Content Vocabulary

Template - Anything that determines or serves as a pattern; a model:

White Talc Clay - A type of Low Fire Earthenware clay that is usually grey or cream when wet and fires to white.

Terra Cotta Clay - A type of Low Fire Earthenware clay that comes in colors of rich red-brown and orange.

Pinch Pot Technique - A pinch pot is a simple form of hand-made pottery produced from ancient times to the present. The process begins with a ball of clay. Your thumb is pushed into the center, and then the walls of the form are created by pinching the clay with your thumbs and fingers as you turn the pot. This technique is good for forms that are round and balloon-like.

Slab Technique - Hand building technique in which flat pieces of clay are joined. The clay is stretched or rolled flat and pieces of the form are cut from the slab. This technique is good for forms that have straight sides.

Coil Technique - Hand building technique in which rope-like pieces of clay are joined to construct a form. To start the clay is cut into long pieces of clay with square ends. These pieces are rolled on a flat surface with your hands going from finger tips to wrists and back. This will lengthen the coil and thin then out. This technique is good for forms that curve in and out.

Underglaze - A method of decorating pottery in which painted decoration is applied to the surface before it is covered with a transparent ceramic glaze and fired in a kiln. Think of it like the ceramic version of paint. They tend to be highly pigmented for strong colors and stay where you put them on the clay, meaning they won't flow OR melt like a glaze will. They are typically applied to un-fired clay or greenware.

Glaze - An impervious layer or coating of a vitreous (glass like) substance which has been fused to a ceramic body through firing. Glaze can serve to color, decorate or waterproof an item. Glazing renders earthenware vessels suitable for holding liquids, sealing the inherent porosity of un-glazed biscuit (fired) earthenware.

Basic Wooden Tool - A long narrow tool made of wood that has different shaped ends and is used for carving and sculpting in clay.

Fettling Knife - A knife with a long blade and wooden handle that is used to cut and trim ceramic forms.

Pin Tool - A basic tool with a handle and needle/pin sticking out or the top. It it used in hand building and wheel throwing to trim or cut clay and to "draw" out light designs in the clay.

Toothed Scraper - A metal, bean shaped tool with little teeth around the edge. It is used for scoring clay when building pieces together.

Ribbon Tool - Also called Loop Tools because they are made out of flattened metal ribbons with sharpened edges attached to a wooden handle. They are used mainly to trim the bases of thrown pots, but also to hollow out handmade shapes, especially sculptural forms and to carve the surface if pieces.

Rubber Rib - Also called Loop Tools because they are made out of flattened metal ribbons with sharpened edges attached to a wooden handle. They are used mainly to trim the bases of thrown pots, but also to hollow out handmade shapes, especially sculptural forms and to carve the surface if pieces.

Sgraffito Tool - An Italian word that means "to scratch". This is a decorative pottery technique produced by applying layers of color or colors (underglazes or colored slips) to leather hard pottery and then scratching off parts of the layer(s) to create contrasting images, patterns and texture and reveal the clay color underneath.

Scoring and Slipping - A method of joining two pieces of clay together. First, score the clay; this means that you make scratches in the surfaces that will be sticking together. Then you slip it; that is you wet the surface with some slip, using it like glue.

Slip - A liquid form of clay (literally clay with lots of water added to it) used as a glue or as decoration. It should be the consistency of yogurt.

Decorative - Some that is meant to be used or useful.

Functional - Some that is meant to be used or useful.

Vessel - a hollow container used to hold things.

Foot - The bottom or base of a ceramic vessel.

Body - The widest part of the ceramic vessel.

Lip - The top edge or opening of the ceramic vessel.

Wedging - What we do to prepare our clay to work with it. It removes air pockets, unifies the clay, and can dry it up some if it's too wet. You will learn 3 types -Bull Nose, Spiral, and Drop.

Reclaiming - The process of recycling clay so that it is Cheese Hard again and ready to make more art work.