for the sake of making
For the sake of making
FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING
Lit by a single window, in a small studio in Salford, a potter sits at the wheel. Clay turns beneath his hands, shaping and reshaping, not for perfection, but for presence.
The vinyl crackle of the potter’s wheel.
The rhythm of craft.
The evidence of a life spent making.
This book is a record — not just of pots, but of process.
It captures a moment in time when a photographer stepped into the space of a maker and let the work unfold without interference. No lights, no stage. Just observation.
At the heart of it is a shared belief: that creation is its own reward. That the doing matters as much — sometimes more — than what’s left behind.
Here, you’ll find a conversation between disciplines: Clay and image. Movement and stillness. Fragility and form.
A story told in texture, light, and imperfect lines — each page honouring the care, the slowness, and the humanity of making.
A MEETING OF MAKER AND OBSERVER
Tom Wright first discovered Dave Partington’s work through a coffee cup — handmade, humble, and full of character. He tracked its origin to a small studio tucked behind a quiet Salford street, where Dave was quietly shaping clay in a humble space. What followed was an instinctive collaboration.
No plans, no set-ups. Just Tom with his camera, Dave with his wheel, and a shared understanding that something worth seeing was happening in that room.
The intention wasn’t to sell or showcase, but to watch. To witness the act of making in its natural state — unfinished, thoughtful, slow. What emerged was a series of photographs rooted not just in craft, but in care.
This book is our attempt to preserve that exchange. To honour the way creative practice can be both solitary and shared. And to show, gently, how process can be a form of devotion.
THE SHAPE OF USE
Centring the clay, Dave begins. Pressing it into stillness before it can become anything at all.
“Otherwise,” he says, “you can do nothing with it.”
From there, it’s rhythm and feel. Less about perfection, more about tolerance. The pot must be strong enough, smooth enough, useful enough — not art for a shelf, but something that can be used again and again. Something to live with.
He speaks of the wheel in practical terms, but with deep affection. Every decision — from how much water to use, to the soft rounding of the rim — is made with care, not flourish.
“I’m not looking for perfection,” he says. “I want something that is useful.”
Perfection isn’t Dave’s idea of beauty. His pots aren’t made to just be admired from a distance — they’re made to be held, washed, used, and passed from one hand to another. “It’s looking at it as a practical thing,” he says. “Rather than an artistic one.”
He shapes each piece with utility in mind. Is the rim too sharp? Will it survive a busy café? Can someone comfortably drink from it, clean it, live with it? That’s where the value lies — in making something useful, made well.
There’s a quiet discipline in it all. Every drop of water is measured, with the weight of Dave’s experience. Focusing as each drop softens his clay — every act at the wheel is intentional. Too much, and the pot becomes weak. Too little, and it resists. Every gesture matters.
THE RITUAL OF LETTING GO
Among the shelves of repeatable, useful pots, Dave has collected something else. Something ancient.
A cup, small and simple, shaped to be used just once. Held. Drunk from and then, by design, broken.
He tells the story as it’s been passed down. In ancient times, travellers would drink from handmade clay cups and smash them into the road beneath their feet. Over time, the fragments became part of the path — clay returning to clay, nothing wasted.
There’s a kind of peace in that. A cup with no future, only a moment. It resists the instinct to preserve. It invites destruction as part of the experience. And somehow, that makes it unforgettable.
for the sake of making
A NOTE ON IMPERMANENCE
Some things are made to pass through our hands, not stay in them.
There’s a quiet joy in impermanent things. In objects that don’t demand to be kept. That don’t promise longevity, but instead offer presence — for a moment, for a gesture, for the sake of experience alone.
Tom described it as “a disposable product that lives as part of our ecosystem, not in opposition to it.” The pot that breaks. The image that doesn’t sell. The process that holds its own value, even without a finished thing to show for it.
In this work — in pottery, in photography, in bookbinding, in life — there’s beauty in letting go. In making peace with the cracks, the discarded, the done. Because sometimes the memory, the mark, and the moment is the thing that lasts.
This book was made slowly — by hand, with care, and with a deep respect for the act of making. In sharing this story, we hope you’ve felt some of the stillness, the rhythm, and the intention that lives in Dave’s pots, Tom’s photographs, and Bec’s books.
We leave you with nothing to preserve.
Only the trace of a process.
And the invitation to find beauty in what’s already passing.
FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING
This book was conceived by Bec Morris and Tom Wright — a shared idea shaped by image, word, and object. Written, designed and hand bound by Bec, with photography and copy editing by Tom, it documents the work of Dave Partington, ceramicist and founder of Partington Pots, in Salford.
All photography was captured by Tom on location using available light and minimal interference — a quiet, observational process guided by the rhythm of the studio.
The words and illustrations were shaped slowly alongside the design to honour the imperfect, thoughtful nature of the work itself.
Each copy has been printed and bound by hand, to echo the physicality of the craft it documents. With hand drawn illsutrations, and paper chosen for its softness, texture, and ability to hold light.
This is not a mass produced book.
It is a gesture. A held thing.
Made to be shared, not kept.
Design, Copy, Illustration and Binding: Bec Morris
Photography and Copy Editing: Tom Wright
Typography: Hanken Grotesk & Garamond Premier
Paper Stock: GF Smith
Printing: Pressision departmentthirtyfour.com bytomw.com
