This document provides information about ceramics and pinch pots, including: Clay is made from earth, water, and fire, and has plasticity which allows it to be shaped. Ceramics are clay objects that retain their shape after heating, while pottery is functional ware like pots and bowls made from moist clay and hardened by heat. Common hand-building methods for pottery include pinch, coil, and slab techniques. Clay goes through stages like greenware, leatherhard, bone dry, bisqueware, and glazeware during and after firing. Basic tools include fettling knives and loop tools, while scoring, slip, and bond are joining techniques.

1. Ceramics
Creating Pinch Pots

2. Clay
 Made from earth, water
and fire.
 Clay is different from
mud, since it has
plasticity. This gives it
the ability to hold
together while its being
shaped.

3. Basic Terms
 Ceramics – Clay objects that permanently
retain their shape after they have been
heated to specific temperatures.
 Pottery – Functional Ware, such as
vases, pots, bowls or plates,
shaped from moist clay and hardened by
heat.

4. Basic Terms cont.
 Wedge – A way of improving the
workability of clay by reforming the
mixture to make it homogeneous and
even in texture while
eliminating air bubbles.

5. Basic Terms cont.
 Kiln – A structure built to fire clay at
high temperatures.

6.  Fire – Heating pottery or clay sculpture
to a temperature high enough to render
it hard and durable.
Basic Terms cont.

7. Construction
 Hand built Methods
 Pinch method: Technique that involves
squeezing the clay, usually between thumb
and fingers.

8. Construction
 Coil method: Attaching rolls of
clay together to form pottery.

9. Construction
 Slab method: Technique that involves
shaping clay into a broad, flat, thick piece.

10. Clay Stages
 Greenware – Unfired pottery
or sculpture.
 Leatherhard – The stage
between plastic and bone dry
when clay is dried, but may still
be carved or joined to other
pieces.
 Bone dry – Stage of drying
when moisture in the clay body
has evaporated so the clay
surface no longer feels cold.

11. Clay Stages cont.
 Bisqueware – Ceramic ware
that has gone through the first
firing at a relatively low
temperature and still
maintains its porous state.
 Glazeware – Ceramic ware
that has been fired at a high
temperature with glaze, which
forms a coating of glass onto
the surface.

12. Tools
 Fettling knife – A long tapered knife
used for cutting and trimming clay.
 Loop tool – A small loop with a handle
used to carve clay away.

13. Joining Techniques
 Score – Scratching the edges of clay
before joining them together.
 Slip – A fluid suspension of clay in
water used in joining clay pieces and for
surface decoration.
 Bond – A mix made from clay slip of
the same type of clay as the clay piece.

14. Lidded Vessels