Not everyone is a potter or knows ceramics jargon.
I know I didn't when I first started. As time in the studio went on I picked up a few terms that I think all people who are starting ceramics or interested in ceramics should know. Or....
You've adopted a new potter into your life and can't understand what their saying?!
These are a few terms I have compiled during my time in ceramics as a student and as a lab technician. These are the most thrown around (hah pottery pun) words I use in the studio on a daily basis.
1. Clay body is any blend of clays that are malleable and have certain firing properties needed to achieve a hardened state. Clay bodies are formulated to serve particular purposes and are hardened at different temperatures. Different glazes will look different on particular clay bodies.
For example the transparent glaze looks different on a red clay body than a white clay body. On white it is white/light gray and on red clay body it is darker gray. You can see the difference between the clay bodies both with transparent glaze over shown on the left of each triangle.
Think of it like paint gesso. Paints will pop on a white background more than a brown or black background. The same goes for the clay body and it's color.
2. Slip is a watered down version of clay. Slips can come in a variety of different colors and are great for decorating techniques. For example in my work I use slip decoration to color vessels and paint them. The yellow geck face is colored using yellow slip. As well as the green cup and black geck cup. You can essentially use it like paint or scratch it away in a method called sgraffito.The black gecko cup is the best example of this. It is black in places where slip was applied and where it is white is where I scratched the slip off.
3. Wedging clay is essentially kneading the clay in spiral to remove air bubbles and make the clay a uniform consistency.
4. Throwing isn't what you think the word means in pottery terms. Throwing refers to the act of forming objects like a bowl, cup, or plate using a clay body on a potter's wheel.
5. Once you have successfully thrown a piece the next step is to fire it. Firing is just what it sounds like. It is the act of heating a clay body in a kiln to set glazes and or harden raw clay. Clay that has not been fired is called greenware. Clay bodies that have underwent their first fire are called bisqueware. During this process the clay shrinks and changes color. Flip back and forth through the photos before firing and after. Notice that the color and size has changed.
6. A Kiln is essentially a giant oven for clay. It hardens the clay body and makes it stronger. There are a few different types of kilns but the most common being gas and electric pictured down below.
7. When firing in a kiln potters will often use pyrometric cones which measure the clay body temperature when firing. These cones look like tall pyramids, that are designed to bend over when designated temperatures are reached. They are usually stuck in a clay body to hold the cones up. When potters look for clay bodies and glazes they use cones to determine certain temperatures. For example cone 10 is another way to say high fire or ~2300 degrees F. Depicted below is the before and after of a firing, notice how the color fades and the cones are bent. The stripes are cobalt stain that do not dissapear with firing.
8. Glazes are the essentially what frosting is to a cake. It is the coating that is applied to bisqueware, that melt to the clay's surface by use of heat from a kiln. Glazes are made up of ground up minerals, clays, and water; that when fired fuse into glass coats. These glazes can be anywhere from transparent, opaque, glossy, semi-matte, matte, etc. They come in a variety of colors, textures, and opacities. Glazes can be made using a specific formula or bought commercially at any art or ceramic store. Each glaze like clay body, has a specific temperature range it works at best. Pictured below are the before and afters of bisqueware that has been glazed and fired.
It is best to know what temperature you or your studio is firing at, and always make sure that you let a tech or instructor know if you are firing your own glaze as they may have you do a sample test first.
And that is essentially Ceramics 101 for everyone.