tony clennell on fri 9 jul 10
There seems to be this prevailing school of thought that if one and in
my case two make a living from their pots they must be "production
potters'. Two people working in a studio on a full time basis
should not have much trouble making $6000 worth of pots in a month.
The secret for Sheila and I has been owning our own retail store in a
good area. We do supply a few galleries but that is really for cash
flow and because we don't sell all we can make from home. It probably
would all sell eventually but our showroom is small and we like to
keep fresh with new work.
I prefer the moniker "studio potter' as we make small quantities of
individual items. Sometimes the cups I make from this batch of clay
are this size and the next time they are a bit bigger or smaller.
We survived 3 years of me hitting the Mormon Trail to get my MFA. The
credit goes to my hard working wife and my willingness to come home
and strap my butt to the wheel. When I drove off with my P/U pointed
west the joint was full of wall bowls big and small that Sheila could
glaze, fire and turn into cash. I think for 3 years it's all I made
when I got home- bowls, bowls and more friggin' bowls.
We enjoy a diverse life as studio potters. We make some money from our
pottery, from DVD sales, from both of us teaching part time, from me
doing workshops, from some wholesale and mostly retail. It hasn't got
any easier but we have never missed a meal and had a glass of wine to
wash it down.
cheers,
Tony
--
http://sourcherrypottery.com
http://smokieclennell.blogspot.com
Keba Hitzeman on sat 10 jul 10
It seems that doing a lot of "little" things is what makes being a studio
potter successful. Pots, teaching, workshops, wholesale, retail - maybe on=
e
or two of those things wouldn't put that glass of wine on the table, but ad=
d
it all up and it's a success.
Keba
On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 3:38 PM, tony clennell wrot=
e:
>
> We enjoy a diverse life as studio potters. We make some money from our
> pottery, from DVD sales, from both of us teaching part time, from me
> doing workshops, from some wholesale and mostly retail. It hasn't got
> any easier but we have never missed a meal and had a glass of wine to
> wash it down.
> cheers,
> Tony
>
> **********************************************
Keba Hitzeman
Pleasant Hill OH
www.yellowroomarts.com
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