Carolyn Nygren Curran on mon 16 oct 00
Karen...got a kick out of your posting because I specialized in miniature
pottery for 20 years. Nearly went batty the past couple of years of
miniature making and went back to creative pots in a bigger scale. The 1
inch scale minis helped put the kids through college, however, and I
learned a lot in the process. Now I do "smalls" as bread and butter items
for shows, and the small items have the added advantage of being test
tiles for the new glaze experiments. You do have a point about the aging
of the customers, however. More food for thought, and thanks. CNC
Tom Wirt/Betsy Price on mon 16 oct 00
From: Jennifer F Boyer
Subject: Re: Pondering next year's shows---are they worth it?/
response
> I'm noticing that my customers of the baby boomer generation(my
> age) are buying crafts for THEIR children who are beginning to
> set up housekeeping.
Jennifer....
We're seeing that happen too. And for college graduation, too. And
at a time we're hearing from shop and gallery owners that sales of
functional pottery is down... although our wholesale sales have been
at max for 3 years. Go figure. Maybe this group of boomers is going
direct to the maker rather than through the shops. Bully for us if
they are.
Tom Wirt
Karen Sullivan on mon 16 oct 00
I have wondered how long I can continue to accumulate stuff.
The significant age in which to acquire stuff seems to be in the 20-30's.
Is it possible that the aging of the population will be translated into the
process of getting rid of stuff.
I have also considered making smaller things, so they fit into my limited
space.
bamboo karen
on 10/15/00 5:56 PM, Carolyn Nygren Curran at cncpots@CAPITAL.NET wrote:
> Didn't do too well at this year's shows.....WHY is the big question. Yes,
> I had mostly bottle forms and non functional items, but I thought I'd
> chosen the venues well. I am beginning to wonder if the internet is the
> big competitor---or rip off cheap goods---or what. I know there are
> more shows around than there used to be, and I know that the old mystique
> about handcrafted items seems to have disappeared. A lot of people at
> shows appear to walk around carrying few packages with the exception of
> wrought iron shepherds' crooks for their garden, and they go to shows to be
> entertained, not to collect objets d'art. Someone in the booth next to me
> at the last show said that she thought that people who pay $5 or more to
> get into a show feel that the entrance fee is all they want to spend on
> the "entertainment" provided by the show. On the other hand, the shows
> without admission are also considered as free family entertainment. Of
> course, there's never any obligation to buy, but where are the buyers of
> yesteryear? Are they on the internet, are they tired of the shows, do
> they go to galleries or what? I'd be interested in hearing comments from
> other potters.....TIA. cnc, wondering how many shows to gamble on next
> year...
>
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Jennifer F Boyer on mon 16 oct 00
I'm noticing that my customers of the baby boomer generation(my
age) are buying crafts for THEIR children who are beginning to
set up housekeeping. Another great market for us. One newly wed
had her Thistle Hill Pottery dinner set shipped to Hong Kong
when her husband got a job there!! I was floored.
Take Care
Jennifer
Karen Sullivan wrote:
>
> I have wondered how long I can continue to accumulate stuff.
> The significant age in which to acquire stuff seems to be in the 20-30's.
> Is it possible that the aging of the population will be translated into the
> process of getting rid of stuff.
> I have also considered making smaller things, so they fit into my limited
> space.
> bamboo karen
>
> on 10/15/00 5:56 PM, Carolyn Nygren Curran at cncpots@CAPITAL.NET wrote:
>
> > Didn't do too well at this year's shows.....WHY is the big question. Yes,
> > I had mostly bottle forms and non functional items, but I thought I'd
> > chosen the venues well.
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jennifer Boyer jboyer@adelphia.net
Thistle Hill Pottery
95 Powder Horn Glen Rd
Montpelier, VT 05602 USA
802-223-8926
http://www.thistlehillpottery.com/
Check out this searchable sites about web hoaxes:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blhoax.htm
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cindy Strnad on tue 17 oct 00
If the shows are making you money, they're worth it.
If they're not, then you need to find another way to sell your pottery. If
you've been selling, and you're keeping up with what people want, then you
*will* be able to sell it to someone. Maybe at a show, but maybe not.
I quit doing shows for profit years ago. Since then I've done a few just to
be sociable, or to be cooperative with one of my retailers who was putting
on a show. But around here, shows are fairly cheap to get into, and they
haven't heard of jury fees yet (hey, this is the "wild west"). They're
almost always a waste of time (even the free ones), though I *have* picked
up a couple of good wholesale accounts that way. Retailers attend the shows,
too, looking for stuff they'd like to carry in their shops or galleries.
I know people who are always saying, "Well, I'll give it one more year, and
if it doesn't improve, I'm not coming back." It's kind of like mining for
gold. You truly don't know when you're going to hit a vein, and it would be
heartbreaking to learn you stopped just inches from the mother lode. But
then, there are all kinds of way to get gold. Mining offers the greatest
reward for the smallest number, and nothing for the rest. Maybe retail shows
are like that in some ways.
You might want to consider one of the wholesale shows, if you're ready for
that level of exposure. They're expensive, but I hear many people walk away
from those shows with a year's worth of orders or more. You'd want to attend
the show you're interested in before shelling out the bucks, of course. Tour
around, ask lots of questions, figure out who's doing well, and why. If you
lose at a show like that, the stakes are higher, so you want to stack the
deck as much as you can.
I've recently signed on with http://www.wholesalecrafts.com . I've heard
good things about them, and also have heard from people who didn't do well
with them. I can't personally tell you anything just yet, but you can take a
tour of their site if you go to the URL above.
Keep looking. You'll find a way.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com
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