Stages of clay Plastic Leather hard Bone dry Bisque Glaze Greenware Glazeware
Plastic/Working Clay – Clay that is in a workable form. It can be formed and retain its shape.
Leather Hard – The stage where the clay is soft enough to carve or cut yet hard enough to stand on its own or support itself. Two pieces can be joined together.(Slip and Score)
This is the most fragile stage of clay. Bone Dry – This is the most fragile stage of clay. All or most of the water has evaporated . It looks and feels dry. – no cold to touch
Unfired pottery; still being cleaned Greenware – Unfired pottery; still being cleaned or sanded. Clay is fragile at this stage, but not as fragile as bone dry. Greenware – Unfired pottery; still being cleaned or sanded. Clay is fragile at this stage, but not as fragile as bone dry.
Bisqueware – Unglazed clay that has gone through the First Firing!! By bisque firing, the clay becomes stronger.
Pottery that has been coated with a glaze and refired Glazeware – Pottery that has been coated with a glaze and refired
Clay Construction – Slip and Score How do you join to pieces of clay? Slip/Liquid Clay – Score- Clay + water = Slip Cross Hatching Used as a glue Marks made where to join clay. Clay will touch
Clay Maintenance – Wedging remove air bubbles, achieve uniform consistency, and to line up the particles of clay
Additive – When you add material to a sculpture to build up the form Subtractive- When you subtract material from the sculpture to build up the form
Main construction methods Main construction methods . .---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinch- made with the pinching of fingers and thumb . Coil- gently rolling clay back and forth to create coils and using those coils to build up a form. This process is great for large asymmetrical forms . Slab- Using a slab roller or guide sticks to form slabs and cut and join with other stiffened slabs to create the form. Best for tall straight cylinders
Pinch Pots
Coil Pots
Slab Pots
Kiln- Furnace in which Clay is fired The First firing of a clay object is called the Bisque firing. The second Firing of a clay object is called the Glaze firing.
Glaze- Liquid suspension of material that melts in the kiln and produces a glasslike surface provides Beauty, Strength, and Waterproofs the piece Brushed on at the Bisque stage
Glaze Before kiln----- -------After Kiln