What is the Nerikomi technique?

Nerikomi (練り込み , lit. “kneading”) is an artistic technique for creating Japanese pottery in multiple colors of clay The technique is also called neriage (練上げ), although this term also refers to the throwing of multiple colored clays on a wheel.

How do you dye clay for Nerikomi?

To add color, create a well in a preweighed lump of wet clay and spoon the weighed dry material into the well. Add just enough water to make a paste, then slowly mix it together until well blended and wedged.

What is Nerikomi pottery and what is its country of origin?

The Nerikomi pottery technique is an artistic form of pottery building, which originated in Japan. The name is derived from the age-old pottery building tradition of Japan using colored clay. Nerikomi pottery is a Japanese term that refers to the Japanese pottery agateware.

How do you use agateware?

How to Use Agateware in Molds. You can simply roll out the clay and press it into your mold, or you could make the pattern more intricate. Once you’ve rolled out the clay, cut it into equally sized horizontal strips (you can make them whatever width you’d like).

What clay is used for Nerikomi?

Neriage and nerikomi both use either naturally occurring colored clays or light-colored clays that are specifically stained to satisfy the artist’s color requirement.

What is Kurinuki pottery?

So what is it? Kuri Nuki is a traditional Japanese form of handbuilding. The word means ‘carving out’ and it involves shaping a solid block of clay, then carving out a vessel to create ‘interior space’. It is a more sculptural approach to making and the interior of the piece is just as important as the exterior.

What is Agateware pottery?

Agateware, in pottery, 18th-century ware of varicoloured clay, with an overall marbled effect. It was sometimes called solid agate to distinguish it from ware with surface marbling.

How do you make colorful clay?

To make colored clay, you need to add a stain or oxide to your clay. Stains and oxides come in powdered form. They can be added to the clay as a powder, or they can be made into a paste or slip. And then added to the clay in liquid form.

What is Kintsugi pottery?

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art.

What do you use to make a neriage?

Neriage, or agateware, is done by laminating different colored clays together and throwing them on a wheel to develop a swirling and spiraling blend of the clays. Using a plane tool to facet a leather-hard bowl. Objects made this way can be left with the swirl pattern, or altered by various forms of cutting the surface, with fluting and faceting.

What is the difference between nerikomi and neriage?

Nerikomi thus means hand-building with colored clay, which in Japan I guess usually meant mold work. It has been expanded to include other methods of hand-building.” Neriage and nerikomi both use either naturally occurring colored clays or light-colored clays that are specifically stained to satisfy the artist’s color requirement.

How long does it take to make colored clay with nerikomi?

When working with stacked colored clays, they must be very wet in order for the clay to blend smoothly without seams or cracks. To make the clay wet enough for this technique, add water to new bags of clay and let them sit for a week or more.

Where does the word neriage come from in Japanese?

I spoke to a Japanese woman who lives here, and she explained that neri is a root word meaning “to mix” and age is a root word meaning to “pull up.” This refers to the pulling up action in throwing clay on a wheel, hence neriage refers to wheel work with colored clays.