Ceramics Basics

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Ceramic

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Objects made from clay that are hardened by heat. Ceramics are often used to create art, dishes, or sculptures.

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Kiln

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A special oven used to fire clay, which means heating it to very high temperatures to make it hard and durable.

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Firing

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The process of heating clay in a kiln to harden it. Firing makes the clay strong and permanent, and it often happens twice: once for hardening and once after glazing.

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Bisque Firing

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The first firing of clay, which makes it hard but still porous.

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Glaze Firing

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The second firing that melts the glaze into a glass-like surface.

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Coil

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A long, rope-like piece of clay used to build shapes and forms. Coils can be stacked to create walls for pots or other vessels.

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Slab

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A technique using flat, rolled-out sheets of clay to construct forms.

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Pinch Pot

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A hand-building method where clay is shaped by pinching with fingers.

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Score and Slip

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A technique used to join two pieces of clay together. Scoring means scratching the surfaces where the pieces meet, and slip is a watery clay mixture used as glue.

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Blending

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Smoothing out the clay to erase lines or connections between pieces, making it look like one solid surface.