Art Ceramics Quiz

Front 1

Clay

Back 1

Particles of decomposed rock combined with water to create a plastic malleable body which is then fired in a kiln to fuse the particles back into a stone like state.

Front 2

Slip

Back 2

A thick and creamy mixture of clay and water used to koin clay parts together or to decorate the surface. It is applied before firing, when the clay is still wet.

Front 3

Plastic

Back 3

Clay that is soft pliable and easy to work with.

Front 4

Bisque

Back 4

The first firing for the clay, removes all of the water (both chemical and actual) and carbon. The fusing of the particles has begun

Front 5

Leather-Hard

Back 5

Clay that has been allowed to dry slightly, making it stiffer and able to support its weight, but can still be worked on and have parts attatched.

Front 6

Glazeware

Back 6

The second firing of the clay with a coating of glaze upon its surface, it is fired to a higher temperature than bisque and therefore fuses the particles into a solid, non-porous state called virtification.

Front 7

Glaze

Back 7

A mixture of powdered ceramic materials
clay, glass, fluxes, and colorants in suspension with water. It is applied to bisqueware and then re-fired to a higher temp. usually. Glaze is used to decorate, protect and make the warefood-safe. Do not apply flaze to the bottom surface of the work or the any part that may rest upon or touch the kiln shelf.

Front 8

Underglaze

Back 8

A commercially prepared mixture of "ceramic paint" that can be applied to wut, dry or bisqued clay. The pre-fired color of the "paint" stays true through the firing but is not shiny so it needs to be sealed with a clear glaze if desired.

Front 9

Stamp

Back 9

Any device that can be pressed or rolled into clay to create an imprinted design. It can be made of clay, plaster, wood or found object.

Front 10

Sprigging

Back 10

The technique of adding an appendage or decorative element to the surface of the work using coils, stamps, molds, or free form design

Front 11

coil

Back 11

A building technique utilizing long ropes of clay stacked in layers upon one another to create a vessel or form.

Front 12

Pinch

Back 12

The process of starting with a ball of clay, inserting your thumb and pinching the clay between our thumb and fingers, gradually expanding and shaping the wall into a bowl like form.

Front 13

Slab

Back 13

Using thin sheets of clay to build a structure, the sheets can either be rolled or stretched out. They can be manipulated while plastic and formed around molds (soft slab)or when used leather hard and have the form constructed from shapes cut from the sheet (hard slab).

Front 14

Mold

Back 14

A form used for support and shaping of the clay, usually made of paper, clay or plaster. Soft slabes are draped on top of slumped inside and allowed to get leather hard and then built upon or cut and shaped further. Clay can be pressed into plaster molds with a design carved or cast into a negative space and then popped out and attatched.

Front 15

Kiln

Back 15

A furnace made of refractory (non-melting) materials constructed to fire clay. They are usually fueled by electricity, gas or wood but may also be fired using coal, oil, manure or even old tires.

Front 16

Cone

Back 16

A pyrometric cone is a triangular shaped piece of ceramic materials carefully formulated to melt at a specific temperature. They are placed in the kiln to monitor and determine kiln temperature.

Front 17

Raku

Back 17

A. A firing process in which glazed, red-hot pots are taken out of the kiln and placed in a combustile material, choking off the oxygen resulting in a smokey black, crackled, metallic or irridescent surface.
B. A low temperature body specifically developed to withstand the thermal shock of the severe firing process. It is usually under-fred at bisque to protect it from the expansion of heating and cooling rapidly.

Front 18

Earthenware/Terra Cotta

Back 18

A low-fire porous body usually red or orange-tan in color due to the impurities and presence of iron. It is the most widely abailable type worldwide. There is also a term of "white earthenware", which is not a true earthenware but a freak of nature created by man to fire at low temperatures.

Front 19

Stoneware

Back 19

A high temperature, strong, virteous body, usually gray-brown in color. It is the most popular clay for utiliatrian wares.

Front 20

Porcelain

Back 20

The highest temperature as well and the most tempermental clay body. It is the purest form of clay possible, it is white and has translucent properties.

Front 21

Wedging

Back 21

The kneading if plastic clay in a rocking, spiral motion in order to remove air bubbles and create a uniform consistency.

Front 22

Slake

Back 22

Adding water to dried out clay to soften it for use as slip or for recylcing.

Front 23

Grog

Back 23

Ground up bits of fired clay used to temper a clay body, reduce shrinking, and cracking or add texture or "tooth". It comed in grades from very fine to extra coarse.

Front 24

Slip and Score

Back 24

The method for joining pieces of clay where the two surfaces are scrated up and slip is added like a "glue" to create a strong, melded bond. It is an essential step in ceramic consrtuction becuase clay will stick to itself when wet, but when will far apart after bisque when all the water is removed. Texturing the surface gives the caly some grip, almost like velcro.

Front 25

EC Oxidation

Back 25

A kiln atmosphere which contains oxygen; electric kilns are always an oxidation firing.

Front 26

EC Reductuon

Back 26

A kiln atmosphere which is deprived of the oxygen needed to burn, causing oxygen to be taken from the glazes and clay resulting in a desired color effect. ie: copper reds. Gas, wood, and raku have reductive atmospheres.