etched: clay design is drawn by scraping
into the bone dry clay thereby creating furrows in the surface. Underglazes are then painted upon the surface then the
excess is wiped off.
clay body: the minerals that make up
the composition of the clay, some types of clay are; chinese porcelain, stoneware, terra cotta, and ball clay
slip molded: clay body is liquified by adding water and mixing so that
it can be easily poured into molds to dry.
wedging: the process of kneading the clay in order to properly mix it
but more importantly to remove all air pockets.
slab rolled: solid clay body is flattened and rolled to a uniform thickness
then cut into tile shapes.
greenware: pottery or tiles that have not been fired.
leather hard: the drying stage (usually 12-24 hours for tiles) at which
point you may still carve easily into the surface (sgraffiato), at this stage the clay somewhat resembles fine chocolate.
bone dry: the driest stage that can be reached before the first firing.
You can still carve into the tile, but will create much dust.
underglazes: are not true glazes but compounds that produce flat colors
that do not run. They are usually fired once to fix to the green or bisque ware, then fired again with a protective
clear glaze.
glazes: vitreous (glass like) compounds that when painted on bisque ware
ceramics and fired create a variety of surface textures, and colors.
inlaid/encaustic: the process in the greenware pre-leather hard stage
when designs are scratched into the tile, a different colored slip is then poured onto the entire surface and dried somewhat,
then the whole surface is scraped down to reveal a pattern of two clay colors. These tiles were prevalent
in medieval England.
slip trailing: the process in which a tile is decorated with a contrasting
color slip in a small bottle that enables one to create lines.
sgraffiato: creating designs in underglazes or overglazes by scratching them
off thereby revealing the clay underneath.
kiln: pronounced "kill", the specifically designed oven used to fire
to brittle hardness ceramic pottery and tiles.
bisque fire: the first firing of the ceramic tile which removes all water
from the clay body.
glaze fire: usually the second and last firing to fuse the overglaze permanently
to the tile.
