The Life of Clay
The most workable, pliable stage. Clay is easily molded, thrown on a wheel, or shaped without breaking.
Plastic/ workable
This tool is used to create and even flat sheet of clay.
Rolling pin
This will happen to clay if any moisture is left in the clay during firing
Explode
This Spanish artist co-founded Cubism
Pablo Picasso
This liquid mixture is applied to bisque-fired clay and turns into a glass-like coating after firing in the kiln.
Glaze
The final stage. The piece has been fired a second time with a layer of glaze, making it water-resistant, glassy, and finished.
Glazeware
This tool is used for firing clay. It can reach temperatures of up to 2400 Degrees.
Kiln
This two-step process roughens clay surfaces and applies a liquid clay mixture to securely join pieces together.
Slip and score
This early 20th-century art movement shows objects broken into geometric shapes and multiple viewpoints at once.
Cubism
This is the typical number of thin, even layers students should apply—allowing each layer to dry before adding the next.
3-5 coats
No moisture remains, and the clay is room temperature to the touch. It is extremely fragile, light-colored, and ready for the first firing.
Bone Dry
These tools are great for compressing, modeling and adding textures. They come in a wide variety of shapes.
Wood tools
This handbuilding method creates a small vessel by pressing and shaping a ball of clay with your fingers and thumb.
Pinch pot
Instead of focusing on accurate perspective, this art style emphasizes shape, color, line, and form.
Abstract Art
This glazing step requires wiping glaze off the bottom of a ceramic piece so it does not stick to the kiln shelf.
Dry footing
Clay has dried slightly and lost some moisture. It is stiff enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be carved, trimmed, or have handles attached.
Leatherhard
This tool is used largely for scratching into the clay. It is name for it very long and pointed shape.
Needle tool
This handbuilding technique uses rolled-out sheets of clay that are cut and joined together to create forms.
Slab building
This powerful black-and-white mural painted in 1937 depicts the horrors of war in Spain.
Guernica
From an Italian word meaning “to scratch,” this technique creates contrast by removing the top layer of color.
Sgraffito
This first kiln firing hardens clay, removes moisture, and prepares the surface to better absorb glaze.
Bisqueware
This ceramic tool gets its name from the curved metal piece attached to the handle that is used to remove clay from a form.
Loop/ Hoop tool
This preparation step ensures even wall thickness and removes hidden air pockets that could cause a ceramic piece to fail during firing.
Hollowing out
The growing popularity and accuracy of this invention helped push artists toward abstraction because it could already document reality.
Photography
Heat in the kiln causes the chemicals and metal oxides in glaze to react, resulting in this transformation.
Chemical Reaction