The venerable clay pot has its roots deep in ancient history. Our ancestors needed vessels to carry water and store food, and found the water-resistant naturally occurring clays in the soil were ideal. Even though today we can buy our vessels at the store and usually carry our water through pipes, clay pots remain beautiful, and are functional works of art and craft. Edit Steps Edit Preparations Wear clothes that you don't mind getting grubby and dirty. You are essentially working with refined dirt, so it's going to be a messy business. Knead the clay. Start with about 1/2 pound (.25 kilos) of clay. Slowly warm it and work out the air bubbles by kneading it with your hands. This will even out the clay’s consistency, eliminating lumps of soft spots, and make it more pliable and easier to work with. Take care to avoid folding, poking, or other actions that could add air pockets and bubbles to your clay—these could cause your pottery to explode in the oven. Slice your clay...
