What is Ceramic Greenware?

    The common hobby ceramic, semi-dictionary definition of Ceramic Greenware is any item that was cast in a plaster (ceramic) mold until the item is leather hard, at which time the item is removed from the mold and allowed to dry, but still remains in the "green" or uncured state, hence the name "Greenware" or "Ceramic Greenware".  Like a raw egg, ceramic greenware can be quite strong, but extremely fragile if miss handled or dropped.  As potters also refer to wet or dry clay wares from the wheel or hand-built as Greenware, a simpler definition for Ceramic Greenware would be "any wet or dry clay based object before the first (bisque) firing".

Why desire Ceramic Greenware over Ceramic Bisque?

    There are good reasons to desire Ceramic Greenware over Ceramic Bisque:

    Most customers entering competition will want to clean their own greenware as the requirements for competition are quite high and commercial bisque suppliers can seldom spend hours cleaning a single piece to meet such high standards.

    Other customers enjoy adding details to the ware, which is only practical if ceramic greenware is used.

    Decorating ceramic greenware offers greater decorating options than decorating ceramic bisque, including using traditional underglazes or layering colors.

Cleaning Greenware? What is Cleaning Greenware?

    Cleaning greenware is not immersing the item in water, but rather carefully removing and smoothing the seam line and any surface defects generated by the casting process.

After cleaning what happens to the Ceramic Greenware?

    The cleaned greenware may be decorated with underglazes (such as Duncan Cover-Coat or EZ-Strokes) and fired to maturity and subsequently covered with a clear glaze and re-fired to completion, or the cleaned ceramic greenware may be fired into the bisque (mature) stage and then decorated with any number of colorful glazes or nonfired acrylics.  The decorating possibilities of ceramic greenware are virtually unlimited.

Is it a problem that I don't own a kiln?

    Not a problem if you don't own a kiln as Dogwood Ceramic Supply offers complete firing services for a small fee. Just clean your ceramic greenware item in the usual manner, perform any desired underglaze decoration if desired, and return the item to Dogwood Ceramic Supply.  In a few days your greenware item will have been fired into bisque and be ready for you to complete.

    Firing fees are very minimal.  Dogwood Ceramic Supply uses a simple firing chart which is based upon the size of the item to be fired as well as the type of clay and actual firing temperature.  Bisque firings for most common sized items, such as 10" Santa's and Fairies, are typically under $3.00, with very large items seldom over $5.00.

Can Ceramic Greenware be shipped via UPS?

    No ceramic greenware can not be shipped via UPS, nor can ceramic greenware be shipped via the US Postal Service, FedEx or any other small package shipping service.  The issue is the fragility of the ceramic greenware with regards to impact damage.  One good drop kick around the freight terminal and no matter how well the product is packaged the likelihood of surviving the impact is minimal.

Ceramic Greenware and Dogwood Ceramic Supply:

    Traditionally Dogwood Ceramic Supply offered a wide selection of the latest releases from the leading mold companies.  To keep our selection of items fresh and appropriate for the ceramic marketplace Dogwood Ceramic Supply would routinely purchases 100's of new molds and retire an equal number of molds each year.  Of the greenware produced for our shelves, a small portion would have been converted to Dogwood Premium Bisque so that local customers who were in a hurry or lacked access to a kiln could also enjoy hobby ceramics.

    Hurricane Katrina radically changed the regional market.  1000's of our customers were drastically affected by Hurricane Katrina, with many customers loosing their personal kiln or access to a kiln with the permanent closing of many large storefront and small neighborhood studios.

    To better meet the needs of local hobby customers, Dogwood Ceramic Supply made the decision to stock our showroom shelves with ceramic bisque rather than ceramic greenware.  Offering Ceramic Bisque to the local customers does not mean Dogwood Ceramic Supply has ceased offering ceramic greenware, rather ceramic bisque is the primary offering and greenware the secondary offering which is always available by advance order.

Can Dogwood Ceramic Supply mass produce Ceramic Greenware for me?

    No.

    Why?  Because Dogwood Ceramic Supply does not own hundreds or even dozens of copies of a single mold much less every mold we own.  Using multiple upon multiple copies of a ceramic mold is critical for producing large quantities of greenware fast... and maintaining good quality wares.  Even if we did own hundreds of copies of every mold, we lack the physical space, layout, equipment and of course the all too critical manpower to properly handle and cast the molds.

Bottom line, if we can't do it well then we don't do it. 

12590 Dedeaux Road
Gulfport Mississippi, 39503
Telephone (228) 831-4848        Fax (228) 831-3111

Showroom Business Hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 10AM to 5PM
Thursday 1PM to 6PM

Closed Wednesday and Sunday

   Ceramic Greenware is any wet or dry clay wares before the first (bisque) firing.