Ceramics: Pottery and Clay

Pottery can not only tell us about the past, but it can also tell us about people’s beliefs and what people did in the past. Pottery was used for many purposes. It was made in many different shapes and sizes. Some pieces of pottery had unique pictures and designs on them. The pictures and designs expressed different types of things that went on in the daily lives of ancient Greeks. Music and entertainment, religious beliefs, death and burial traditions are a few aspects of Greek life that are pictured on many different types of ancient Greek pottery.

All artists are influenced by the culture they are from. Our experiences and the environment in which we were raised shapes us, and thus the works we produce as artists. This essay will discuss, compare and contrast two artists from different cultures, and their ceramic artworks, with a focus on how their cultural background has influenced their art. The artists that will be discussed are Janet Fieldhouse, who is influenced by her Torres Strait Islander heritage and Aboriginal artist Dr. Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher.

My role as a teacher is to create stimulating classes giving the learners the opportunity to develop and achieve skills associated with ceramics practices. I start by firstly understanding the assesment criteria set out by the AS board,

Bazaar Ceramics They have tried advertising in top ceramics magazines with some initial success at a significant cost. This has now been deemed a very expensive way to advertise and the proposal to create a website to serve in its place, has risen directly from this.

However, the golden age of Japanese ceramics did not really begin until the sixteenth century when the tea master Sen no Rikyū popularized the tea ceremony. In his refinement of this art form, Rikyū found beauty in the earthly and natural forms of pottery and thus commissioned the production of “raku ware,” which today, is considered the pinnacle of Japanese pottery. Notable for its ruggedness and imperfections, raku ware made Rikyū into a central figure in the establishment of the wabi-sabi aesthetic. In the beginning, the textures and colors of wabi-sabi vessels were left to develop naturally. However, over time, several wabi-sabi artists began experimenting and even developed techniques to intentionally create these alterations. Obviously, the exact shape and form of an imperfection cannot be controlled but the intention can be realized in an oxymoronic “controlled natural look.”

After weeks of working I made a total of three pottery pieces, the one that I spent most time on is a clay pot that was made to look like an ancient greece piece of art. They used as grave markers and many other useful things. Back in ancient Greek pottery was divided into four different areas. These areas are for storage and transport vessels, mixing vessels, jugs and cups, vases for oils, perfumes and cosmetics. Many believed that Greek pottery, unlike today's pottery, was only fired once, but that firing had three stages. When firing their art pieces the kiln was heated to around 920-950 °C. They technically decorated their pieces to tell a old story or to represent something, normally people in a darker shaded color. I chose this culture

Pottery is very beneficial and advantageous to archaeologists as it is a very common and widespread product that leads us to have a greater understanding about the everyday life of the area inhabitants. “Pottery is one of the most common artefacts in ancient sites. Once broken, unlike glass and metal, it cannot be recycled. This makes it very useful to archaeologists,” said Pont. Pont made the conclusion that the red slip pottery was used by the Pompeian’s as tableware with the main purpose of serving food and drink given its characteristically glossy surface. By dipping ceramics in liquid clay and later firing it in an oxygenating kiln is how this gloss is created (Kalnins, 2004) (see figure

The goal of this report was to bring awareness to the problems that Perfect Pottery has fallen victim to from the recent, drastic change of moving to the United States. This article is aimed at bringing ideas to the table that would solve many of the situations and difficulties that came with that recent transition.

Porcelain has a reputation, and gets treated as one of the most fragile and expensive materials money could buy. Anything that is made of porcelain is a real piece of art especially to whoever owns it. While reading an excerpt from the Seattle art museum online I found that the exact time and place of the creation of the first Chinese porcelain has not been firmly established. It is reported as early as 600 AD is when the creation of high fired ceramic wares was producing white ceramic material that was known as porcelain. Porcelain can take the credit for what was considered cross-cultural encounters for many centuries. They used porcelain as a vehicle for designs and ornamental motifs between Asia and Europe. Those little works of art have also influenced traditions in other countries that have been witness to the amazing artistic features of porcelain design. Having a very nice set of china myself, I now understand the reasoning behind protecting such valuable property. I would like to be able to see firsthand some of the masterpieces that may be roaming throughout the great country of China.

Here is a place where Joint Task Force Guantanamo Troopers can relax, unwind and explore their creative side as an outlet for the stress and anxiety from a long week at work. On this Friday night, (need actual date.. can’t say day of week) a small class of five students gathered to learn ceramic molding, many of them starting projects intended for use as one of a kind Christmas gifts or personal souvenirs.

The appearance of Beaker Bell pottery in Europe is one ceramic innovation which is still not fully understood today (Waddell 2010, 121) as their distribution is irregular stretching from Hungary to Ireland. Several Beaker Bell pottery types have been identified in Britain and Ireland; those of different sizes, ware type (ibid). Many of the pottery that has survived in Ireland are those which have been used for burial, although also used for drinking, storage and cooking (Gibson 2002, In: Waddell 2010, 121). Residue analysis showed the pottery was used for holding alcohol and drugs, but as the pots themselves would not hold liquids for long it was like a prehistoric drinking challenge (Guerra-Doce 2006, 248). Pottery sherds have been uncovered from a number of settlements in Ireland; Dublin, Limerick, Meath and Tyrone to name a few locations. It was only when wedge tombs were excavated in the 1930s that there was actual proof of Beaker Bell existence in Ireland and from that it was assumed the people were an important component of the Irish population at that time (Waddell 2010, 129) and they were also recognised as the people that introduced the understanding of metal working to Ireland. The “Beaker Folk” are all connected by their similar techniques and artefacts but their geographical location seems to be an influence in their day to day practices, for example the stark difference in Irish and British Beaker Bell funerary rituals (Waddell 2010, 130). It seems the one

Then it is on to glazing. To produce a particular look on a fired piece of clay, artists examine chemical properties of different glazes. To glaze a piece is to cover it with a thin layer of glass. It consists mainly of silicon dioxide, aluminum dioxide, and fluxes. The silicon dioxide is the main body of the glaze. The aluminum dioxide enhances the viscosity of the glaze. The fluxes, made of different oxides of alkali or alkaline earth metals, lower the melting point of the mixture. Since the main compounds in glazes are colorless, artists must look elsewhere to color the glazes (Says). Most glazes get their colors through oxides of the transition metals. The most common are iron oxide, copper oxide, and cobalt oxide (Breuer). Artists can also mix the metal oxides to get an entire spectrum of colors unique to their artwork. Just by changing the amount of one oxide in a glaze, artists can get an entirely different

The durability of clay has brought forth an immense abundance of Greek pottery, a craft mastered by Athenian artists. Archeologists have found hundreds of varieties in creation, shape, function, style, and artwork in Archaic vases. The museum has been blessed with one of these priceless artifacts; it is the duty of this establishment to accumulate as much data as possible surrounding the vase. In first identifying technique, dimensions, and condition, as well as describing shape, ornament, and figural scenery, one may then begin to analyze the vase. This serves the general purpose of understanding where the artifact stands in Greek culture and history. Through the examination and research of figural scenes, it is then possible to compare

As a self-taught potter, I have been working with clay for nearly 2 years. I make primarily functional wares fired to cone 10(2345°f) using porcelain or stoneware clay. I obtained a degree in political science from Winona State University in 2015. I am highly influenced by my experiences as a production potter, other midwestern ceramic artists, and my rural/military upbringing.

Personalization can be engraved into the pottery during the drying phase at the right stage during the production process. “Process layouts, also known as a functional layouts, group similar activities together in departments or work centers according to the process or function they perform” (Russell & Taylor, 2014). In the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach a principle number one, according to Russell & Taylor, is that “quality can and must be managed” (2014). With a primary and vested interest by the owner of Angel Pottery to ensure business success, quality of the product will be attended to at every stage in the process of the mug