Pottery is an amazing form of art. Ceramic items are astonishing, charming, and beautiful. However, one particular form of potter always amazed people around the world. Crystalline glaze is loved by potters and owners for its unique, mesmerizing features. But, what is crystalline glaze pottery exactly? Crystalline glazes are one of the many types of…
Air-dry clay is a wonderful idea for people that don’t have access to kilns and want to make inexpensive pieces of pottery. While this is a really convenient medium and can be used to make almost anything, there is one major concern that a lot of people have: is it really waterproof? While the air-dry…
Whitehard The final stage of drying pottery before being heated in the kiln. Water trapped inside clay can explode when exposed to heat in the kiln, which is why it is important to allow the clay as much time as possible to dry.
Throwing or wheel-thrown A pottery-making process that uses a rotating disk called a potter’s wheel. Clay is placed at the center of the wheel and molded into a cylinder. The mouth and sides are shaped before being removed from the disk to dry. Potters then trim off excess clay, carve and reshape the piece until…
The porosity and the ability of ceramic pots to retain water make them a healthy choice for a variety of plants. However, most store-bought ceramic pots do not have drainage holes. What are the safest ways to drill a ceramic pot without breaking it? You need a masonry drill bit to drill unglazed ceramic pots…
Glossary of Ceramic Terms Welcome to our Glossary of Ceramic Terms, a practical reference created for anyone learning or working with clay. Pottery and ceramics come with their own language, and many terms can feel confusing at first — especially when you’re new to the studio. This glossary explains common ceramic and pottery terms in…
Stoneware The pottery created by this method is the most suitable for being used as kitchenware or for any other active usages. Thanks to the stoneware method, which is a high-firing process, the clay reaches its maximum point of solidification without any dangers of distortion. The ware’s body and the glaze mature simultaneously, at the…
Slip Simply put, the slips are the final touches on the pottery. It’s a mixture of clay and water, which can also be mixed with metallic oxides which give it some color. It can be applied with a brush and is usually done during the drying process, mainly the greenware stage. This being said, there…
Shrinkage The name already suggests that shrinkage refers to reduction of the size and volume of the pottery, and therefore it can be mistaken for contraction and expansion, making it seem like they’re rather similar. However, that’s not the case. While the other two examples are quite natural and happen while the piece undergoes some…
Salt glaze The term “salt glaze” got its name from the process of using salt in the kiln. Because of the involvement of salt, which naturally contains sodium, the process is also called sodium glazing or sodium firing, while the pieces created by this method are sometimes called “saltware”. Due to the heat, the salt…