Top Ceramic Companies in Singapore

What are ceramics? 

While ceramics is best known as a solid material, it takes on a slightly different meaning by definition. Ceramics is the creation of functional or beautiful forms by manipulating clay minerals into solid forms through the use of various heating processes. At its core, ceramics is a medium of art that relies heavily on the use of clay. 

But before anyone can dive straight into the creation process, you first have to understand the types of clay, its properties, and basic forming techniques. This isn’t a simple game of play-doh! 

The process of making ceramics

Making ceramics may look like a simple task—merely shaping different clays into various shapes. But what most people don’t know is that there’s actually a lot that goes behind the entire process. Here are the steps you’ll have to go through. 

Step 1: Clay preparation

Just like in any art medium, it’s important to prepare your materials. Find the right clay according to the plasticity and size you’re looking for. Most ceramic artists choose to source for clay bodies that are readily available in the market instead of looking for overseas suppliers as the shipping cost may be expensive, due to the weight of clay. 

Step 2: Wedging 

Before proceeding to form your clay, never skip the wedging process. This involves mixing and pressing the clay by hand on a table to remove any air bubbles and homogenise the clay thoroughly. If there are still air bubbles in your clay during the firing process, it may result in explosions in the kiln and potentially ruin your artwork. 

Step 3: Forming

Now that there are no signs of air bubbles in your clay, you can now move on to the fun part: forming. Depending on the end product you desire, different materials and minerals can be mixed together with your clay to achieve certain plasticity or look. Different methods of forming can also be used such as moulding, pinching, coiling, and the most common one: slab and wheel. 

Step 4: Drying 

During the forming process, the materials used can cause shrinkage and distortion of the final outcome. After forming, ensure that your final pieces are stored in a damp room and wrapped in soft sheets of plastic during the drying process. When your pieces dry, you may want to alter its appearance and make a few changes to the shape. The plastic wrap allows the clay to still be workable even after a few days of drying. 

Step 5: Glazing 

Once you are satisfied with the final result of your ceramics after the drying process, it’s time to glaze them. Glazing is important as it can enhance the overall aesthetic of a clay piece and increase its functionality as well. Typically, the glaze mixture will be applied onto the ceramic with a brush sponge, or spray before they are placed on glaze racks in preparation for firing. 

Step 6: Firing

Onto the final step: firing. Depending on their material, the ceramics will pass through a controlled heating process, which will allow the clay and glaze to “mature” and turn the raw clay into rock-hard ceramics. 

Appreciating the art of ceramics 

In recent years, there have been more people taking an interest in ceramics and pottery in general. For those looking to buy curated ceramic pieces for their home, they find that these handcrafted pieces add a certain depth to the interior of their homes and make for unique home decor pieces. 

On the other hand, there are also those who wish to take up pottery classes due to the therapeutic nature of this medium. Regardless of how you choose to engage with ceramics, let’s remember to always appreciate art behind this craft each time we come across it. 

Most common types of clay used in ceramics 

On the surface, ceramic pieces may look like they were made with the exact same materials. However, there are various different types of clay that ceramic artists use in their practice. The most common ones are stoneware, and earthenware, porcelain clays and fire clays.

Earthenware 

Out of all the different classes of clay, earthenware clays are some of the most common types being used by ceramic artists and are also some of the oldest clays used by potters in the olden days. Typically, this material is orange, red, or even gray in colour in both its raw, moist state and after firing. 

Earthenware is often used for sculpting and wheel throwing. While earthenware is used mostly decorative objects and pottery tableware, it can also be used to create an array of other objects such as flower pots and outdoor decorations due to its high plasticity. Furthermore, this highly porous clay contains mineral impurities such as iron, causing the clay to reach a completely solid-state between 950 to 11000 degrees celsius. 

Stoneware

Unlike earthenware clays that take on a more terracotta colour, stoneware clays are often gray when moist. When fired, its colours can range from light gray, medium, and even a light brown—all of which are still relatively darker colours. 

You’ll find that most items made of stoneware are often those found in the kitchen and are used in cooking, baking, serving dishes, as well as storing liquids. Compared to earthenware that is highly porous in nature, stoneware clays are quite the opposite and fire to their mature hardness between 1200 to 1300 degrees celsius. 

Porcelain clays 

Out of all the different classes of clay, porcelain probably has the most subtle and bright colours and is incredibly popular in the use for making dinnerware. However, unlike other clays, porcelain is the least plastic, which makes it quite hard to work with. In order to increase the material’s plasticity, it would have to be mixed with other minerals for better workability. 

Just as the name of the material suggests, porcelain clays are often used to make porcelain vases, tableware, and other decorative objects that we are all familiar with. 

Ball clays 

With limited mineral impurities, ball clays are considered to be one of the most plastic clays in the market. However, one major disadvantage is that they cannot be used on its own and would need to be combined with other clays to reduce the excessive shrinkage during the firing process. 

While stoneware, earthenware and porcelain clays are often used for decorative objects, ball clays are commonly used for toilet bowls, floor tiles as the material alone are rather fine and slippery for use.

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