How to Make Pottery Bowls

Making pottery bowls is a great way to express your creativity and also get the added benefit of using your creation to hold soups, salsas, and dips. In many towns across the U.S. you can find pottery shops that not only sell pottery and stoneware, but also hold pottery classes for the public to make pottery. This would be the best way for a beginner to get started, and if you decide you like making pottery bowls and other figures, then you can invest in your own materials.

People have been making pottery bowls and other figures for thousands of years. Archeologists have found bowls that date as far back as 10,000 B.C. from Northern Africa and Japan. In 6000 B.C. the pottery wheel was developed in Mesopotamia and this allowed these ancient people to make pottery bowls, plates, cups and vases. This was incredible for them because up until then, they had no way of making their own utensils. Technology has come along way since then, but the process in making pottery bowls hasn't changed very much through the years. The basic five steps in making any figure of pottery is simple. Here they are:

1. Start by kneading the clay to get the air bubbles out. Add water if needed.

2. Next, begin to form the bowl or the desired shape. Using a potter's wheel makes the "throwing" of the pottery much easier.

3. When you have molded the clay to the shape that you want, then the piece will sit on a shelf for 24 - 48 hours to dry.

4. After it has completely dried, it goes into the kiln for baking for approx. 24 hrs

5. When your piece comes out, it will be fragile, and ready to glaze and decorate.

You can search online and see how beautiful pottery bowls are. Many of these are not hand made but by searching you can find the homemade pieces from artists around the globe. Handmade pottery like Blue Rose Pottery, Vermont Pottery, and Stoneware Pottery is very popular. Nationwide there are pottery shows and fairs that are held in places like Syracuse, New York and Sedona, Arizona, and many other places.