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How to Make Pottery

You are viewing an Expert Village Video Series:

Everything you wanted to know about how to throw clay pottery on a wheel in these free arts and crafts videos, including tips & techniques on centering the clay, trimming the pot, bisqueware, glazing, using the kiln, and basic pottery tools.

There are 15 videos in this series:
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Views: 56,145 Videos in Series: 15

Tags: clay, pots, wheel, pottery, oven, thrown, kiln, greenware, bisqueware, glazing

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Summary: Making pottery is the art of creating earthenware vessels from clay. The process involves shaping a vessel, by hand or with tools, and cooking it in a kiln. Mankind has been making pottery since the times we first learned about fire. Ancient civilizations used pottery for all sorts of things, from storing oil, wine, and other foodstuffs, to holding papyrus scrolls, the organs of dead god-kings, perfumes, and various religious offerings. Because pottery is durable and lasts long after its creator is gone, it has helped us to learn about entire groups of people that we might have otherwise never known; these hand-crafted objects tell stories, not only from their complex structural designs, but also the carefully wrought stories painted on their surfaces, a sort of iconography of a time and place in history.

In this free arts and crafts video series, learn how to make wheel thrown clay pottery. A pottery expert will give you step-by-step instructions to make your own pottery, including basic wheel techniques like mounting the clay, shaping it and creating the opening, an explanation of the greenware and bisqueware stages, painting, and final firing of your piece in a kiln.

About the Expert

Expert: Mark Kooy has been teaching high school students how to work with ceramics, metals, painting, drawing, and publications for over 20 years. He is an avid scuba diver, kayaker, and fine artist in both analog and digital media.

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