5 Ways to Learn Pottery

How to Learn Pottery Faster in Person or at Home

Here are 5 ways to learn to make pottery from home or from other potters.

Learning pottery is much easier with the right knowledge. Follow these tips to access the RIGHT information so you can learn pottery faster.

The most important things you need is some form of great teacher and the willingness to keep trying.

First, a quick story about how one of my students learned pottery quickly. Feel free to scroll past to strategy number 1 if you want to get right to the 5 strategies.

How Carrie Learned so Quickly

Let me tell you a quick story about a student of mine who took three 2-hour group pottery classes.

That is all the classes she took, and she went on to become an exceptional potter.

She now creates large amounts of absolutely beautiful pottery with some of her own gorgeous glaze combinations.

She even sells it at craft shows.

Is it because I'm such an awesome teacher?

Well, yes, hahaha, but also no. There's more to it.

See, she doesn't even make her pottery on the wheel, which is what I taught her in class. She learned that throwing on the wheel wasn't her passion. In fact, she HANDBUILDS EVERYTHING, and I didn't teach her how to do that!

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but the point to my story is that she translated the little bit that she learned from me and then found other resources so she could teach teach herself. She took the basics that I taught her and exploded her knowledge using patience, practice and a few good reference books.

That means you can too. Pick the learning style that is right for you, and stick with it until you learn to make the pottery that you've been dreaming of making.

With that being said, here are 5 tried and true ways to learn to make pottery on the wheel.

1) Use This Website

I think this goes without saying! This site is loaded with information about supplies and tools, wheel throwing, and even a 10 step ceramics class with videos that take you from holding a ball of clay to throwing a pot.

If you can't find something here, use the Site Search button to search this site for it.

2) Take a Pottery Wheel Class

This is a route commonly taken. I believe in it. I have spent over 25 years teaching community pottery classes to adults and kids. Many of my students (especially the ones who have taken multiple 6-week classes) have gone on to make beautiful pottery, sell their pottery or even teach pottery at a studio!

There are huge benefits to taking a pottery class in person - and a group setting can be fun and dynamic.

  • You meet new people and make connections to the pottery world.

  • You see live demonstrations and usually receive one-on-one instruction.

  • You can often get additional studio time, access to firing, and even different types of glazing opportunities that are included with the class.

However, there are a few drawbacks - The classes are frequently too short, which doesn't allow you time to master the skill. (People often need 10-20 lessons from an average level instructor to really learn pottery well enough to feel confident with it. So, if you can, take a longer class or multiple classes.)

  • They are usually expensive, but can be well worth the money if you can afford it.

  • You can't take the teacher (or the equipment) with you when you leave.

  • I have seen many students quit making pottery as soon as they were on their own, because when they tried to throw without the teacher, they suddenly forgot everything they had learned and had no one to ask for directions. The solution to that is usually watching more videos, continuing to practice and, if possible, taking more classes.

3) Buy a Good How-to Book

Books are inexpensive and loaded with good information.

A good how-to book can be kept close at hand near your wheel to refer to any time you are needing guidance.

If you are patient and self-directed, you can learn to make pottery quite well just from one good book.

Add in a few videos or live demonstrations to aid with seeing the process in motion and you can learn pottery at home.

4) Buy a DVD (2026 update: Watch Online Videos) 

If you're like me, you learn pottery better by actually seeing it done. A video is a great way to see the process unfold in real time.

Believe it or not, back when I started this website, YouTube didn't exist. So, I recommended buying instructional DVDs, hahaha! Now, I recommend YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook Reels for that. There is so much awesome content out there, including mine!

Check out my YouTube channel here - Pottery on the Wheel with Steve. Be sure to like and subscribe ;)

By mimicking the hand positions and techniques of a good potter, you can pick up excellent throwing skills and learn pottery more quickly than practicing by trial and error.

5) Get "Adopted" by a Potter

This is one of my favorite ways to learn pottery, and it's extremely effective. It's also harder to pull off.

However, the idea is simple. The best way to learn pottery is from someone who is already good at it.

The problem is that when someone else is good at something you often have to pay them for their experience.

So, how do you get "adopted" by a potter? Your willingness to be creative is the only limit to that answer.



Here are a few ways that I have experienced learning from other potters myself, and I'll share a few other ideas too.

When I was in college I became the pottery studio work study. It was a low paying job requiring lots of physical labor stirring big buckets of slip. However, it put me in constant contact a woman who would become my favorite teacher.

Just by working around her I absorbed a lot of information about preparing clay, loading kilns, and mixing glazes that the other students missed out on in class.

Eventually, I was put in charge of mixing the glazes for the classes and was really able to expand my skills. Plus, I was getting paid for the opportunity.

The first time I was inspired by pottery was at a junior high school friend's house. Her dad was an artist and he was friends with a potter.

The potter had given him tons of pottery that the family used on a daily basis.

The cabinets were overflowing with his rustic, organic, unique pottery. Even though I never was "adopted" by the artist (we still don't know each other) some of his pots are still my strongest influences to this day.

So, what I really mean by getting "adopted" by a potter is to choose to put yourself in the path of potters and pottery in whatever way you can.

I promise you'll be amazed at the opportunities and lessons that come with that choice..