The Clay Club is somewhat like the Art Club, but it's for students who have Ceramics with Mr.. Block.  This year, the mastermind decided that the bowls that are made from the students joined will be sold and the money raised will be used for a good cause.

-WHAT IS CERAMICS?-

When people hear the term ceramics, traditionally called pottery, immediately clay, kiln, and glaze come to mind. Is ceramics just that or is it more? According to Encyclopedia Britannica ceramics is the "art or process of making useful or ornamental articles from clay by shaping and then firing them at high temperatures." Most ceramists would probably emphasize the "art" portion of the meaning.  

In ceramics, the clay, hydrous aluminum silicate, can readily be molded to an infinite number of shapes. It can be sun-dried or "fired" in an extremely hot oven called a kiln.  Firing the piece gives a more durable surface and wear than allowing it to dry in the sun.  Glazing, coating the clay with a powdered, glassy substance which has been liquefied, offers even more protection. Additionally, the glaze can be used to create decorations.  All in all, ceramics is an art form that provides relaxation and the ability to be creative. It stimulates and challenges and gives satisfaction for a job well done.

    The history of ceramics, also know as pottery, can be traced back to 6,500 B. C. In 1960, an excavation near a late Stone Age settlement, Catalhuyuk on the Anatolian Plateau of Turkey, unearthed pottery that was estimated to be about 9,000 years old! 

    Cultures historically have created objects out of clay. These pottery objects used materials found locally and were crafted using each culture's traditional methods. China's culture was the most sophisticated and evolved; pottery has been made there since the later part of the Stone Age. Porcelain was first made around the 9th century in China This Chinese porcelain has come to be known as "china", and, is enjoyed all over the world.

Ceramic objects are among the oldest artifacts made by man. Since they can remain preserved for thousands of years and since they do not deteriorate like objects made of wood, cloth, or metal, pottery has been dated to the Neolithic Period in cultures in the Middle East as well as in ancient China. These Islamic cultures' sophistication in developing various forms of ceramics caused some significant achievements in technology. They rediscovered the use of tin glaze which was originally used by the Assyrians in the 800's B. C. Lustre painting was also developed by the Middle Eastern cultures. This technique simulates precious metals on the objects. The perfection of the art was shared by the Chinese culture with the Islamic cultures which in turn provided technical insights to the Chinese.

Classical Greece was the first western country to demonstrate expertise is creating and decorating pottery. This culture used two techniques to paint pottery--"black figure" and "red figure". In the 13th century, Italy continued the tradition of tin-glazed pottery which was brought there via Spain from the Middle East. The height of European development of ceramics occurred during the 1400's to the 1700's. France, England, the Netherlands, and Germany contributed to the development and continuance of the arts of pottery making and ceramics.

African, Hispanic, and Native American cultures, too, created pottery and developed techniques significant to their needs. Peoples of ancient Nigeria, the Ife and the Nok, and those of ancient Mali, the Djenne and the Mopti, represent the history of pottery making in Africa. They molded their creations from coarsely textured clay and fired them in bonfires at low temperatures. The hammer-and-anvil and ring techniques were used in the 16th and 17th centuries along with the same methods used in antiquity. Africans living in rural areas today use much the same techniques as their ancestors.

    In Mexico and other Central American countries, pottery objects were very diverse. The\ Mayans, Zapotecs, Toltecs, and the Aztecs made pottery wares from 2,000 B. C. These peoples primarily used a technique called batik which they possibly borrowed from South American cultures. The Andes were the center of the development of pottery in South America. These cultures began their creations at about the same time that the Central Americans started. The Mochica culture completed its best work in 600 A. D.

  In North America, at about 50 A. D., the Anasazi, ancestors of the Pueblo people, began creating pottery. Their creations were strictly functional, being used primarily for cooking and later for eating. In approximately 700 A.D., ceramics began to be created for decorations. In the 12th century, a more multicolored product was being produced to replace the black and white pottery of earlier times.