Ceramic Terms

3. clay that is mixed with water. It is used as a ‘glue’ to join separate pieces of clay together
4. a special kind of oven for firing things like pottery and bricks
5. refers to a glaze that does not contain any toxic substances once it has been fired
8. clay pieces that have been fired, but not glazed
9. the quality of being easily shaped or molded
12. a colored slip that is used to decorate clay pieces and it will not run or drip
13. rolling the clay out into long, snake-like ropes of clay
14. finished leather-hard or bone-dry clay pieces not yet fired
16. refers to a family of partly transparent but colored glazes
17. refers to the way that a glaze will run and drip as it melts during the firing process
19. stage when clay holds enough moisture to still be dark in color, but is no longer plastic
20. roughing up the surface of your clay before attaching two pieces together
21. an unfired piece must reach this stage of dryness before it can be bisque fired
22. a fine-grained natural soil material that is plastic when wet, but becomes hard, brittle and firing

1. an initial firing of raw clay to burn out physical water
2. a thin coating of glass fired onto ceramic objects for visual or functional purposes
6. color which does not allow other colors to show through
7. technique in which the clay is pinched & manipulated with the fingers into the desired shape
10. a portion of clay that has been flattened into a sheet with a rolling pin
11. applying a layer of underglaze, and then scratching off parts to reveal the clay color underneath
15. the process of repeatedly throwing down the clay onto a flat surface to remove air bubbles
18. a glaze that looks pink when you paint it on, but will be completely transparent after it is fired