From Clay to Glazes

Glazing is a process that is used to seal pottery so that it is non-porous. As well as adding to the products durability, glazes add texture, color, and finish. There are gloss glazes which create a very smooth high gloss finish, and non-toxic gloss glazes are a perfect finish for ceramic plates and bowls.
Non-toxic glazes are found in many forms, and have many different properties and different uses. There are chalk crayons, finely sharpened glaze pencils for detailed drawing, and velvet textured glazes that provide a velour or matte type finish and can be used for sponging application or dipping. Today there is a wide range of many different lead-free glazes.
Without glazes ceramic ware would be dull and lacking personality.
That these glazes are available in a non-toxic form allows them to be used on any type of ceramic ware, from small molded animals and objects created by children, to exquisite dinner ware and bowls.

To add a great finishing look to dinnerware, or any other ceramic ware, you can use a hand extruder that forms clay pieces, either hollow or solid, and can form braids, handles, moldings, or coils.  While these can also be formed by hand, those produced by a hand extruder are less likely to crack.

There are so many different materials and equipment available today for ceramic artists. From the great variety of non-toxic glazes and handy tools such as a clay extruder, finishing your project is limited only by the ceramic artists creativity.