Whether you are taking a class for an easy credit in community college or you are just looking into starting a new hobby, then you might want to look into pottery. If you want a fun, challenging, and rewarding new hobby, then here are a few things that you should know before you begin.

1. In its simplest form, pottery is made by forming a pottery clay body, beginners usually begin with a ballon pottery wheels that will be formed into a simple vase, then it is heated. This heating takes place at very high temperatures in a pottery kiln which removes all the water from the clay. Removing the water is important because it increases their strength and hardens and sets their final shape.

2. Additives can also be worked into the clay, using pottery tools, prior to forming on a pottery wheel to produce desired effects in the fired wares. Coarse additives such as sand and grog are sometimes used to give the final product an interesting and varied texture.

3. Hand forming of clay, which is done without pottery tools, is the oldest form of pottery making.

4. In a process referred to as throwing, which comes from the Old English word thrawan which means to twist or turn, a ball of clay is placed in the center of a turntable. The potter then rotates with a stick, a foot petal, or with a variable speed electric motor.

5. The potters wheel was invented in Mesopotamia sometime between 6,000 and 4,000 BCE. It revolutionized pottery production by not only speeding up the process, but also by creating the ability to mKe more and varied products. To see more, read this.