Stages of Clay Get out your sketchbook and

Stages of Clay

Get out your sketchbook and TAKE NOTES!!! This is the type of information that you will find on a quiz/exam in the future.

What is Clay? - Mud; moist, sticky dirt. In ceramics, clay is the basic material, usually referring to any of a certain variety of mixtures of ingredients - fine-grained, firm earthy material that is plastic when wet, brittle when dry, and very hard when heated - Clay is made up of the finest particles of rock eroded by wind and rain which are carried off by running water. These particles gather at the bottom of rivers or streams where they stick together and are compacted.

1. Slip • Watered down clay in a muddy consistency. • Used to attach pieces of clay together • Used to adorn works with decorative elements (slip trail)

2. Plastic • The workable stage of clay; can be recycled; can be joined to other pieces • Still very soft and malleable at this stage

3. Leather-hard • Fairly stiff and able to hold its shape; join to other pieces of clay; ideal carving stage; can be recycled

4. Greenware (bone-dry) • Bone-dry; extremely fragile; can still be carved into; can be recycled

5. Bisqueware • Clay that has been fired in the kiln; can not be recycled; ready to be glazed; color changes in some clay bodies

6. Glazeware • The second time the ceramic piece has gone into the kiln; glaze has been applied; can not be recycled