Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
These canisters are always a slog to trim, as yes, whilst they are fundamentally visually “simple”, every single surface of the lid and body, (apart from the inside of the jar itself), is trimmed. This 20 took me around 5 hours, meaning that each piece takes approximately 15 minutes, give or take, to trim.
With time two things have happened. I’ve become faster that’s for sure, but equally my level of detail and my attention has always risen, adding to the overall timeframe needed to assemble these jars. I always get faster though towards the end of a trimming session, after I’ve figured out precisely which tools to use and the order of affairs, yet that knowledge sort of has to be relearnt every time I make a batch of these as there’s always a few months in-between making them.
Out of all the pieces I make, these probably have the strictest routine that I follow when turning them. There’s a real rhythm, a choreographed set of steps and movements that I run through and over the years it’s this that has been vastly refined in order to not repeat unnecessary steps. It’s the faffing around when making pottery that ends up adding time to your production and if you can eliminate these moments as best you can, or figure out they occur, the process itself really does become more streamlined.
Not that everything is about speed… but I’ve always loved this gradual refinement of process, of becoming faster, neater and more efficient. It’s funny, because there’s a balance of course, there comes a point where you must sacrifice speed for quality. I remember this during my first year at Maze Hill pottery when I had to throw hundreds of mugs and other functional forms. For a while, I had to intentionally slowdown in order to retain a certain level of quality with the pots themselves, it’s sort of like perfecting your form when lifting weights I suppose, then, once those fundamentals are really thoroughly engrained, you can begin to ramp up the speed whilst retaining that same level of quality.
It’s not everyone I suppose but I love it.
#pottery #jars #handmade #satisfying #practicemakesperfect
These canisters are always a slog to trim, as yes, whilst they are fundamentally visually “simple”, every single surface of the lid and body, (apart from the inside of the jar itself), is trimmed. This 20 took me around 5 hours, meaning that each piece takes approximately 15 minutes, give or take, to trim.
With time two things have happened. I’ve become faster that’s for sure, but equally my level of detail and my attention has always risen, adding to the overall timeframe needed to assemble these jars. I always get faster though towards the end of a trimming session, after I’ve figured out precisely which tools to use and the order of affairs, yet that knowledge sort of has to be relearnt every time I make a batch of these as there’s always a few months in-between making them.
Out of all the pieces I make, these probably have the strictest routine that I follow when turning them. There’s a real rhythm, a choreographed set of steps and movements that I run through and over the years it’s this that has been vastly refined in order to not repeat unnecessary steps. It’s the faffing around when making pottery that ends up adding time to your production and if you can eliminate these moments as best you can, or figure out they occur, the process itself really does become more streamlined.
Not that everything is about speed… but I’ve always loved this gradual refinement of process, of becoming faster, neater and more efficient. It’s funny, because there’s a balance of course, there comes a point where you must sacrifice speed for quality. I remember this during my first year at Maze Hill pottery when I had to throw hundreds of mugs and other functional forms. For a while, I had to intentionally slowdown in order to retain a certain level of quality with the pots themselves, it’s sort of like perfecting your form when lifting weights I suppose, then, once those fundamentals are really thoroughly engrained, you can begin to ramp up the speed whilst retaining that same level of quality.
It’s not everyone I suppose but I love it.
#pottery #jars #handmade #satisfying #practicemakesperfect
