What is pottery art and How to make pottery art at home?

                             Pottery Art

Potter Art is the craft of shaping and firing clay to create functional or decorative items like bowls, vases , and sculptures. The process involves molding the clay, firing it in a kiln to harden, and often glazing it for a finished look. Pottery is made by combining naturally occurring raw materials, such as clay, earthen minerals, and water and shaping them into forms. Once shaped, the clay body is fired in a kiln at a high temperature to be hardened and heat resistant.  They may also use hand-building techniques such as slab rolling, coiling, and pinching.

How to make pottery at home in 6 steps

You will need to set up a designated pottery workspace and gather the necessary equipment before you get started. Once you have all of the essential materials, tools, and equipment, you can get started making pottery at home.

Tools and Equipment 

• Potter’s wheel and bats
• Towels and an apron
• A small bucket for holding water or slurry as you work
• One or more sponges
• A trimming tool
• A rubber or wooden rib
• A potter’s needle
• A cut-off wire
• Fettling knives
• A box to keep your tools in
• Glazes and application tools such as brushes, tongs
• Calipers
• Kiln

• 1.Choose your clay

  Earthenware clay is versatile and typically the easiest to throw on the pottery wheel, so this may be the best option if you are just beginning. Stoneware is another clay option that is easy to handle and work with. Porcelain clay is incredibly strong and is considered the best clay available for making pottery because of its high resistance to heat and high amount of silica. Before starting your pottery project, you will want to wedge your clay on a surface to work out any air bubbles.                                                              
  

  

  2.Prep your workspace

  Your pottery workspace should include a sturdy table with a surface that clay will not stick to. Consider covering your table in canvas fabric or working on small drywall sheets. Before sitting down at the wheel, make sure you gather up all necessary hand tools and equipment. You will want to have a small bucket of water within arms reach, along with your rib, needle tool, rim, and any other hand tools you wish to use.

  3.Throw pottery on the wheel

  Begin by first weighing out your clay. As a beginner, it is helpful to start with small amounts of clay under one pound. Shape the clay into a symmetrical ball with both hands. Secure the bat on your potter’s wheel and slam the clay ball into the center of the bat. Tap it to the center with dry hands. Wet your hands in water and start to center the clay while the wheel is in motion. Make a hole in the center of the clay, then push your hand into the base, while keeping the wheel in motion. Make sure you leave enough clay at the base so you don’t push through the bottom of your pot. Pull the clay up with one hand inside and one outside your pot. Detach your pot from the bat using a cutting wire. Let it sit on the bat to dry, loosely covered with a plastic drape.

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4.Dry and trim your pottery

Let your pot dry until it reaches the greenware stage. To trim the base of your pot, carefully remove it from the bat and place it on a clean bat upside down. Anchor it on the bat’s center with wet clay and slowly turn the wheel.

5.Bisque fire your pottery

Dry your piece to leather hard, then bisque fire. Bisque firing is required to increase your pottery’s durability, making it more stable for the next steps of glazing and glaze firing. The temperature and amount of time you bisque fire your clay will depend upon the firing range and cone. It may be low-, mid, or high-fire clay, measured using the cone system.

6.Glaze and glaze fire

Once your pottery comes out of the bisque fire, it is ready to be glazed. Pottery glazes are an impenetrable layer or coating applied to bisque-ware used to decorate pottery and waterproofing. There are many possibilities when glazing pottery and ceramics, from colorful patterns to mineral reactions. The general process of glazing ceramics is first to mix your glaze, apply it to bisque-ware, let it dry, then finally load it into the kiln for the glaze firing.