Ceramics done right.

[ravena_kade]

A couple weeks ago I met a woman who runs a ceramic shop out of a garden shed. She has a passion for it and "pimps" it well. Friday night I went to the big craft show in Boston and made sure I stopped by her booth. She was selling fabulously. The show had opened at noon and we (me and Dad) saw her at 4 PM and she had already made the cost of the booth so everything else was gravy. That is fabulous.(and it shows me that I am just in the wrong location) Yesterday she posted on fabe book that all the inventory she had in boxes under the table was gone, and then later she sold out of all the $49 Christmas trees and that she had to bring in the $10 at the shop to sell for Sunday...and it was first come first serve.

I am so happy to see someone doing well in my hobby when the people in the actually league are giving up, or just settling. I find I can't talk to much about this new shop as my friend with the shop here gets defensive. I don't want to make her feel that way... that is not my intent.

The difference between the 2 shops is that the new woman does not pay rent...that is huge in the Boston area. If I could find a space (a community room or something) I would run classes myself, but I have no rent funding. This new woman's husband pours the pieces...and he pours well. I met him and complimented him on that. My friend's husband looks at pouring as a punishment and there is no care or pride in what he does and it shows (fingernail marks on faces, bowls that are not round). It is the quality that comes out of my friend's shop that sent me to find other places. The new woman also gets all the new items that come out and my friend ...and myself... can't afford it... so it limits us.

You need to spend money to make money. THAT IS THE KEY. I have known this for years... but getting capital is hard especially with Ma's medical and final expenses. ... and I am slow. I did buy a new kiln last year in cash and that is a huge investment. I will continue to follow this woman and become a customer... her shop has also inspired my cousins...who have seen the garden shed and know that it is not the setting but the attitude that makes the difference in a shop.

The new shop also had a different Christmas tree that I really liked. It is a flat tree that looks like the regular ceramic trees that everyone has...it is flat to sit in a window sill and then the decoration shows on the outside and inside the home. I know my friend won't buy this mold so I won't complete with her. I will buy that with

Comments

[fionaniconnor]

I'm glad you have gotten a new, more positive perspective on your craft. I feel like you spend so much time with dour old ladies that you're adopting their myopic view on the world.

[ravena_kade]

Yes, my world view is growing dim... I get dour old in my hobby and at work...

I need a break from it.

[fionaniconnor]

Yes, get away from the grump. It'll make a difference.

[brickhousewench]

It sounds like your local friend doesn't have the success she wants because she doesn't take much pride in doing a good job. If she's defensive, I suspect it's because she knows she's not doing as much as she could be.

I'm glad you've found another shop with a better attitude. Good people who do good work draw good people to them, and I hope the new, more positive perspective will help you find your own creative mojo again.

[ravena_kade]

I think my local friend is caught up in a series of things... she is 1 step from loosing her house due to husband's legal problems and she needs husband to work, but husband is a lazy crap...and she loves him and covers for it... so it all trickles down.... It is sad...

but I can see that this will work... if people put their minds and heart into it and that is important to me.

Now if I could find better work environs then I would be quite happy.

[gwendraith]

Such a shame about your friend's outlook but reading the other comments it's perhaps not unexpected given her circumstances. Feeling happy and secure goes a long way towards the confidence to do things, to do it with purpose and perhaps the push to find a way to make it work.

[ravena_kade]

Exactly. I do wish her the best...and help her whenever I can because I know she has these issues.