my attempt to simply explain how mud turns to pottery

clay is microscopic pieces of rock and water bonded together to form a smooth and pliable mud. When clay is heated (1800 - 2300 F) the water evaporates and the microscopic pieces of rock fuse together becoming a singular stone. When heated further the same stone will melt into glass.

Over time potters have learned to make pieces of pottery out of clay that turns to stone at the same temperature that the glaze is melting into glass. The conversion of clay to stone and glaze to glass creates shrinkage and matching the shrinkage of clay and glaze is creating a good fit. A bad fit can cause cracking in the glaze or even cause parts of the glaze to break off the pot.

in this section i will be explaining the clays and glazes that I use in my work.