How small is small-batch making and why that matters?

Small! 

I usually make about 8-10 pieces of each product in one sitting, if I'm lucky. Some pieces take longer to make as they take more precision and/or care and some just don't work.

Making pottery is not my day job, but I am so very lucky my job gives me the opportunity to spend more time than most on my passion project. There are times when the day job takes me away from my pottery and I don't get to flex that pottery muscle for months. In that time, different things in life inspire and influence a new idea, style or process.

With every firing, you'll notice subtle changes or improvements in the process of throwing. I look back at some of the pieces I made just months ago and they look so different to what is in store now. In short, skills improve, style changes, that's the nature of wheel thrown pottery. Some hand-built pieces can be more consistent, using moulds and cut-outs. Even glazes can do unexpected things in the kiln. My most recent batch of Eucalyptus glazed cups turned out a lot lighter in colour than what is normally expected. A fluke really as the cups shared a kiln with an art piece, giving it a lot more air flow inside the kiln. Could I do it again, probably not. 

I work out of my granny flat in Newtown. I don't have a kiln at home, which means I have to carefully transport the pieces to a shared studio. Over 80 ceramicist/makers/artist use the studio. Christmas time is generally the busiest period. Everyone is trying to make as much as they can, the kilns run non stop. Wait time for pieces take a lot longer to process. In general, pieces take about 2 weeks to make, it's definitely not a fast process, pre-Christmas, it could easily take a month. Pottery teaches you to slow it down. 

Beauty is in the eye of the buyer and not every piece is for you, and that's also ok. In saying that, I am so grateful for my loyal supporters who have been buying my pots from the very beginning and who continue to support me on this journey.

So if there's something you like, don't wait coz it might not look like that the next time. 

Maggie