen. In ceramics, oxides are used in formulating
and coloring glazes and clay bodies. They are also used
in a solution with water for decorating ware.
-
Peephole or Spyhole : A hole in the
door or wall of a kiln through which the ceramist can
watch the pyrometric cones, the color of heat in the
kiln, and the process of the firing.
-
Piece mold : A mold for casting
that is made in sections so that it can be removed
easily from the cast object without distortion.
Generally used to cast an object that has undercuts and
that therefore cannot be removed from a one-piece mold.
-
Pinching : In ceramics, the act of
squeezing plastic clay between the thumb and finger to
form a pot or sculpture.
-
Pinholes : Small holes in glaze
caused by the bursting of blisters formed by gases as
they escape through the glaze during firing.
-
Pit firing : The firing of
greenware that is either piled on the ground or placed
in a shallow pit with combustible material surrounding
the ware. Used worldwide in pre-industrial societies,
and today often used by potters to achieve color
variation due to uneven combustion.
-
Pithos : A Greek term for a large
storage jar made of earthenware.
-
Plaster : A white powder prepared
from gypsum which becomes a dense absorbent mass when
added to water. In ceramics, plaster of Paris or Pottery
Plaster # 1 are used to make slip- casting molds or
press molds.
-
Plasticity : The ability of a damp
clay body to yield under pressure with out cracking and
to retain the formed shape after the form is released.
-
Platelets : The basic particles of
clay.
-
Porcelain : A translucent,
non-absorbent body fired at high temperature. White and
hard, it was first developed in China. Traditionally
fired in the 2370-2640 degree F range, some porcelain
bodies have been developed to mature in the 2230-2340
degree F range.
-
Potters wheel : A revolving wheel,
powered by foot or electricity, on which clay is shaped
into pottery.
-
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 was
made.
-
Pouring : In ceramics, pouring can
mean either pouring slip into a mold or applying glaze
to a pot by pouring the glaze over the outside or into
the interior.
-
Press mold : Any clay mold made
from plaster, fired clay, wood, or a found object into
which damp clay can be pressed to reproduce the shape of
the mold.
-
Primary clay : Clay found in nature
that was formed in place rather than by transported by
the action of water. Also called residual clay. Kaolin
is a primary clay.
-
Pyrometer : A device for measuring
and recording the exact interior temperature of a kiln
throughout the firing and cooling process.
-
Pyrometric cones : Small pyramids
of ceramic materials formulated to bend over and melt at
designated temperatures. Orton cones in the US and Seger
cones in England and Europe have different ranges.
Quartz inversion point- The point at which the silica
crystals in clay change in structure and volume during
the rise and fall of the temperature in the kiln. This
development influences the fit of the glaze to the clay
body.
|
-
Raku : Originally a name used by a
Japanese family that made tea ceremony ware. Now refers
to the process of raku firing and to ware glazed in such
a firing. Raku ware is often reduced after firing by
burying it in combustible material, then covering it
with an airtight lid. This reduction atmosphere aids in
producing luster or opalescent colors.
-
Reduction : A firing in which
insufficient air is supplied to the kiln for complete
combustion. Under these conditions, the carbon monoxide
in the kiln combines with the oxygen in the oxides of
the clay body and glaze, causing the oxides to change
color. Commonly associated with high-fired stoneware,
porcelain, raku, and lusters.
-
Refractory : Resistance to heat and
melting. Refractory materials are used in porcelain and
stoneware. Also used for building kilns and kiln
furniture and in combustion with other materials, as
kiln insulation.
-
Relief : The projection of forms
from a flat background in sculpture and decoration. The
terms high relief and low relief describe the amount of
projection above the background.
-
Resist : A methods of applying a
covering material such as wax, latex, stencils, or
masking tape to bisque or glazed ware, then coating the
piece with a slip, a glaze, or a second glaze. The
resist material will not accept the added layer so that
on firing, the color of the covered area will remain
intact.
-
Rib : A curved tool made of wood,
metal, or plastic, used for shaping, scraping, or
smoothing clay objects.
-
Ribbing : use of a rib to shape
moist clay, or scrape damp or dry clay.
-
Rim : The edge of the opening of a
pot.
-
Salt glaze : A glaze formed by
introducing salt into a hot kiln. The vaporized salt
combines with the silica in the clay body, forming a
sodium silicate glaze on the surface. Salt glazing
releases noxious and toxic fumes, so many potters now
use alternate forms.
-
Scoring : Scratching or otherwise
roughening the edges of damp or leather-hard clay before
joining them.
-
Secondary clay : Natural clay that
has been moved by water or wind from its source and
settled elsewhere in deposits.
-
Sgraffito : Decoration of pottery
made by scratching through a layer of colored slip to
the differently colored clay body underneath.
-
Shrinkage : The loss of volume in
clay as it shrinks in drying and firing. Shrinkage
varies from 7 percent to 20 percent from wet clay to
fired clay, depending on the clay.
-
Sieve : A utensil of wire mesh used
to strain liquids or powder materials.
-
Silica : Oxide of silicon. Found in
nature as quartz or flint sand, it is the most common of
all ceramic materials.
-
Silicate of soda : A solution of
sodium silicate that is used as a deflocculant to help
in the suspension of clay materials in slip.
-
Slab roller : A mechanical device
for rolling out slabs to a set, consistent thickness.
-
Slip : A suspension of clay in
water used for casting pottery or sculpture in molds.
Slip can also be used for painted decoration or for the
sgraffito technique.
-
Slip casting : Forming objects by
pouring slip into a plaster mold. The mold absorbs the
water in the slip so that the solid clay walls are
formed to create a positive of the original.
-
Slip glaze : A glaze that contains
a large proportion of clay. Generally one that contains
enough flux to form a glaze with few or no additives.
-
Slip trailer : A rubber syringe
used to apply decorations of slip on ware.
-
Slurry : A thick, creamy mixture of
clay and water.
-
Spray booth : A ventilated booth
that removes chemicals and fumes from the air so that
the person spraying does not inhale them while spraying
glazes, underglazes, or overglazes.
-
Spray gun : A gun-like device
through which compressed air passes, forcing the air
into a fine mist for application. Used for spraying
glazes.
-
Spraying : In ceramics, a method of
applying glazes using a spray gun.
-
Sprigging : The process of applying
low-relief decorations of damp clay onto already formed
greenware.
-
Stains : Commercially processed and
refined raw chemicals which yield ceramic stains and
offer a wide range of shades for coloring and clay and
glazes. They are generally more color stable than
oxides.
-
Stilts : Triangular supports with
either clay or heat-resistant metal points, used to
support pieces of glazed pottery above the shelves
during glaze firing to keep the glaze from sticking the
ware to the shelf. Small stilt marks can be filled,
sanded, or ground smooth.
-
Stoneware : A type of clay body
fired to a temperature at which the body becomes
vitrified, dense, and nonabsorptive, but not
translucent. Usually matures at temperatures above 2192
degrees F.
-
Temper : Any material, such as
sand, mica, or grog, added to a clay body to make it
more porous and less likely to shrink and warp.
-
Tenmoku : High-fired, saturated
iron glaze; black, brown, and yellowish. Used by the
Chinese and Japanese, especially on tea ware. Still a
popular glaze.
-
Terra-cotta : A low-fire, porous,
reddish clay body, frequently containing grog and other
temper. Used throughout history for common, utilitarian
ware; also used for sculpture.
-
Terra sigillata : A fine slip
glaze. Used by the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans to coat
their pottery. Now formulated into a wide variety of
colors.
-
Test tiles : Small tiles made of
clay used to test clay bodies in the kiln or to test
glazes on a specific clay body.
-
Thermal shock : The stress to which
ceramic material is subjected to when sudden changes
occur in the heat during firing or cooling.
-
Throwing : Forming objects on the
potters' wheel using a clay body with plastic qualities.
-
Trailing : A method of throwing in
which slip or glaze is applied using a syringe.
-
Trimming : In ceramics, this refers
to trimming excess clay off the foot and sometimes the
body of a pot to refine the shape.
-
Undercut : A negative space in a
solid form, creating an overhang. Casting a form with
undercutting requires a multi-part mold to release the
mold from the cast.
-
Underfire : To fire clay or
glaze-accidentally or deliberately-to a point below its
maturing point. Underfiring can turn a normally glossy
glaze into a matte finish.
-
Underglaze : Any coloring material
used under a glaze. The color can be provided by
commercially prepared glaze and clay body stains.
-
Updraft kiln : A kiln in which the
heat goes up through the chamber and is vented through
the top of the iln.
-
Vitreous : Having the nature of
glass. In ceramics, a glaze or clay body that has been
fired to a dense, hard, and nonabsorbent condition.
High-fire glazes vitrify and combine with the glassy
particles that form in the high-fire clay body as it
approaches vitrification. This results in a glaze that
is united with the clay body as compared to a low-fire
glaze that merely coats the glaze.
-
Warping : Changes in the form of a
clay body. Warping of ware can occur during drying or
firing if the walls are built unevenly or if drying or
firing is too rapid and uneven.
-
Wax resist : A method of decoration
in which melted wax or oil emulsion is painted onto the
clay body or onto a glazed piece.
-
Wedging : Anyone of various methods
of kneading a mass of clay to expel the air, get rid of
lumps, and prepare for a homogenous material.
-
Wedging table : A table of plaster,
wood, or concrete, often covered with canvas, on which
clay can be wedged. A stretched wire attached to the
table allows one to cut the clay to check for air
bubbles, lumps, or lack of homogeneity.
|
CLICK HERE IF
YOU ARE NEW
AT CERAMIC PAINTING
|
|
Glosario en Español
     
Color Charts
you can print
click here!
New
Teacher Classroom Projects
Worldwide International orders
click here
NEW
STORE HOURS
Phone orders:
Are now
available on Mon-Thurs from 11am - 4pm Pacific Time. Call
toll free 1-888-CERAMIX in Ca. 818-782-1500. Please have
your order and payment method ready when calling.
New Design, Same Great Prices!
You spoke, so we listened. We've redesigned our site to give you,
our valued shopper, easier access to our ceramic supplies, ceramic
and plastercraft painting
information. We've also added additional features to make your shopping
experience as pleasant as possible. All ceramic bisque and plastercraft
items shown on this web site are sold unpainted for your crafting
pleasure:
*If items are in stock
At Ceramic Art Space, we are dedicated to
your 100% satisfaction. We want to be your one-stop-shop for ceramic
supplies, tips and information. If you ever have any questions, comments, or
suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time:
Sincerely,
www.CeramicArtSpace.com
Est. 1990
|
| |
![Spungette for cleaning and decorating spounge is 3.5\" plus handle](images/imagecache/spoungesticknew.jpg "Spungette for cleaning and decorating spounge is 3.5\\" plus handle")
