Elements and Principles of Design
An element of art that is 2D, flat or limited to height and width.
Shape
Any 2D shape that isn't geometric
organic shapes
An art movement from the 1950s and 1960s that referenced popular culture like advertising, comics, mass produced objects or celebrities, and challenged notions of traditional art-making.
Pop Art
An ancient pottery making technique that involves creating forms without a pottery wheel, using the hands, fingers and simple tools
Handbuilding
A textile art form where two sets of threads, warp and weft, are interlaced at right angles to create fabric or cloth
Weaving
A three dimensional art form where artists shape or mold materials like clay, metal, or wood into tangible, 3D objects, representing figures, ideas or concepts
Sculpture
When elements of art like line, color and shape are repeated within an artwork to achieve specific aesthetics.
Repetition
Characterized by a reliance on mathematical shapes such as triangles, squares with often with straight lines.
Geometric shapes
An art and literary movement that emphasizes the unconscious mind and dreams, often resulting in strange, illogical and dreamlike scenes.
Surrealism
A thermally insulated chamber or oven that uses electricity to heat materials for firing pottery, ceramics and other materials using precise temperature controls
Electric Kiln
The lengthwise threads that are stretched and held taut on a loom before the weft threads are interlaced to create fabric
Warp Thread
A type of visual art that combines more than one medium, method or material.
Mixed Media
The artistic principle of creating motion within an artwork by using elements of design like line, color, texture and shape.
Movement
A balanced harmonious arrangement where parts of an artwork mirror each other, creating a sense of visual equilibrium and order.
Symmetry
An American Sculptor known for his innovative mobiles and other wire sculptures.
Alexander Calder
a liquid slurry of clay and water.
Slip
An apparatus for making fabric by weaving yarn or thread
Loom
Artworks that adhere to established cultural, historical, or religious traditions, this includes styles and techniques that have been passed down through generations, usually tied to regions or cultural practices
Traditional Arts
The principle of design that creates a sense of harmony and wholeness, making all parts of an artwork feel like they belong together.
Unity
A design or composition where elements are arranged symmetrically or asymmetrically around a central point, radiating outward like spokes on a wheel or rays from the sun.
Radial
Swedish born American sculptor who is best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Largely considered a “Pop- Artist” who commonly referenced food and other consumer items in his work
Claes Oldenburg
A highly workable form of clay that is malleable and pliable, allowing it to be easily shaped and molded into various forms
Plastic Stage
The yarns that run horizontally or crosswise across the fabric, while the warp threads run vertically
Weft Thread
Fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn.
Fiber Arts
The area around, between, and within objects in an artwork.
Space
Art that includes movement, either through natural forces like wind or motors, or by creating the illusion of motion.
Kinetic
A Native American potter from Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico known for her black on white or “polychrome” decorative ceramics made using traditional techniques.
Lucy Lewis
A technique used in pottery to join two pieces of clay together by creating a rough surface on the edges to be attached, then applying a liquid clay slurry to promote adhesion
Scratch and Attach
Materials made from fibers.
Textiles
The use of differing visual elements like colors, shapes and textures to create contrast and interest within an artwork.
Variety
A young up and coming artist from the “Sky City” Pueblo community of Acoma who uses traditional techniques including horse hair pottery as a fourth generation Acoma potter.
Eric Louis
Unfired pottery that has been shaped but not yet fired in a kiln.
Greenware
Objects made from clay, like pots, bowls or vases and fired at a high temperature to become hardened.
Ceramics
The perceived surface quality of a work of art, through touch, visually or both
Texture
A 1960s German-born American sculptor known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, plastics and other fibers which she used in a minimalist manner, to create abstract sprawling installations that paved the way for females in the sculpting and fiber art world
Eva Hesse
A simple, fundamental pottery technique where a vessel is formed by hand, starting with a ball of clay and gradually pinching the walls to create the desired shape
Pinch Pot
The Japanese art or process of folding squares or paper into representational shapes.
Origami
The distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture and space.
Balance
Art from the 1870s to the 1970s characterized by a rejection of traditional art conventions and a focus on experimentation and innovation within the art making process as well as through concepts, often using abstraction and other new perspectives.
Modern Art
The state where the clay has completely dried out and lost its moisture becoming extremely fragile and crumbly and ready for bisque firing
Bone Dry Stage
A technique for making 3D Sculptures from pulped or pasted paper and binders such as glue or plaster.
Papier Mache
An English sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who produces site specific sculptures and land art situated in natural settings.
Andy Goldsworthy
A stage of clay that has partially dried becoming stiff but still workable, allowing for trimming, carving, and adding details before it becomes too dry and brittle
Leather Hard Stage
A type of sculpture, invented by Alexander Calder, that uses balance and air currents to create constant, graceful movement.
Mobile
An American visual artist and filmmaker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage art, influenced by and considered a surrealist.
Joseph Cornell
A stage in the drying process where the clay is partially dried but still damp enough to be worked with
Leather Stage
a symbolic diagram that is symmetrical with repeating patterns used in the performance of sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation, it represents the universe in Hinduism and Buddhism
Mandala
A village in New Mexico which has four communities inhabited by the Native American Pueblo tribe, it is unique in its location, sitting atop a 357 ft tall mesa-and age, being continuously occupied since 1150 AD by the Pueblo peoples.
Acoma
Pottery that has been undergone its first firing, resulting in a hard, porous, and unglazed state, ready for glazing or decorative applications
Bisqueware
A unique pottery technique where strands of horse hair are applied to a hot, freshly fired pot, causing the hair to carbonize and leave a distinctive, random, dark pattern on the surface
Horse Hair Pottery
building pottery by rolling clay into long, rope-like coils and stacking them on top of each other to form the walls of a vessel
Coil Method
A distinct art form from the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, it's known for its thin walls, fluted rims and hand-painted geometric designs
Acoma Pottery
Ceramics pieces that have coated with a glass-like substance and fired at a high temperature, resulting in a smooth, waterproof and often colored surface
Glazeware
Pottery decorated with multiple colors, typically black and red, applied to a white or tan slip painted background
Polychrome
a colored slip-like paint made of clay and pigments that is applied to greenware or bisque ware to create designs.
Underglaze