Once you have created your pottery, it is time to decorate it. That is the most exciting and fun part of it. There are many ways to decorate your pottery, including glazing and underglaze. How Many Coats Of Underglaze Do You Need? Apply at least two layers to get a vibrant color when painting underglaze….
Making pinch pots is a simple technique for shaping clay by pinching it with your thumb and forefinger. Dating back to the Neolithic era, it is one of the oldest ways to make pottery. When creating a pinch pot, what do you do? Pinching involves first shaping a piece of clay into a ball. Thinning…
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…
Learn whether air-dry clay is waterproof, what sealing can and cannot do, and how to make finished pieces more water-resistant without assuming they are fully ceramic-safe.
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…
Learn common pottery and ceramic terms with simple definitions, alphabetized browsing, and links to deeper Bay of Clay guides on clay, glaze, kilns, firing, porcelain, stoneware, and more.
Learn what stoneware is, why it is popular for functional pottery, and how it differs from earthenware and porcelain in firing and durability.
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…