The wonderful world of Ceramics
Imagine waking up in the morning, making a cup of coffee, going to pour it, AND THERE IS NO MUG! Ceramics are all around you, in the littlest things. Some familiar things include, your grandma's teeth, your teddy bears eyeballs, and even what you eat your dinner on.
Now close your eyes and imagine the world without those thingsĀ
.
Crazy, isn't it?
Ceramics is the art of making pottery. They are made of nonmetallic minerals or in short, clay, which have been hardened by firing them at very very high temperatures. Most ceramics even resist the flow of electric current!
Ceramics are made out of clay that is molded, left to dry, and then put in the kiln. A kiln is an oven used to fire or "bake" clay. After the firing process is finished they are called bisque ware and are ready to be decorated. If you choose to Glaze your piece, you fire it one last time.
When the piece is done, it will be shiny and smooth. Another option you may consider is Painting your piece. Painting it leaves just like if you painted a rock. The color will be nice but the texture will feel the same. Some people even leave their work just how it is when it comes out of the kiln. If you do this, It will be a little bit lighter then the color of clay you used and will feel sort of course and might need to be sanded.
The history of Ceramics is said to of started over 30000 years ago, in the Paleolithic age." The discovery that fire made soft crumbly clay shapes permanent is really the beginning of ceramics." (Victor Bryant http://www.ceramicstudies.com/) Ceramics in the prehistoric eras were used as cutting tools, and sharp weapons. Ceramics were even a necessity to the cavemen, they used big cave walls to draw in, they used them as weapons to defend their families, and they even used them to build their homes.
Ceramics are beautiful works of art. Everyone regardless of the age admires them.
But these beautiful...