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Beginning of Glazing in Ceramic

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.

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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

Things to Collect before You Start Making a Ceramic

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.

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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

Choosing Ceramic Pottery as a Hobby

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.

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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

History of the Man-Made Ceramic

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.

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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

How to Give a Finishing Touch to Your Ceramic

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.

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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