By: Mitch Johnson
Ceramics decorations are always welcome in our home. The combination of
their shapes and colors makes make them even more unique and elegant.
Find out how the ceramics were created in the beginning of time.
At first all pottery was hardened by drying in the sun, but the
increasing use of fire soon brought out the fact that a fire-baked clay
vessel becomes as hard as stone. Man had no time for luxury then: every
thing was made strictly for utilitarian purposes. Thousands of years
were to pass before he found that different districts produce different
colors of clay, which led to the use of decoration.
These ancient discoveries have been the base upon which the ceramics of the last 4000 years have been built.
Pottery-making, however, did not become a complete art until the
technique of glazing was mastered. Simple clay is porous after being
fired it will hold water for some time, but the liquid will leak slowly
through the air spaces between the clay particles. Glazing not only
made ceramics more durable and eye-worthy, but also watertight.
Glazes are superficial layers of molten material which have been fired
on the clay substance. They are as varied as the many kinds of pottery,
and it must never be forgotten that each type of ceramic body is at its
best with its appropriate glaze.
The early Egyptians, Syrians and Persians are generally credited with
developing the first practical glazing material a very uncertain
alkaline. Pioneer pottery-makers found that glazes often changed the
natural clay colors. They gradually learned to use iron, manganese and
cobalt to tint their wares with breath-taking results. Some of the
earliest glazes were colored glass containing copper or iron which
produced elegant green, turquoise and yellow vases of ancient Egyptian
and Assyrian origin. Marvelous work was wrought with these few
materials, but the era of truly fine pottery dawned with the Persian,
Egyptian and Syrian work that immediately preceded the Crusades.
By this time, the art of glazing pottery with a clear soda-lime had
been thoroughly learned by Middle East artisans. This permitted a new
and revolutionary coloring technique known as under-glazing that is,
the painting of pottery decorations before the glaze is fired. After
being removed from the kiln, the designs could be seen in radiant hues,
glowing through the transparent glaze.
Vases, tiles, oil lamps and ceremonial plates, shaped in good plastic
clay, were covered with a white silicous coating, fit to receive glazes
of this kind, giving the best possible ground for the painted colors
then known.
While Middle East ceramists were producing their beautiful
masterpieces, other cultures throughout the world were also
experimenting, creating new and wondrous works of art from clay and
fire. Just as the potter’s wheel was discovered independently by many
races, so was the use of molds and liquefied clay, known today as slip.
From a traditional making of the ceramics until the ceramics were made
with glazing. There is the art of making the ceramic which is still
surviving.
About the Author:
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for www.curtains-n-drapes.com/ , www.ceramicsmadeeasy.info/ , www.goodbudgetholiday.info/
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
By: Mitch Johnson
Before you start making ceramic, it is important to collect all the
tool and material needed for your work. Take a tip from this article on
what are the things to be collected and how to get prepared.
There is a vast variety of tools and a equipment now available to the
ceramics hobbyist. Suppliers catalogues are jam-packed with
paraphernalia for the amateur workshop. After paging through one of
these catalogues, the beginner is apt to be over impressed with the
necessity for fancy tools and equipment. Fact is, however, that very
few implements are can’t-do-without for the beginning ceramist.
A working surface covered with a piece of oilcloth, wrong side up; one
or two simple modeling tools, a knife, and about five pounds of clay
are all you need to start shaping your first object. The cost of these
is negligible. Most clay, for example, can be bought from retail
dealers at about 15 cents a pound.
Build your collection of tools slowly, adding items as you need them.
It is likely that you will do your first clay-craft in a local studio
or classroom, under the guidance of a professional teacher. It is not
probable that you’ll begin sculpting or casting your own pieces in a
mold. Instead, you will be supplied with green ware, a fettling knife,
brushes, colors and glazes. You will remove the mold marks from the
greensward, smooth the surface, add some decoration and glaze. Then the
professional ceramist will fire it for you in his kiln.
After you have learned to do this, which should not take more than one
or two lessons, you may want to take the green ware home and finish it
there. In all likelihood, you will buy the few necessary tools from
your teacher. This will be the start of your own home workshop.
Of course many new ceramists begin by immediately furnishing a complete
studio, from clay to kiln. In most cases this is not advisable for two
reasons. First, there are financial considerations which would
frustrate this grandiose plan of action for most people. Second, it is
more prudent to wait and see what type of equipment is best suited to
your personal needs and desires. The clay worker who wants to
specialize in hand-sculpture will not require the very same tools and
materials as the one whose skills and fancy lean toward pottery.
When you select a site for your workshop, make certain it is not
exposed directly to extremes of heat or dampness. Good lighting is also
important, contributing both to the ceramist’s comfort and to the
quality of his work. Running water, or easy access to water, is also
desirable. Until you start to accumulate a sizable collection of tools
and equipment, and want to set up your own workshop, your kitchen
should serve the purpose.
Many tools you will be able to make easily for yourself; others you
will find already at hand about the house. No matter how far you
advance in the ceramics art, you’ll find the most useful tools are your
fingers. Every other modeling device is employed simply to supplement
the work that can be done with your hands. When shaping a piece of
clay, tools will only assist your fingers. They will not accomplish
anything that can’t be done with your fingers.
About the Author:
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for www.curtains-n-drapes.com/ , www.urceramicsguide.info/ , www.ezceramicsguide.info/
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
By: Mitch Johnson
Every human being is unique so as the hobby. Pottery is one of the most
unique and special hobby which very less people have. For a people
having a good sense of creativity, pottery can be considered to be the
best in developing their creative ability. Go through this article and
learn more about this fascinating creative art.
In the cold, concise language of Webster’s Dictionary, clay is "an
earthy substance used in making pottery, bricks, etc". To the ceramist
this definition seems much too objective and academic like saying the
Hope Diamond is nothing more than a chunk of carbon which has undergone
immense subterranean pressure and heat. Surely this flawless gem is
worthy of a more full-flavored description.
So it is with clay. It can be shaped, colored and fired into myriad
marvels of esthetic and utilitarian beauty. It has "life" and is
capable of playing strange tricks under the influence of fire. Colors,
too, are often capricious. Even under the strictest control they may
affect results which are, to say the least, unexpected.
Every time you open the kiln, it is like Christmas. For you can never
be certain about exactly what you will get. These surprise endings only
add an extra dash of spice to an already absorbing hobby.
When you have started to work with ceramics, you will find that the
more you know, the more there is to learn about this fascinating
creative art. As with any worthwhile accomplishment, you will not
become an expert potter merely by reading a book. You will have to
taste your share of joys and disappointments during your
trial-and-error apprenticeship. But don’t be too easily discouraged if
at first your trials turn out to be mostly errors.
Most educators agree that lessons learned by trial and error are
lessons best remembered. With ceramics, moreover, all mistakes are not
for the worst. On the contrary, many of a potter’s errors result in his
most attractive and original works. Usually these are the pieces which
can never be duplicated.
Very popular in the ceramist’s lexicon of phrases are the words "let us
see what happens". The thrill of experimentation is not lacking in this
hobby. For example, you could glaze a tray and toss on a few pieces of
copper, just to "see what happens". After firing it, you may find the
copper completely burned away, leaving a scrumptious splotch of green
from the copper oxide. On the other hand, the copper might scale over
the glaze and ruin the tray. You won’t know until you remove it from
the kiln and the suspense, as any ceramics enthusiast knows, can be
unbearable.
Since the end of World War II, ceramics has mushroomed in popularity
until today it is one of the nation’s favorite pastimes. Its
enthusiastic adherents are outnumbered, according to latest estimates,
only by those of bowling, fishing and stamp collecting. As for creative
hobbies, there are more ceramists in the country than any other breed
of amateur artist.
Actually, it is difficult to put your finger on the reason for this
sudden spurt in popularity. Perhaps it can be attributed to the war
itself. Existing conditions then made it impossible to import pottery
from abroad. Stores were eager to sell locally made merchandise.
Critical shortages existed in metals and other materials that normally
go into gift ware. But there has always been an abundance of raw
material for the manufacture of pottery: clay. And the metallic oxides
and carbonates that are used for pottery colors were likewise available
throughout the war years.
No one can become an expert potter by just reading books, he has to
gone through a long way of trail and error. Those who keep in going
without feeling discourage can only be called an expert potter.
About the Author:
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for www.curtains-n-drapes.com/ , www.myceramicshub.info/ , www.myceramicsresource.info/
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
By: Mitch Johnson
Ceramics has existed for a long period of time. In this article we will learn about the history of ceramic.
Archeologists have uncovered the pottery remains of societies which
antedate recorded history by hundreds of centuries. Some of these
primitive jugs and bowls were made when man still did his hunting with
stone axes. The ravages of time have not marred their utilitarian
beauty, for when a ceramic article is fired properly it is converted
into one of the most indestructible of ordinary things. When it is
shaped with imagination and skill, it can become a work of exquisite
beauty.
Today it is possible for anyone, in his spare time, to produce
eye-pleasing ceramic objects for the home from simple ash trays to
complete sets of dinnerware. With the advantages of modern technology,
the do-it-yourself hobbyist can make ceramic pieces which until
recently could only be turned out by the full-time professional. Best
of all, perhaps, is that ceramics as a hobby is satisfying and exciting
fun.
Despite the many innovations easy-to-apply colors and glazes, electric
kilns, prepared clays enjoyed by hobbyists today, the basic methods of
ceramic manufacture have not changed since the days of prehistoric man.
They have been improved, embellished upon, but not essentially changed.
Of course, there is no precise history of how or when man added
pottery-making to his repertoire of skills. For millions of years he
used what he found lying about him, such things as seashells and
gourds, to transport his precious water supply. Thus, it is not
surprising that the earliest examples of earthenware are modeled after
these naturally formed vessels.
In all probability, man stumbled across this revolutionary discovery as
the result of some fortunate accident. Perhaps some cave children were
playing by a river bank, making mud pies as youngsters still do. Maybe
one inventive child shaped his mud pie after a gourd shell and left his
handiwork in the sun for a few days, where it was baked into the first
man-made ceramic bowl capable of holding water.
In virtually every known primitive culture the secret of making clay
pottery was known. It was learned either by word of mouth or discovered
independently. The tribes-people took such clay as they could find on
the surface of the ground, or by some river bed, and spread it out on
stone slabs. Then they picked out the rocky fragments and beat it with
the hands or sticks to fashion it into the shapes they needed or fancy
dictated. For ages, the tools and techniques were of the simplest: the
fingers for shaping or building up vessels and a piece of mat or
basketwork on which to work.
Then some original genius of the tribe found that by turning his
support he could bring every part under his hand in succession. The
potter’s wheel was born.
It was so amazing to know, how the ceramic was made in the beginning of
time. But whatever the process are, it has created a beautiful pieces
to decorate our living room.
About the Author:
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for www.curtains-n-drapes.com/ , www.ceramicsforu.info/ , www.goodbudgetholiday.info/
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
By: Mitch Johnson
Once you finish modeling the clay in your desired shape, the last and
important job is to give a finishing touch. This will give your model
it actual looks. So it is very important to know how and what tools are
to be used. This article will guide you in solving your problems and
giving your model perfect shape.
For decorating purposes, you will need several soft-hair brushes with
which to apply colors and glazes. These can also be used for applying
liquid clay (or slip), for mending and general modeling or shaping
purposes. The brushes can be of average quality, such as imitation
camel’s-hair watercolor brushes. Both pointed and flat-tipped brushes
should be in supply. Numbers 3, 5, 8 and 10 will serve almost all
requirements.
Wooden modeling tools also simplify the shaping and decorating of a
clay object. It is easier to push the clay into rough form with a
mallet or a block of wood than with the fist or the heel of the hand.
After the roughing-out has been completed and the large masses are
shaped, more detailed modeling begins. This calls for a few wooden
modeling sticks about 6 to 8 inches long, with thin, flat blades. The
blade ends are used for cutting, smoothing and shaping surfaces and for
welding fine lines. The round ends are used for welding coils together
and for all-around modeling and shaping.
A scratch-point is helpful in etching designs in a clay body. Almost
anything with a sharp point can be used effectively an orange stick or
any piece of doweling which has been sharpened to a point. You can, if
you wish, buy metal scratch-points in most stationery stores. These
will fit into any penholder. If you want to do graffiti work
decorations formed by cutting or scratching through an outer coating of
slip to show the clay underneath a scratch-point is a handy implement.
As you progress and want to try new decorating methods, you’ll probably
attempt slip-trailing, a method by which you achieve designs in relief.
Slip-trailing is much like decorating a cake with the words "happy
birthday". A hand irrigating syringe with a hard-rubber nozzle and a
bulb can be used for this technique. Cost is less than a dollar in the
local drugstore.
Wire-loop tools always find their way into the ceramist’s workshop
because of the varied uses to which they can be put. Again, they are
valuable tools for carving sgraffito designs. Also they are used for
smoothing the surface of pottery and sculpture, especially for cutting
down high places and for hollowing out hand-shaped figurines before
firing. Select three or more loop tools of sizes varying from 8 to 10
inches long, and with different shaped loops.
When working with molded green ware, you will need a fettling knife and
or an elephant sponge to sand off the mold marks and to smooth surfaces
and edges Cellulose sponges or fine sandpaper car also be utilized.
Now you can save a huge amount of money by creating you own made
decorative items, shaping and designing by you as per your taste.
About the Author:
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for www.curtains-n-drapes.com/ , www.ezceramicsguide.info/ , www.myceramicstips.info/
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com