That's not a dumb question, no one is born knowing this stuff. They're porcelain, which is a very fine, smooth, iron-free clay. The colours come from various places. The blue is cobalt carbonate and the green is chrome oxide. The black, yellow, and orange are body stains, which are man made, fritted colours. The speckley grey comes from silicon carbide dust.
I mix the colourants into porcelain, then combine different colours in layers, roll then into a long tube, cut the tube into thin slices, then put the slices around a tube of unstained porcelain. From the new tube with colours outside, I cut short segments, roll them into balls, and put a hole for the wire. Then they're dried, then fired to cone 10.
Maybe I'll get photos of the process next time, but it might be a while.
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I mix the colourants into porcelain, then combine different colours in layers, roll then into a long tube, cut the tube into thin slices, then put the slices around a tube of unstained porcelain. From the new tube with colours outside, I cut short segments, roll them into balls, and put a hole for the wire. Then they're dried, then fired to cone 10.
Maybe I'll get photos of the process next time, but it might be a while.
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