Creating black ware pottery is a long process consisting of many steps requiring patience and skill. Six distinct processes occur before the pot is ready to be sold. According to Susan Peterson in "The Living Tradition of Maria Martinez", these steps include, “finding and collecting the clay, forming a pot, scraping and sanding the pot to remove surface irregularities, applying the iron-bearing slip and burnishing it to a high sheen with a smooth stone, decorating the pot with another slip, and firing the pot."