Throwing or Hand Building

• First things first, you need to make sure you have the right clay to make usable ceramics. To ensure the ceramics are food safe, they need to be made with clay that can be fired at extremely high temperatures. Once you've a picked a clay that suits your style, you begin to prep it by wedging the clay. This pushes out any air bubbles in the clay to ensure it easier to use and won't explode in the firing process.Then you can use a Potters Wheel to "Throw" the foundation of your piece or you can use your hands and other shaping tools to create your piece. A decent amount of the time I find myself hand building onto a piece I have "thrown", so both go hand in hand. Once I feel satisfied with my piece, I cover my piece and place it in a semi damp area to allow it to dry at a slow pace for 1-2 days.

Trimming & Additional Hand Building

• Once the piece is dry enough to fix, it is time for the trimming process. This process allows the potter to shape the outside of their piece and remove excess clay. From creating a foot at the base to allowing your edges to become rounded, this stage allows you to trim, add, and smooth or even carve throughout your piece before it goes through its first firing. If you are making a Mug with a handle, after trimming your piece, you will hand build a handle and manually attach it. At this point, you will set your piece to dry in a semi damp space for a second time. This can take up to 1-2 days

First Firing - BISQUE

• Before you fire your piece, it should be "bone dry" and show no signs of moisture. Firing something with moisture can cause it to crack and/or explode. At Nici Pottery, we use a electric Kiln to fire pieces at temperatures 2100F - 2300F. This process transforms the piece from Raw Clay or "Greenware" to "Bisqueware". You will no longer be able to make changes to the orientation of the piece as it will become more solid, however, it is still very fragile at this stage. Bisque firing takes 12 hours to fire and a additional 12 hours to cool down (1 day)

Glazing

• Once your Bisqueware is cooled down, first things first, you will want to Sandown and small bumps and imperfections your piece may have. this helps smooth out the bisqueware and allows glaze to sit nicely on your piece. Once the pieces has been sanded down, the potter has the option to quickly rinse the piece off or dust it off from any ecsess dust. Once the piece is cleaned down, many potters will place something called "was resists" on the bottoms of their pieces. Was resist will make sure that no glaze ends up on the places it has been spread. This is commonly done so that glaze doesn't not ruin the inside of kilns as it melts and sets on the piece during its second firing.

Once the was resist has dried, glaze may be applied freely. Most potters will use multiple coats of glaze on a piece to bring out the beauty in the colors. Glaze isn't normal pain that can be mixed to achieve the color you want. Glaze turns into a glassy coat during the second firing and most of the time, the color of the raw glaze is nothing like the actual color it will be once its done firing.

Second Firing - Setting the Glaze

• Once you have applied your glaze, cleaned your  " bottoms" (to make sure no glaze melts onto the kilns shelf), you are ready for a second firing. At Nici Pottery, we use a electric Kiln to fire pieces at temperatures 2100F - 2300F. This process transforms your glazed bisque ware into its final stage! Glaze firing can take up to 8-10 hours to fire and a additional 12 hours to cool down (1 day)

After a quick wash, your piece is ready to be used!