Coming off the High

What makes you "high"?

Hopefully, not drugs of any kind (insert disapproving Mom-Stink-Eye here)!  I mean a natural high.  Something that makes you feel stupid-happy.

I'm still riding an unexpected high from the craft show we did yesterday. 

Not from packing up the car the night before and feeling I'm forgetting something. 
Not from waking up late and missing breakfast. 
Not from rushing to set up before the show starts with no caffeinated beverage to fuel me. 
Not from realizing what I forgot was one of my main display shelves and having Craig run it out to me (he's the BEST!). 
Not from realizing some of my banks didn't have stoppers in them (lucky for me Craig hadn't left the house with the shelves yet). 
And definitely not from sitting for the first 2 hours of the show seeing plenty of customers with shopping bags that weren't mine.

There's always  trepidation for me at the start of a show.  What if we don't sell anything?  Worry and self doubt are familiar companions.

My mood change started with the first sale.  Not a big purchase but it got the ball rolling.  A couple of returning customers, which is still new for me, a Christmas order for a hippo bank (been there, done that!), more sales than I expected and lots of smiles and complements made for an intoxicating combination, apparently.  I was exhausted but high as a kite at the end of the day.

I guess I'm still humbled that anyone buys our pottery. Maybe it's because I haven't done a show in over 6 months that I'd forgotten the rewarding validation I get from seeing people admire and purchase our pots.  That one-on-one interaction is very energizing and inspiring for me.

Unfortunately, we're not doing anymore shows until next year.  So before it wears off I better get to making some hippo banks!

And the Stirring Continues....

The clay's not at the right consistency yet.  =/

I shared my last post on one of my FB groups and several fellow potters said they use a paint mixer with a drill to mix their reclaimed clay.  Genius!  I've seen glaze mixed with one but it never occurred to me that it would work with clay.  When I asked Craig if we had one he came up with this baby -

Perfect!

...or so I thought.  I believe this is designed for mixing dry wall compound.  But it didn't fit in our corded drill and the cordless drill just didn't have enough oomph.

Look, Ma!  No hands!  It's stuck.

I also realized I probably didn't add enough water.  Not to worry.  I detached the drill, added more water and used the mixer with good old fashioned elbow grease.  Clean up was much easier!  Thank you Peeps!

I don't know about other types of artisans but potters seem to be a pretty ingenious bunch and very willing to share ideas, techniques and tricks.  No matter what barriers rise up before me there's always someone out there who's already figured out how to overcome it and posted it on YouTube or in a forum or blog somewhere.  Maybe it's because our craft isn't easy or inexpensive to pursue and out of necessity and financial constraints we have to come up with shortcuts and innovative ways to get her done.

If all I had to invest in were brushes, paints and canvas I'd have taken that trip to Italy by now and wouldn't have to take over half of the garage with my "stuff". Don't get me wrong.  I've tried painting but I'm mediocre at best and truly envy anyone who can create art in that medium.

I love my craft.  It's my therapy.  And though I feel like I'm just "mud-dling" through at times (very punny!) I have very supportive family, friends and cyber community to bolster me up and push me forward into uncharted (for me) territories.  Thank you all very much!  =D

Meandering Through the Mire

So, again, I got stopped in my tracks when I let the dogs out this morning!  God's color pallet never ceases to amaze me.  Not to mention it's gotten up to 57 degrees for the past 2 days.  That makes me very happy!



Come on Spring!!!












But I digress.  I really wanted to share my latest "mini-me" banks.  I've been making larger animal banks for a while starting with 3 lbs of clay.  At Christmas I got a custom order for 3 smaller banks and decided to make some for my shop as well.  So, using half the clay of the big ones I made up these babies.
 

Penguin, ladybug, snail, owl & lion.

Unfortunately, I can't charge half the price.  The clay is the least of my expenses.  It takes less time to throw the main forms but the detail work and glazing are just as time consuming.

I struggle with pricing all the time, as I think most artisans do.  Putting a value on material and time is pretty easy.  But putting a value on your creativity and experience is so abstract and subjective.  To clarify my point I did a search on Etsy for handmade mugs and found prices ranging from $2 to $12,000 (yes, I double checked the number of zeros).  I'm pretty sure self-confidence is the driving factor here in both cases.  One undervalued and the other just a wee bit inflated.  I'm sure you can figure out which one had 200+ sales and which one had none.  =/

How do you evaluate your competition?  If someone is selling something comparable to what you sell and they're charging much less or way more than you, do you adjust your prices?  Up or down?  Or can you justify them and be confident enough to keep them where they are?  Just curious to see just how conservative I am.

It's a challenge finding that happy medium.  I know I can't make a mug for $2 and I'm pretty sure no one would spend an excessive amount (I can't even bring myself to type that number again!) on anything I've made.  When I priced my first birdhouse for a studio show I was embarrassed to charge anything!  Even at the prices I'm asking now some people balk.  I've gotten past the phase of second guessing my prices.  Enough people can see the time and creativity that goes into a piece to keep me in business.  It's not quantity (though that would be awesome!) but quality craftsmanship that's taking me to my target audience.  So I'll bypass the "price it to sell" marketing strategy and plug away where I am.  I'm comfortable somewhere between having low self esteem and being an ego maniac.

Well, this post went in a completely different direction than I intended but, like I said, pricing is something I struggle with.  I guess what it boils down to is realizing and defining your own worth without getting arrogant about it.

Three Out of Four Isn't Bad

I question myself.  Who doesn't?  Sometimes, when I'm working on a new design, I'll know immediately that I've hit the mark.  Mission accomplished.  Next.  However, there are those times when I'm too close to my work and lose my objectivity.  Then I question.

I spent the afternoon in the studio while hubby took our boys and nephew to pick up a fridge for his shop.  I had a second go at creating a hippo bank and thought I'd gotten it better than the last attempt but there was that question. I've kinda gotten into the habit of presenting a new animal bank or birdhouse design to my boys and asking them to identify it.  So when they got home I unveiled him and just asked "What is it?".  To my delight 3 out of the 4 said "It's a hippo!".  My middle son, (Mr. Contradictory) said "It's a pig!".  I've come to expect this from him.  He says everything I make looks like a pig.  So I don't count his vote.  But it still nags at me if he really thinks it looks like a pig or is he teasing me again.

What do you think?

Year End Wrap Up

We tried different things this year.

We stuck with the tried and true this year.

We questioned our processes.

We were confident in what we have done.

We expanded our horizons.

We played it safe.

Basically, our biggest change is on your screen.  We became much more aggressive in cyber marketing and social networking.  From what I've been learning this is such a new avenue that there are no experts at it yet.  Scary but exciting, too.  I feel like I'm on the cutting edge sometimes.  Not that I'm doing any edge cutting but I'm learning along with the rest of the world and that's pretty cool!  I've also been trying to learn how to take e-shop stats and analytics and use them to our advantage.  Uuum, yeah, I'll let you know when/if I ever wrap my brain around that one!

Last show of the year.

We did a few more craft shows than we (I) did last year and will be increasing that number again for next year.  I'm a big chicken when it comes to shelling out the big bucks for the high-end shows but after a couple of very disappointing shows this year I think we're gonna take the plunge for at least one biggie this coming year.  Again, scary but exciting.

I've made a living in the "real" world doing bookkeeping so I've always had a to-the-penny handle on our finances.  This year I've made an effort to dig a little deeper into sales analysis.  For example, instead of just recording how much I make at a show I now record how much of each item sold. Not that I had no idea before but now it's on a spreadsheet so I can see the whole year at once and start tracking what the trends are at each show, spring vs. fall, over several years, etc.  This should help us determine where we need to concentrate our efforts more and where we need to cut and run.

As for playing it safe the most important thing I've learned very recently:  When working with glazes ALWAYS wear a dust mask!  During my last glazing session I was doing some fussy painting where I have to hold the pot pretty close to see that I'm getting the glaze where I want it.  When I went to blow some of the dry glaze away I actually ended up inhaling some of it.  NOT GOOD!  A fever, serious coughing, trip to the Dr. and I'll live but big lesson learned!  Never again will this cotton-headed-ninny-muggins glaze without a mask!  Oye!

Overall, we had a great year!  Our show sales went up 65% from last year and our Etsy sales went up 35%.  Not too shabby!  Even though we've been selling for a few years now, I feel like I've moved a little more from a hobbyist to a professional artist, at least in my mind, which is where most of my challenges stem from.  I've found people actually seeking us out which is the most gratifying feeling. 

So, my friends, as we close out 2011 

and look into the face of 2012,

learn the lessons life is always teaching,

explore your gifts,

embrace your passions,

be cautious but fearless,

do what you love and love what you do,

and most of all,

be grateful for every little thing.

HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS 

AND A SAFE AND FRUITFUL NEW YEAR!

The Art of Being an Artist

My dad's been trying to get me to be an "artist" since I was a kid.  I was always making crafty things and sketching.  He encouraged me to go to an art school.  Besides the fact that the thought of going to college scared the crap out of me, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do.  I couldn't see myself as an artist.  The literature in the high school guidance office talked of Graphic Arts and that didn't appeal to me.  My four years of art classes in high school was mostly limited to painting and drawing, neither of which got me very excited.  So I did nothing.

For some reason having family and friends tell me I had talent didn't make me feel that way.  I guess I acknowledged it, to an extent, on a "crafty" level.  It wasn't until my pottery teacher's husband told me I was under pricing my birdhouse for a student studio show that I began to think of myself as marketable.  This took a while to sink in and take root.  I started selling at local shows and when I saw almost everyone who looked at my booth smile or even laugh I finally realized the definition of my gift.  I knew it was there but having third-party confirmation helped solidify it in my weak ego.  Seeing some of the joy I get from creating being passed on to someone else just from looking at one of my pieces.... priceless!

So, does being marketable make you an "artist"?  It shouldn't.  But in my mind, apparently, it does help.  Making something that excites my passion and seeing the intended impact in a strangers reaction makes me feel more like an artist (and that will be $40, please).  They're shoes I'm growing into and starting to feel more and more comfortable in.  But I need to walk around in them a lot more!