This listing is to give you an idea of what I'm talking about ... or at least what I think I'm talking about ... when describing my ceramic wares. I am still a greenhorn, and a highly technical discussion is beyond the pale here. I recommend any number of excellent books you can find at your local library or bookstore.

Glaze: A pigmented chemical mixture, including silica and much else, that fuses to the clay in the firing process, producing a glassy surface. The surface may be more or less permeable, more or less glossy, and more or less what the artist had in mind when she started!

Greenware: When an item is completely formed and the clay has dried, but it has yet to be fired even once. The clay can be wetted again, but it's not recommended unless you want to start over from scratch.Very fragile. I sometimes carve work in the greenware stage, although leather-hard (see below) is usually preferred.

Incised: A more-or-less shallow cut. In my case, I often do this to expose a differently-colored under-layer.

Leather-hard: A stage in which a clay item is cool, still slightly damp, but in which it holds its shape pretty firmly. A lot of work can still be done to finish a piece, including re-shaping and wetting. Carving clay at this stage is easy, although I have found a few drawbacks (which is why I sometimes carve at the drier greenware stage).

Mold: usually, a plaster cast made around some original form, from which similar forms can then be created. Most molds do not last indefinitely; I understand I can expect to get around 100 tiles (more or less) from any given press-mold, for example.

Press-mold: a mold into which a ball of malleable clay is pressed. Typically used to make individual art-tiles or anything with a flat back.

Slip-mold: a mold into which liquid clay (slip) is poured, allowed to partially dry, then the excess slip is poured back out leaving an even clay wall in the requisite shape. Typically used for more "manufactured" items such as teapots, porcelain figurines, vases, and such.

Paint: Different from glaze. In my webpage, I'm using it to mean acrylic paint or other non-fired paint used to create particular effects. While not fused to the clay in the firing process (because these paints would simply burn away), the colors are as true and permanent as in any acrylic painting hanging on a wall.

Pique Assiette: From the French phrase loosely translated as "broken plate" (or more literally "pricked plate"). Also called "shard art" and I've even seen "piccassiette" which is pretty much how it is pronounced. This folk-artsy form of mosaic "recycles" broken crockery, glass, and other new and found items into something unique and beautiful.

Porcelain: a very high-fire clay that can withstand the highest temperatures in the kiln, and vitrifies to an exceptionally hard, dense, and durable surface. Paradoxically, the item might be quite fragile because porcelain can be formed very thin -- but chemically, the broken shards of something made of fine porcelain will last a long time.

Stoneware: A particular type of clay which vitrifies completely at moderately high firing temperatures. Stoneware is durable enough for practical objects like crockery, or tiles for walls or for countertops that get moderate use. When fully vitrified (high-fired), stoneware tiles can usually be used on floors that get moderate traffic, but not heavy or commerical-levels of use. To date, most of my work is stoneware.

I sometimes fire my stoneware clay at a temperature lower than the maximum the clay can withstand. This is usually to control the final color of the clay or glazes, and means the piece may be less durable than a high-fired item made from the same clay. But don't expect it to crumble in your hands -- it'll hold up to the kinds of uses I describe for each item. (Ask, if I don't cover your particular idea.)

Terracotta: The term can be confusing because it's used to describe a red-ochre color and also a particular kind of low-fire clay. (Logically enough, since terracotta clay is often a terracotta color.) Terracotta cannot fire hot enough to be exceptionally durable, and it is usually water-permeable even after firing. These qualities suit terracotta's common usage as "pottery" planters or "Mexican" garden pots, but can lead to those same pots breaking down after several years of sun, frost, and rain.

Throwing pots: Although a bad firing can encourage one to throw pots in preparation for a new mosaic(!), this phrase generally refers to the work done with wet clay on a potter's wheel.

Vitrification: When fired, clay "cures" to a greater or lesser "stoniness" and durability. The higher the temperature the clay reaches successfully, the more durable the item will be (generally).