http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/ en info@wmd.hr Copyright 2006 2006-07-14T08:31:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/ceramics_forming_techniques/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/ceramics_forming_techniques/#When:08:31:00Z Photo from“The Complete Potter“, 2003.Pottery can be produced in three basic forming traditions: handwork, wheel work, and slipcasting. It’s very common for wheel-worked pieces to be finished by handwork techniques. Slipcast pieces tend not to be, as that negates one of the prime advantages of casting. Handwork methods can be considered both the most primitive and the most individualized techniques, where pieces are constructed from hand-rolled coils, slabs, ropes, and balls of clay, often joined with a liquid clay slurry, or slip. No two pieces of handwork will be exactly the same, so it is not suitable for making precisely matched sets of items such as dinnerware. Doing handwork enables the potters to use their imagination to create one-of-a-kind works of art. These methods are often referred to as “handbuilding”. 2006-07-14T08:31:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/decorative_and_finishing_techniques/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/decorative_and_finishing_techniques/#When:08:26:00Z Lisa Hammond-photo Stephen BravneAdditives can be worked into moist clay, prior to forming, to produce desired characteristics to the finished ware. Various coarse additives, such as sand and grog (fired clay which has been finely ground) give the final product strength and texture, and contrasting colored clays and grogs result in patterns. Colorants, usually metal oxides and carbonates, are added singly or in combinations to achieve a desired colour. Combustible particles can be mixed with clay or pressed into the surface to produce texture. 2006-07-14T08:26:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/glazing_and_firing_techniques/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/glazing_and_firing_techniques/#When:08:21:00Z Kate Schuricht-photo Stephen BrayneGlazing is the process of coating the piece with a thin layer of material that during firing forms a glass coating. Compositions are varied but are usually a mixture of minerals that fuse at temperatures lowers than the body itself. This is important for functional earthenware vessels, which would otherwise be unsuitable for holding liquids due to porosity. Glaze may be applied by dusting it over the clay, spraying, dipping, trailing or brushing on a thin slurry of glaze and water. Brushing tends not to give very even covering, but can be effective with a second coating of a coloured glaze as a decorative technique. With all glazed items, a small part of the item (usually on the base of the piece) must be left unglazed, or else it will stick to the kiln during firing. 2006-07-14T08:21:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/raku/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/raku/#When:08:18:00Z Jeff Oestreich-photo Stephen BrayneRakuyaki or Raku is a form of Japanese pottery characterized by low firing temperatures (resulting in a fairly porous clay body), lead glazes, and the removal of pieces from the kiln while still glowing hot. In the traditional Japanese firing process, the pot is removed from the hot kiln and put directly into water or allowed to cool in the open air. Raku is considered the traditional method for creating clay bowls for the Japanese tea ceremony. Raku tea bowls are hand-made from earthenware, each with a unique shape and style. 2006-07-14T08:18:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/western_raku_techniques/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/western_raku_techniques/#When:08:13:00Z Jane Perryman-photo Stephen BrayneThe use of a reduction chamber at the end of the raku firing was introduced by the American potter Paul Soldner in the 1960s, in order to compensate for the difference in atmosphere between wood-fired Japanese raku kilns and gas-fired American kilns. Typically, pieces removed from the hot kiln are placed in masses of combustible material (e.g., straw, sawdust, or newspaper) in order to provide a reducing atmosphere for the glaze, and to stain the exposed clay surface with carbon. 2006-07-14T08:13:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/porcelain/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/porcelain/#When:08:08:00Z Kate Schuricht-photo Stephen BraynePorcelain is a hard ceramic substance made by heating at high temperature selected and refined materials often including clay in the form of kaolinite. Porcelain clay when mixed with water forms a plastic paste which can be worked to a required shape or form that is hardened and made permanent by firing in a kiln at temperatures of between about 1200 degrees Celsius and about 1400 degrees Celsius. The toughness, strength and translucence of porcelain arises mainly from the formation at high temperatures within the clay body of the mineral mullite and glass. Porcelain was so-named after its resemblance to the white, shiny Venus-shell, called in old Italian porcella. The curved shape of the upper surface of the Venus-shell resembles the curve of a pig’s back (Latin porcella, a little pig, a pig). 2006-07-14T08:08:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/faience/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/faience/#When:08:06:00Z Kate Schuricht-photo Stephen BrayneFaience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed earthenware on a delicate pale buff body. The invention of a pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major advance in the history of pottery. The invention seems to have been made in Iran or the Middle East before the ninth century. A kiln capable of producing high temperatures exceeding 1000° C was required to achieve this result (see pottery), the result of millennia of refined pottery-making traditions. 2006-07-14T08:06:00+01:00 http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/slipcasting/ http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-techniques/slipcasting/#When:08:03:00Z Hans Coper-photo Stephen BrayneSlipcasting is an easy technique for the mass-production of pottery, especially for shapes not easily made on a wheel. A liquid clay slip (technically a slip) is poured into plaster moulds and allowed to form a layer, the cast, on the inside cavity of the mould. The slip can be formulated to mature at a variety of temperatures. In a solid cast mold, ceramic objects such as handles and platters are surrounded by plaster on all sides with a reservoir for slip, and are removed when the solid piece is held within. In a pour mold, once the plaster has absorbed most of the liquid from the outside layer of clay the remaining slip is poured off for later use, and the item is left to dry. Finally the finished item is removed from the mould, “fettled” (trimmed neatly), and allowed to air-dry. This produces a greenware piece, which is generally fired to harden it by a process of sintering. 2006-07-14T08:03:00+01:00