Mortar

DEFINITION

An adhesive material used in construction, especially a mixture of cement or lime with sand and water.A "mortar" can also be see thumbnail to righta sturdy bowl in which substances can be crushed or ground with a pestle. Before many artists' materials were manufactured and made commercially available, artists and their assistants produced paints and other media from raw materials, grinding many of them to prepare colorants, binders, glazes, investments, etc.People in the visual arts still use these tools.Sometimes, when containers of ceramic glazes are unused for a while, the water in them evaporates, leaving other ingredients dried into very hard, compact chunks of powder. Unfortunately, simply adding water doesn't soften this stuff, and throwing such valuable ingredients away is wasteful. Conserve this material by breaking pieces into ever smaller and smaller sizes. A hammer and an old chisel can accomplish the first phase of this work. Complete the process by crushing and grinding small pieces with a mortar and pestle. Add water, and that old glaze is as good as new.Also see adobe, aggregate, binder, concrete, cure, grout, join, masonry, nails, mosaic, stone, tile, and vessel.