Art Definition Term begins with - F | Unique Gift Ideas

A general word covering low-fire colored clay bodies, such as Egyptian paste. Often a misused term, it is more particularly a French name for the tin-enameled earthenware made in the Italian town of Faenza during its period of Hispano-Moresque influence.

Faille

A woven cotton, rayon or silk fabric showing a slight ribbing.

Fauvism

A short lived painting style in early 20th century France, which featured bold, clashing, arbitrary colors - colors unrelated to the appearance of forms in the natural world. Henri Matisse was its best-known practitioner. The word fauve means “wild beast.”

Feathering

A specific type of decorative combing in which a tool is dragged on the surface of a hot piece of glass, at right angles to a series of parallel lines.

Feldspar

Mineral found in granite which melts around 2300 Fahrenheit, used as a flux in clay bodies and glazes. When feldspar rock loses its alkaline content through decomposition it becomes kaolin and is thus the origin of clay.

Felting

The process whereby natural fibers (most commonly wools) are subjected to heat, water and pressure to form a non-woven fabric.

Fibula

An ornamental and functional pin in which the mechanical elements (pinstem and catch) are integral to the design. This ancient format was the progenitor of the common safety pin.

Fiddleback

A term used to describe wood with a fine figure and wavy grain pattern. The term is derived from wood that is often selected for the backs of violins.

Figurative Art

Art in which recognizable figures or objects are portrayed.

Figure

The pattern produced in a wood surface by annual growth rings, rays, knots, deviations from natural grain such as interlocked and wavy grain, and irregular coloration.

Filigrana

Glass rod consisting of a colored center surrounded by clear glass.

Filigree

An ornamental, delicate lace-like pattern used in decorative artworks. Made usually of fine gold, silver, or copper wire and applied to gold and silver surfaces.

Findings

Any element that contributes to the wear ability of a piece of jewelry, such as pins, ear wires and chains.

Fine Art

An art form created primarily as an aesthetic expression to be enjoyed for its own sake. The viewer must be prepared to search for the intent of the artist as the all-important first step toward communication and active participation. Art created for purely aesthetic expression, communication, or contemplation. Painting and sculpture are the best known of the fine arts.

Fine Art Print

Fine art printmaking is based on the concept of creating a master plate, known as the matrix. This is used to transfer the image onto paper. Nowadays printmaking is an art form that has many subdivisions, each of which is an art form in its own right: Etching, Lithography, Linocut, etc. The printmaking process is generally a complex one, using a variety of different techniques, and medium, depending on the type of print. The artist creates different surface textures, color effects and forms, just as in painting, producing a unique work of art, defined by the artist’s style and personality. Most times the process of transferring or printing the image can be repeated numerous times, creating editions of the same image. Sometimes each individual print is retouched or added to afterwards, making it unique or one-of-a-kind. Other techniques involve using the same matrix but different combinations of inks and colors, also creating unique works. Monoprints and Mezzotints are examples of such works.

Fine Gold

Pure gold. Rich yellow in color. Known as a “noble” metal because of its durability and the fact that it is unaffected by oxygen and most chemicals.

Fine Silver

Pure silver. Lustrous white in color with a highly reflective surface.

Finger Joint

A connection created when two pieces of wood are cut in an elongated zigzag pattern and then joined with glue.

Finial

An ornamental feature, usually carved or shaped, that is used to accentuate the point of ending on a vertical feature, such as a post.

Fire

To expose a substance such as enamel, clay or glass to intense heat, usually in a kiln.

Fire-polishing

Smoothing the surface of a sharp or rough piece of glass by careful heating in the flame. As the surface of the glass softens, surface tension will draw it into a smooth contour.

Firescale

A "stain" of oxidized copper that penetrates sterling and low-karat gold when it is overheated.

Firing

Heating pottery or sculpture in a kiln or open fire to bring the clay to maturity. The temperature needed to mature the clay varies with the type of body used. Also, heating glazed ware to the necessary point to cause the glaze to mature.

Fixative

A solution, usually of shellac and alcohol, sprayed onto drawings, to prevent their smudging or crumbling off the support.

Flaking

The peeling off of a glaze or slip from a clay surface.

Flambi Glaze

Reduced copper glaze giving variegated effects of red and blue; originally developed by Chinese potters in the Sung Dynasty.

Flame Annealing

The process of annealing glass in a torch flame, instead of in a kiln. It is carried out by gently heating the glass to a temperature just below its softening point, allowing the entire object to "soak" at that temperature for a few minutes before gradually reducing the temperature of the glass. The glass is cooled slowly by moving it gradually out of and away from the flame.

Flame Types

A flame in which all available fuel is being consumed and in which no excess oxygen remains in the flame is called neutral or balanced. A fuel-rich flame is called "reducing" and an oxygen-rich flame is called "oxidizing." The former is bushy, and often shows yellow fins; the latter is pale blue and hissing.

Flameware

A flameproof ware, as distinct from ovenware.

Flamework

The technique of manipulating glass by heating it with a small flame. An open flame is advantageous in very detailed work.

Flaring

Spreading out the end of a tube or an open bubble to create a wider opening such as the mouth of a vase or the lip of a goblet.

Flashed Glass

A type of flat, stained glass with a thicker layer of clear or light colored glass and a thin 'flashed' layer of darker colored glass.

Flashing

1. Excess clay on an object left by the seam lines of a mold. 2.The resultant color change on clay or glaze left by direct flame during a fuel firing.

Flatware

Dishes, plates, saucers and low bowls are called flatware in the pottery industry to distinguish them from hollow ware.

Flex Shaft

A versatile studio tool consisting of a precision high-speed motor, a foot rheostat and a 3-foot extension that allows manipulation of the hand piece. It is used for drilling, grinding, sanding, carving and polishing.

Flint

Main source of silica in glazes; increases their viscosity and hardness.

Foam Board

Foam board is a lightweight, stiff backing mounted or affixed to a print or poster prior to framing. The heat and pressure of our dry-mount press activates the adhesive coating on the foam board forming a smooth, permanent bond with the print.

Float

The portion of warp or weft that extends without intersection across two or more threads.

Float Glass

Flat plate glass made by the float process. The molten glass glides onto a liquid bath of tin alloy, “floating” on the molten tin to achieve a consistent thickness. Float glass is perfectly polished without any further treatment.

Flocking

Powdered felt used as decorating material.

Flux

A chemical employed during soldering to protect metal against the formation of oxides. A material or mixture having a low melting point or lowering the melting point of other materials. One of the three main components of glaze; also used to increase density in clay bodies; examples include lead, borax, lime, feldspar, and frit.

Folk Art

Primitive art, by an untrained artist who paints in the common tradition of his community and reflects the life style of the people. Also called ‘Outsider art’ & ‘Art brut’. Traditional representations, usually bound by conventions in both form and content, of a folkloric character and usually made by persons without institutionalized training.

Foot

The base of a ceramic piece.

Foreground

In linear perspective, the section of a painting that appears closest to the viewer. See also Perspective.

Foreshortening

A method of portraying forms on a two-dimensional surface so that they appear to project or recede from the picture plane. The representation of forms on a two-dimensional surface by presenting the length in such a way that the long axis appears to project toward or recede away from the viewer.

Forged

A blacksmithing technique in which metal is shaped by hammering, usually while at red or white heat.

Forging

Shaping metal with hammers while it is hot; the method for making wrought iron.

Form

1. The physical appearance of a work of art - its materials, style, and composition. 2. Any identifiable shape or mass, as a “geometric form.”

Found Object

A natural or manufactured object that is “found” by the artist and displayed as art or combined with other elements in a work of art.

Frame Loom

A simple square or rectangular loom, usually lacking shafts and a beater.

Free-blown

Glassware shaped by air pressure, such as mouth-blowing through a metal tube (pipe) to which molten glass adheres. Also called "freehand blown".

French Embossing

A very complex and dangerous process that employs various acid solutions to achieve multiple levels and tones in acid etching.

Fresco

A painting technique in which pigments suspended in water are applied to a damp lime-plaster surface. The pigments dry to become part of the plaster wall or surface. The Fresco technique uses watercolors to paint onto damp plaster. The word fresco describes any work made in this way, but is most commonly used for murals painted.

Fretwork

Open or pierced woodcarving, either perforated or cut in low relief on a solid ground, usually bearing geometric patterns. The tracery of glazed doors and windows.

Frit

Crushed glass. Mixture that is melted, cooled quickly by quenching the molten mass in cold water, and ground to a fine powder. Fritting renders soluble glaze ingredients, such as soda ash, insoluble, and poisonous materials, such as lead, non-poisonous.

Functional Art

Functional art is something which is both beautiful and useful. Functional art lets us bring incredible works of creativity and beauty into our everyday lives.

Fused Glass

Glass that has been heated in a kiln to the point where two separate pieces are permanently joined as one without losing their individual color.

Fusing

The technique of joining metals by melting them together.

Futurism

Art movement founded in Italy in 1909 and lasting only a few years. Futurism concentrated on the dynamic quality of modern technological life, emphasizing speed and movement. Futurism A group movement that originated in Italy in 1909. One of several movements to grow out of Cubism. Futurists added implied motion to the shifting planes and multiple observation points of the Cubists; they celebrated natural as well as mechanical motion and speed. Their glorification of danger, war, and the machine age was in keeping with the martial spirit developing in Italy at the time.

Glossary

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