Glossary
Glass || Ceramic || Fiber || Metal || Wood
Kuglar colors:
Hot-formed -
When glass is heated to the point at which it becomes flexible, it can be shaped by metal tools into new forms.
Luster -
A metallic surface sheen or irridescence produced by metallic oxides or chemical coloring agents.
Nerikomi:
A Japanese ceramic technique in which a block of clay is built up by adding horizontal layers of different or alternating color clays. The multilayered block is then sliced vertically with a blade to produce thin sheets from which pots are handmade. The surfaces of these vessels are left untreated and appear striped.
Porcelain:
A ceramic material made from kaolin (white china clay). Fired at a high temperature, porcelain becomes vitrified, remaining hard, white and glasslike.
Stoneware:
High-fired pottery with a glassy, non-porous surface.
Earthenware:
Low-fired pottery that is sometimes porous.
Whiteware:
Pottery made from whitened clay.
Burnish:
To polish.
Glazing:
When the vessel is fixed with a glossy, waterproof coating.
Slip:
Liquid clay.
Slip-cast:
Liquid clay that is poured into a mold and hardened to create a specific shape.
Firing:
The application of heat to harden or glaze pottery.
Slurry:
Hand-made cement.
Terra sgillata:
A type of slip made from very fine clay particles and used to cover the surfaces of ceramic vessels.
Underglaze:
Decoration that is applied before the surface of a ceramic object is finally glazed.
Engobe:
A type of colored slip.
Plaiting:
The technique of braiding with two or more strands.
Rattan:
A vinelike plant from Southeast Asia from which chair caning and wicker furniture or baskets are made.
Applique:
Decoration that is applied or overlaid and attached to a fabric surface.
Enameling:
Melting
Cloisonne:
An enameling technique in which colored glass in powdered form is placed on a metal surface inside metal barriers (cloisons). When heated to a high temperature, the powdered glass melts, but does not mix with the colors beyound the barrier. The process of enameling fuses the glass to the metal surface.
Patina:
Surface color or textural effects achieved either naturally by aging, or mechanically by heat or chemical treatment. After long exposure to the air, copper has a greenish patina.
Forged:
The technique of hammering cold or heated metal into a desired shape. Blacksmiths commonly use the forging technique.
Cast:
A technique in which molten metal is poured into a mold and allowed to harden into a predetermined shape.
Peridot:
A yellowish-green mineral used by jewelers as a gemstone.
Burl:
A hard, abnormal, rounded growth on a tree trunk or branch. Composed of massed buds, burls have irregular patterns of graining and color. They are used for veneering surfaces, or in turned wood bowls.
Laminated:
The technique of sandwiching two or more layers of wood by glue, or other adhesives.
Lathe-turned:
A rounded shape created by pressing a sharp cutting tool (steel gouge) against a block of wood spinning at a high speed on a machine lathe.
Spalting:
A natural, organic process which occurs when a fungus slowly penetrates the cell structure of a fallen tree, discoloring the grain. When the wood is turned on a lathe, irregular inky lines are revealed running through the grain.
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