what direction to go in
After Christmas and the big push, I am now reflecting on some issues i have.
This entry is to air some of the questions i have been confronted with lately.
Right before i left to go out of town for 2 weeks, I decided to listen to a good friend of mine and go ahead and risk my ego again (isn’t that what artists do so well after all).
I sent some images into a local gallery, this place being a goal of 5 years from now, I went ahead and chanced introducing myself to them. Unbenonce to me, they actually wanted to see my work in person so I took some work over and got an incredible critique and sold some cups to them wholesale.
So, my foot is in the door. Now, I am not what I would call a production potter, however, they have asked me to change some things about my website to make it more user friendly. The gallery manager asked me to get together my images in a printable format or to make a portfolio of all that i do with all the color options. She showed me some of the big time potters books where all of what they make is listed as well as the color options. I learned a lot from this visit.
Is this the direction i should be going in? I want to be in that gallery so badly and grow this foot in the door that i have, but am i ready to make objects over and over again without being able to change some things. Am I needing to make another “wholesale” type work that will sell specifically at certain galleries and shops?
Something that i have always enjoyed about my work is being able to change when i want, try new things, surfaces, etc. But, will the wholesale world stop this for me? I know that other potters do certain things for wholesale and other work for different venues, but am i able to keep up with that with a small child at home?
I’m excited to be able to have started this relationship with this gallery and others, the feedback is priceless to me, especially since I’m not in a public studio anymore where the feedback was at my doorstep.
Working is all i can do. Keep working. that has been my motto all along.
But, I’m curious how others came to where they are in marketing their work right now. I just bought the book Crafting as a business by Wendy Rosen, which seems to have very valuable information in it. I was curious about the Buyers Market for American Craft which is held in Feb. in Phil. I was wanting to go there as a visiting artist to see what it’s all about. They suggested this book to newbies.
It’s hard not being around a lot of potters to ask anymore. I’m really starting to feel the heat of not having community around me like i used to.
There is the clay club that meets in various places around that I have not participated in like i probably need to. Then, there are relationships with other potters that i have kept up and those are priceless. Also, taking a workshop or class here and there and teaching have helped to keep me in conversation about clay, these are all good i feel. But, there needs to be more.
Funny, the first thing the book suggests to do is find community and a mentor. I think I will move on this somehow…..
This brings me to the blog.
Meredith Heywood at whynotpottery.com has come up with this amazing idea to have a show with all these potter bloggers. The show is to present the value of having a blog as a potter and how the writings have helped connect and fulfill a missing link in the studio; community. This is so interesting to me as i strive to find this in my own world with clay.
I’ve enjoyed reading about Meaders pottery in cleveland, georgia. The thick tradition of the pottery being in their blood. This commitment is beautiful to me, but i wonder, did any of them ever feel trapped by it? Making the same things over and over again, the orders were large and the workers were few, that means they probably worked all day everyday making the same things.
I used to work for a production potter that worked this way. We were filling wholesale orders. That is what I did, make the same objects over and over. Not sure this is what i want.
whoo, that was a lot. Better take a break. I can’t think this way for too long or i’ll get depressed.
Back to the studio i go…..only 30 min. until nap times over!!!
January 5th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Don’t change your work style/ethic for any gallery. I used to think wholesale was equivalent to an order form…”I’d like this shape, with this pattern.” I told myself that I never wanted to take “orders” like that. I soon realized that all galleries aren’t like that. My galleries know that my work changes, and usually for the better. I show them what I have, and they pick out what they’d like to buy. Now I like that! Last year I had a new gallery that wanted me to create a new line of work specifically for them……on consignment. My reaction was “are you kidding me?” Anything I make “new” and I am proud of if going to my established galleries or I sell it myself…. definitely not consignment.
Sorry for the ramble.
Regarding community…
that’s why I left my basement studio. If you ever want to grab a bite or a beer sometime and talk pots/business, let me know. Good luck!
January 5th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Annie,
I agree with Kyle (and you!). Don’t sell yourself short. You have a wonderful enthusiasm for what you do and it would be sad for that fire to get dimmed. I did that to a degree when I first moved here. And I ended up not completing orders because I ran out of steam for making the production stuff. Another way to look at it, I suppose, is that even in production, you can always improve and grow. It is just more subtle.
I was just talking to another teacher about teaching the same things to the kids year after year- and realized how thankful I am to be teaching art- where there is really no end to the depth of the subject and the new ideas to ponder.
Gwen
January 5th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
Annie, I’m not making pots anymore, but am still really saturated in the gallery world, and seriously, a gallery that doesn’t accept your work growing isn’t worth it. In fact, I don’t know anyone who would want to buy some stale old work over new fresh stuff.
There are plenty of people who do one thing for wholesale/ craft shows and another for gallery shows or whatever, but that should never prevent you from making the things that you want to make. Isn’t that the reason you’re not working for other potters?
January 5th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
this is why i love blogging, lots and lots of feedback when you ask for it.
thanks for all the guidance. it is very helpful.
kyle, i would love to have a sit down with you, i’ve got lots of questions you could probably help with as far as selling goes.
gwen, i had heard that running out of steam filling orders was a common occurrence. glad teaching art is fulfilling that pondering mind of yours. that too is what i love about art; the infinite possibilities of expression.
holly, is that holly from college? glad to run into you here. very helpful hearing from a gallery perspective, i guess i just haven’t found the right places to grow with,but i would like to and am glad to know they are out there.
January 6th, 2010 at 5:01 am
“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” John Cotton Dara
January 6th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Annie, I love that you just got feedback from potters. I realized that is what I lack and have always lacked with painting is a good painting community. I find that I always produced more when I was taking classes! You have inspired me to seek out other painters and I am totally open for suggestions!
I do agree with your friends don’t let other people tell you how to make your art because that is what makes it so special!
January 7th, 2010 at 5:44 am
The feed back is priceless.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:24 am
I’m hoping to move to an area where I can find more of a community of clay; a clay club and mentor would be icing on the cake. I was definitely making more work when I was taking classes, something about the commradorie and total immersion that stimulates me.
January 9th, 2010 at 6:30 am
I am one of the potters Meredith invited to the Clay and blogger show, and found your blog through that listing. Hi! I could have written this very same post myself. This past year I have had many of the same questions as you. I started doing shows on a more serious level in 09 and I found a gallery here in Chapel Hill that likes my work and buys whatever I bring in to her. I figured out what sells well, what people will and will not buy and the prices that work well at the shows I did and then I took those pieces in to the gallery, telling her what I got good feedback on from customers at shows. I also thought more carefully, when making things, if that was something I would want to make over and over. There are some things I love to make and will make repeatedly and then I try out new stuff and think, God, I’ll never make more than two or three of these. I get bored so easily with repetition. But I do have my core items that sell well, have a good price point and keep me inspired when trying new pieces. I also Raku fire so I have to think of non functional work food wise but functional somehow so people would have some sort of use for it, ie: incense burners, soap dishes, etc. I’m also doing hippie-ish kinds of festivals so I try to think about what stoners might like
I love that Meredith has put this show together and I hope a lot of us in cyberspace will get to meet! Good luck!!
January 12th, 2010 at 11:16 am
I was there once. I was a production potter, i can, i suppose, make thousands of things the same, and sometimes I used to enjoy that, there’s a something, a something I used to think of as zen, to working over and over with a single form, but… but indeed.
I had galleries tell me what they wanted. And customers… always the promise of more sales if I would just… But I don’t want to make it in red with a glossy glaze!
But hey, there was the rent to pay, so, i did it. And I didn’t feel good about it. And I didn’t do it well, because I had no love for a bastard piece that’s only part mine.
Go with your heart. Don’t get trapped into being a machine, turning out things you cease to love, in order to pay the bills.
Go with your heart.
January 15th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Annie, I’m so sorry I read your blog and admire your work (of course you already know how obsessed I am with your work) but I never leave you a comment on here… It’s wonderful to hear your heart on the matter and to see you wrestle through things and grow as a potter as God opens doors and you seek wisdom on the best path for your gifts and heart for your art. I’m so glad your community is growing on the blog and I hope you are able to find a solid mentor as well.
Thanks for reminding and challenging me in my own art. You are inspiring and talented…it’s good you are wrestling with all of these decisions… you are the only one with your specific gifts, vision, calling …and family…keep seeking God’s wisdom in all aspects.
I love you my dear friend and can’t wait to keep witnessing your future.
January 17th, 2010 at 10:43 am
Annie,
I too am participating in that show and I thank goodness for the blogging community!
All of your issues are mine as well.. and granted when it comes to putting food on the table, I would never fault anyone for compromise…
However, I designed clothing for years and the retail community can take your work, YOUR ART, and twist it into something that “SELLS LIKE HOT CAKES” and then it can become a case of “Be careful what you wish for” meaning: You may very well end up a “production potter” making the same work over and over in glossy red….and is that what it’s all about? I think not. If you can continue to evolve and grow and live…I say keep going down that road.
Just an opinion(obviously…)
January 20th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Wow. the blogging community has blown me away with great advice. this is awesome. thank you all so much. i appreciate every word.
and have come to some great conclusions.
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Hi Annie,
My first time stopping by your blog and this post struck a chord. I currently have about 5 wholesale galleries that I sell only a specific ‘line’ of my work to. It’s work that sells really well for them and is my bread and butter. While I have to be in production mode to make it, it is work I developed quite naturally and on my own and fortunately people started liking it.
I also have a ton of work that I make here and there for my own enjoyment. Sometimes I sell it, sometimes I keep it around just to inspire me to keep moving forward. I also have kids and think it is wise to only commit to a small amount of galleries or shops- really good and credible ones, instead of spreading yourself out too thin.
Hopefully you can find your way in this. I recently talked to a production potter (who’s been potting in a home studio in a small community for 30 years) who does 2 shows a year out of his home studio. That pays his entire living for the year. Occasionally he gets the odd drop-in, but he has built a network of repeat customers all these years. So no, wholesale isn’t the answer for everyone- and it is a big decision, effecting your prices and your style and work.
All the best! Heather