Clay Isn’t Disposable: How to Recycle Clay at Home There’s a mistake many people make when they start working with clay ➜ throwing it away. The piece turned out crooked, cracked in half, or there’s leftover material from a session—and it all goes in the trash. It makes sense to someone who’s never worked with the material, but … Read more
Flash Workshop or Ceramics Workshop: Which One Should I Choose? If you’ve come to our website and want to learn how to make ceramics, it’s almost certain you’ll come across two workshops. You’ll find the Flash Ceramics Workshop and the Ceramics Workshop, but you’re not sure which one to choose. Let’s try to simplify the answer… Read more
Ceramic Firing: What Happens to Clay in the Kiln There’s one thing everyone who starts out in ceramics learns, sooner or later: firing is unforgiving. You can salvage clay that has dried out too much. You can correct a piece that warped during the bisque firing. You can redo almost anything—except… Read more
How to Choose the Right Pottery Workshop for Me You’ve decided to take a pottery workshop. You discovered FICA or someone recommended our workshops to you. You go ahead and open the ceramics workshops page. But you find several workshops, and you ask yourself, “How do I choose the right ceramics workshop for me?” It seems complicated, but you can find the answer by… Read more
Stages of Clay: The Process of Transforming Clay into Ceramics Clay is constantly changing. Before becoming ceramics, it goes through several stages—some subtle, others irreversible—that result from the interplay of water, time, and temperature. From the plastic state to leather, from bone to chalk, until it becomes glazed ceramics, each stage … Read more
The Endangered Typeface The Endangered Typeface – Print Edition is a limited edition of numbered silkscreen prints, printed at FICA Oficina Criativa for Associação Natureza Portugal | WWF Portugal and created by Bar Ogilvy. Last year, on International Biodiversity Day, Bar Ogilvy launched a … for Associação Natureza Portugal and WWF Portugal, Read more
Rita Teles Garcia from KROH Ossos do Ofício #1 Rita comes to FICA at least once a month. Starting in April, she’ll be coming more often due to a new workshop. She’s the first guest on Ossos do Ofício, a Q&A about inspiration, motivation, and the growing pains that come with it. ⧗ reading time … Read more
Screen Printing Emulsion: 3 Types of Emulsion Screen printing emulsion is a photosensitive liquid mixture (whose composition varies depending on the type of emulsion) that, when applied to a screen, and, after the exposure process, allows you to create a printing stencil. In this article, we’ll explain how it works, what types of screen printing emulsions are available, and … Read more
What is Screen Printing? Screen printing is a printing process in which ink is transferred to a substrate through a stretched mesh. It is a versatile process that can be used to print on various types of materials, including paper, fabric, glass, plastic, metal, wood, or ceramics. ⧗ reading time – … Read more
Squeegee: How to Choose One? First of all, a squeegee is the accessory used in the screen printing process to help transfer ink to the substrate (through the mesh). The squeegee is used to move the ink back and forth across the screen… Read more
Screen Printing Mesh: 5 applications per thread count Screen printing mesh (or screen printing frame) is a frame with a very tightly stretched and glued mesh (there are also other methods—see the end of the article). It is through this mesh that the ink, using a squeegee during the printing process, passes evenly through the screen … Read more
Photolithograph: 1 (and only) concern It is one of the essential elements in the process of exposing a screen printing screen. The function of the photolithograph is to block, during the exposure process, the UV light shining on the screen and thereby expose the final artwork or design onto the screen itself. ⧗ reading time – 8 to 10 minutes … Read more