tony clennell on thu 24 apr 08
If I had 330 square feet of studio space that would be a 1/3 increase.
Sheila and i as full time studio potters share 250 square feet of
workshop. In Canada the government does all they can to make life hard
on small business with bylaws, taxes and silly nonsense. If our studio
is over 500 square feet we are considered an industry and our taxes
are tripled. We now pay $3000 so that would be $9000- no thanx! So we
have a 500 square foot studio that is half workshop and half showroom.
How to make it work- we move work to the outside kiln often. The kiln
is storage.
We use one glaze and one slip. In a way this has been liberating as
it is more about the clay than the glazes.
We have a garden shed for glaze materials and packing materials. It is
cold to mix the dry materials in winter but that's what i got.
I have shelving out back near the kiln for bisque surplus.
You have to like each other since you are always dodging one another
and their work is always were you want to put yours.
The outdoors is your best friend. I am now able to make work of a
decent size since I can now move it outdoors. In winter the floor is
my studio since none of my big work fits on the shelves. It is a major
restriction to the scale of the work.
Wayne would not like to visit our studio as it moves from clean at the
beginning of a cycle to an absolute mess by the end of one.
I think when I'm away Sheila is happy with that space. She doesn't
work big and she has lots of room. I could easily use minimum 500
square feet.
It ain't the ideal studio but it is what I have. When in university I
lined a closet with plastic(I was a closet potter) so my small studio
is an improvement over that.
When your short you're the last one to know it's raining and the first
one to know there is a flood.
With all bad there is some good.
Best,
Tony
--
http://sourcherrypottery.com
http://smokieclennell.blogspot.com
Larry Kruzan on thu 24 apr 08
My original building was 450sf that was split between showroom and studio.
2 1/2 years ago we built a 400sf kiln shed and gas kiln and like Tony said,
that helped a lot - kilns are great storage spaces for pots. Two years ago
we added a real 1200sf studio to the original building - I often fine that
there are jobs that were easier in the old small space - but it is getting
better.
In the old 12x18 "studio" (this included the toilet) I stored clay in the
bathroom, under the wedging table - anywhere it would fit. I also stacked
it in the showroom, layed a piece of plywood on top, covered with a
tablecloth for display. Glazes were stored in two and five gallon buckets
depending on how much I used of each. Everything was on wheels that could
be.
After reading our dear friend Tony's post I'm sure glad that I was not
punished for outgrowing the little depot I started in. My taxes tripled on
my place as it grew (the building did quadruple in size) but $1000 a year is
much easier to take than $9000!!!! If that happened here the results would
not be pretty - We did have one tea party here a couple hundred years ago,
could happen again.
Larry Kruzan
Lost Creek Pottery
www.lostcreekpottery.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of tony clennell
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 7:16 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: [CLAYART] tiny studios
If I had 330 square feet of studio space that would be a 1/3 increase.
Sheila and i as full time studio potters share 250 square feet of
workshop. In Canada the government does all they can to make life hard
on small business with bylaws, taxes and silly nonsense. If our studio
is over 500 square feet we are considered an industry and our taxes
are tripled. We now pay $3000 so that would be $9000- no thanx! So we
have a 500 square foot studio that is half workshop and half showroom.
How to make it work- we move work to the outside kiln often. The kiln
is storage.
We use one glaze and one slip. In a way this has been liberating as
it is more about the clay than the glazes.
We have a garden shed for glaze materials and packing materials. It is
cold to mix the dry materials in winter but that's what i got.
I have shelving out back near the kiln for bisque surplus.
You have to like each other since you are always dodging one another
and their work is always were you want to put yours.
The outdoors is your best friend. I am now able to make work of a
decent size since I can now move it outdoors. In winter the floor is
my studio since none of my big work fits on the shelves. It is a major
restriction to the scale of the work.
Wayne would not like to visit our studio as it moves from clean at the
beginning of a cycle to an absolute mess by the end of one.
I think when I'm away Sheila is happy with that space. She doesn't
work big and she has lots of room. I could easily use minimum 500
square feet.
It ain't the ideal studio but it is what I have. When in university I
lined a closet with plastic(I was a closet potter) so my small studio
is an improvement over that.
When your short you're the last one to know it's raining and the first
one to know there is a flood.
With all bad there is some good.
Best,
Tony
--
http://sourcherrypottery.com
http://smokieclennell.blogspot.com
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Jim Willett on fri 25 apr 08
On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:16:12 -0400, tony clennell
wrote:
>If I had 330 square feet of studio space that would be a 1/3 increase.
>Sheila and i as full time studio potters share 250 square feet of
>workshop. In Canada the government does all they can to make life hard
>on small business with bylaws, taxes and silly nonsense. If our studio
>is over 500 square feet we are considered an industry and our taxes
>are tripled. We now pay $3000 so that would be $9000- no thanx! So we
>have a 500 square foot studio that is half workshop and half showroom.
>How to make it work- we move work to the outside kiln often. The kiln
>is storage...............
Tony (and Sheila),
You have our admiration. We never realized you operated from such a small
space. When we moved to our new location at the end of 2006 we left behind
2300 square feet of space and moved into 1400. 440 of that is studio while
the rest is gallery, office and storage. Our 440 sq ft holds one each 16
cu ft and 10 cu ft electric kilns, small pugmill, 24 inch slab roller, two
wheels, and extruder.We also have two 3 x 8 work tables. Glazes are in 40
gallon garbage cans which should be on wheels but aren't, kiln furniture
is on wheels, drying racks on wheels, storage shelves high on one wall and
around sink area. When there are two people working it does help if they
are both family!
As far as taxes go we are lucky as in Edmonton we were not and are still
not considered industrial.(Pottery studios are discretionary businesses in
this area). Our business taxes have always been under a
thousand dollars a year and they are based on square footage.
We are currently being filmed by "Careers Television" for a feature later
in the year on CTV-Global. Depending on how that works out we should be
able to show all a bit of how we work in our small space.
We had a huge snow fall over the weekend. It is melting again rapidly but
we are sure happy we weren't working, firing,or storing pots outdoors! All
the best to you two from we two.
Jim and Cindy
Out of the Fire Studio
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
http://www.outofthefirestudio.com
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