Older than pottery, older than writing, the art of fiber and thread has clothed, comforted and spoken for humanity since prehistory, and it is finally being seen for what it is. Textile art is art made with fiber, thread and cloth.

Humanity's oldest craft is also one of its most alive, and it begins the same way it always has, with two hands and a lump of clay. Pottery is the ancient craft of shaping clay into vessels, the pots, bowls, plates, jugs and cups that people have made for use and for beauty since before writing existed.

Ceramic art begins with the softest of materials and ends with one of the most permanent, a transformation of clay by fire that people have been refining for more than ten thousand years. Ceramic art is the art of objects shaped from clay and permanently transformed by fire.

The chair, the poster, the flag and the teapot were all designed by somebody. Here is why calling that work decorative was a mistake, and how to look at it properly.