­Pottery is one of the oldest art forms on Earth, but it didn't start out being considered art. Pottery is divided into three wares -- earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. It is a tactile, meditative form of making art having a scientific bent often. For years, p­ottery was created by craftspeople strictly for utilitarian p­urposes with little consideration for how they looked. It's become big business nowadays, too. There are lots of steps involved in creating a ceramic piece and entire volumes of books have already been written about the intricacies of the craft. They are all considered ceramics, which is why potters are referred to as ceramic artists often. A good ceramic artist understands the tricky relationship between human and clay. These pots were hand-built, fired in bonfires and served the purpose of carrying grains, water and other liquids, in addition to storing seeds. Whether dealing with hand-built pieces or on a potter's wheel, creating a ceramic piece can be a complete large amount of fun. Crafting has made a large comeback lately with both men and women discovering the fun of activities their parents enjoyed in the 1960s and 1970s like pottery, sewing, knitting and woodworking. Shortly thereafter they begun to use pots for cooking. Clay can be temperamental ­and the act of shaping, heating, hardening, cooling and glazing all have a complete lot of practice to obtain just right. Read on to find out a little more history of the ancient art and craft.

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