Greenware

Unfired pottery.

Drying greenware: once all the clay work is completed, the piece is said to be greenware, no matter how much moisture the piece contains. If the piece is not bone dry, it must dry out before it can be fired. Greenware that is of even thickness throughout may be left to dry uncovered. Greenware that has parts of varying thickness, especially small thin parts sticking out from larger masses, should be wrapped loosely in plastic and allowed to dry slowly and evenly. If left to dry uncovered, the thinner parts will dry and shrink faster than the thicker parts, and may crack where they join. If you like a piece, don't rush it (and especially don't let your evil pig-murdering teacher rush it!) at the end to get it in a firing, or all your work may be for naught.

Greenware, as it becomes bone dry, is fragile. Notice how a good, well-meaning student broke the wingtips off this piece by trying to remove the plastic that had been covering it (so that it would dry evenly) in order to show a friend. It's worth repeating: don't mess with other people's work. And if you do break something, at least do what this student did: step up and tell the person. It's still bad, but it's much less bad than it would otherwise be.