Lessons from the Sabbatical

 As you may know, last session I took a break from classes at Portland Pottery - my first since I started teaching there in 2001. In fact, it was the first time since I left school that I have been just a potter! I’ve always had some other job. Early on, I had service jobs, then office jobs; when I started teaching, that position kept my mind in clay, brought me community, and allowed me to share my joy and passion. It was a good fit.

Nevertheless, I sometimes looked at full time potters and wondered: what have they got that I haven’t got? I know now, I think: the answer is nothing. Or maybe the answer is time, or the money to buy a little time. Because it was working. Just not fast enough to sustain. I like this answer better than "I guess I just suck at this" although the distinction has not yet had much practical effect. 

One of the reasons I started this blog was to share what I've learned with other potters. From my time on sabbatical, I learned that you can make a living selling pots, if you have enough of  a cushion to buy you time to build. I went from one or two online sales a month to three or four a week - still not enough but an enormous increase. I increased my Patreon income by about 30%. I don't know that this growth would have continued, but I do know one thing: the second, the very instant I stopped banging that drum constantly, it stopped. Last week, the week I went back to class? There were zero orders and zero subscriber growth. It's a bit discouraging, but it's also good information. 

Marketing, it seems, takes as much time as making. I was trying to post to five platforms, four times a day - a lot of copy/paste, but sometimes with slight alterations in each post tailored to each platform. I sent newsletters and targeted snailmail. Plus the occasional Youtube video.  I posted longer tutorials several times a week to the Patreon page. It was a lot, and even at that I could have been doing more. While maybe somebody out there is making pots that simply fly off the shelves, of their own accord (sure, Jan) I feel like I may have discovered the secret, at least for me: promote the holy hell out of the work & the page. However much promotion I am doing, I should be doing more! In fact, what am I doing spending on this non-income-generating blog?? 

See where this leads? I now know - or think I know - that I could be a full time potter...but is that the work I would want to do? If I could just make stuff, and then the fairies would come in the night & exchange it for cash, well, I'd take that deal! But that's not how it is. So, would I even want to do that, if that's the trade-off? I don't know that I would, but I do know that I like all of this better than: maybe I just suck at this.

Anyway, blah-blah-blah, check out the Patreon if you haven't already, there's a new post about slip decorating techniques up today. 

Travel Mugs at Last!

 

So excited to have these travel mugs finally available! I've been working on this form for awhile, trying to iron out the functional requirements, which are quite different from those of a household mug. The travel mug needs to: fit in a cupholder; insulate the hand without a handle; have an opening large enough for ice cubes that still minimizes sloshing; hold a substantial amount (can't really refill on the go!); accommodate a straw; and still be easy to wash. I made 10 of these, only 5 of which survived the bisque (I'll have more on that at Patreon). One sold right out of the kiln, which leaves four. 
They happened to be in the part of the kiln that reduced perfectly, so they are all the goldy-tan that is my favorite soda result. 

I'm particularly pleased with my solution to the hot-coffee problem: without a handle, stoneware, being very dense, transfers the heat readily to your hand. These have a hollow band about 2" wide where you can grip - the air layer prevents that uncomfortable heat transfer. (Downside, but only for me: these are pretty labor intensive to create. Or to do it neatly, at least, so it looks nice. I can make things look like crap as fast as you like.) Similarly, the drinking hole had a couple of challenges: the circular opening allows it to be large enough for an ice cube while still keeping the liquid from sloshing out of the cup. You can read more about the making here. You can shop here! 

October Giveaway: Locking Lid Teapot

 I've been working on a seated lid with a lock for pouring vessels. The first one I made was...not great. Worked, kind of, but you know: not great. The second one was much better: it functions just as I hoped it would. Look: 

It does what I intended it to do, but the visual of the mechanism needs some work. It's just a strip of clay across the bottom of the lid, that fits into two slots cut in the gallery. In one position, the lid lifts off; turn it 90°, and it catches under the gallery and won't come off. You can tip the pot well over, and the lid stays in place. 

It works, but I'd like it to be more elegant, more integrated. The teapot itself is beautiful, if a little more austere than my usual look; I didn't want to spend a great deal of time on decorating until I knew the mechanism would work properly. So, simple and rustic. Because it doesn't fit in with my usual body of work, it looks out of place in a store display. What to do, what to do...? I know: I'll give it away! 

Every other month I do a giveaway for paid subscribers at Patreon. If you'd like a chance to win this teapot, join any tier (starts at $1.50/month) before the drawing on October 11th. Since only paid subscribers are entered, your chances are pretty good! 

Last month (and still) I was working on a travel mug design that would be suitable for both hot and cold drinks, and protect the users hand from heat in the absence of a handle. After getting some feedback on the prototypes, I made the cups bigger and the opening smaller, but round rather than half-moon-shaped. I got the first of these new, improved travel mugs out of the last firing and I am absolutely delighted! I hope to photograph these and list them on the website this week.