Loretta Wray on thu 13 jan 05
Greetings,
I could use a little advice (have I come to the right place?)
I've been trying to come up with ideas to generate a little income that
would use my "addiction" to support my "addiction."
Last year I taught kids' clay classes and found it enjoyable over all, but
it seemed that over the course of a year I started having trouble finding
projects that would challenge and appeal to my "repeat" students, yet be
basic enough for beginning students. I reached a point where I felt like I
was constatnly neglecting one or the other.
I'm in the process of finishing a small studio on our property and was
toying with the idea of holding classes here. I know there are MANY things
to consider and I'm not sure if the benefits of teaching here outweigh the
benefits of teaching at a center.
Yes, I can set my own hours, and all the money taken in will be MINE,
MINE, MINE, but so will all the expenses, marketing, liability, etc etc!!
I also haven't had a chance to collect much equipment. I have one wheel
and an old kiln that will have to be replaced. So I would have to focus on
primitive hand-building methods.
Several thoughts have been rolling around in my already cluttered head.
Yesterday a fellow-potter friend got me to thinking about offering a kind
of "mobile clay class." She said that nursing homes are literally dying
(well, not LITERALLY literally) to have someone come in with art workshops
for residents. It sounded somewhat intruiging and I'm trying to think this
concept through a little bit. I'm sure it could apply to more than just
nursing homes (scouting groups, 4-H, homeschoolers, etc, etc.) I started
thinking that there are probably potters out there who have done similar
gigs and could maybe share their wisdom and knowledge!
It seems like the class-size would have to be kept small (I would think 8-
10 would be almost too many.) I don't know if the nursing homes would even
want to bother with something that would apply to so few residents unless
I would go in several days in a row.
It also seems like there would be a fair amount of "lugging" involved in
this endeavor, but that seems true of virtually everything to do with this
hobby/career/lifestyle (why didn't I get into jewelry making???)
One would need to supply table coverings, containers for water, tools, and
the clay. Would it be best to take some clay in the form of pre-made
slabs, coils, etc, or have everyone make it all the old fashioned way?
I would also have to worry about transporting finished pieces home to fire
and transport them back in the following week, then home again to fire,
then deliver finished pieces.
I would think that the best way to approach this idea would be to offer a
limited choice of specific projects. That way, I would know what tools I
would need, approx. how much clay to plan on taking, and the participants
would know what they can expect to take home from the class.
The hardest part for me to figure out is a price to charge. Would it even
be possible to offer this service at an affordable price once all my
expenses and time are factored in? I don't need to make a lot of money (my
alternative income is going to be waiting tables at a local restaurant)and
I'd much rather make a little less money doing something I enjoy. But I
would like to do more than break even!
I know that besides the cost of supplies I'm probably not considering the
amount of time I'll be spending over and above the actual class. There
will be hours of preparation, then the travel, the loading and un-loading,
stacking, and firing, waxing and wiping bottoms (of pots, hopefully not
residents!) What am I forgetting? Paperwork, advertising, phone-calls, I
think I'm already talking myself out of this idea!!
Ok, here's one another option. I think part of my problem with the kids'
courses I taught was the length of time the courses ran. Is there any
reason why more centers don't offer something like 2-week, single project
classes? I would think that this might appeal to our instant
gratification, sports-oriented society!! Instead of spending $100+ dollars
and committing to 9 weeks of classes that might interfere with soccer
season, what if I offered several 2-week sessions? They make the project
one week (I bisque-fire) they glaze the next week. The price could
probably be in the $20-25 range. If someone wanted to sign up for all the
projects, that would be kinda like taking a 9-week course only they'd know
that each session would focus on a particular project. Is that stifling
creativity too much??
I've thought I could offer a separate, long-term class for repeat students
who want to work more independently where my responsibilities would be
more of a facilitory nature. That could almost be charged on a monthly
basis plus their supply costs.
A couple other nice things about offering "shorty" sessions would be that
if a student discovered they just don't like clay, they wouldn't be out as
much money. Also it wouldn't seem like so much out-of-pocket expense to
the student and would provide a more "regular" income for the instructor.
At the center where I taught, we weren't paid by the hour or class, we
were independently contracted and would receive a lump sum at the
beginning of the session. I would never know for sure if I'd have enough
students to justify running the class and often taught it with borderline
participation just 'cos they'd be so disappointed if you cancelled it! If
you didn't have enough students sign up for a "shorty" you might talk them
into taking a different one and you wouldn't have so much "down-time."
Hmmmmm, lots and lots of things to consider, but I have confidence that
the potters of Clayart will help me to think of the many variables (both
positive and negative) that I haven't considered and I may decide to wait
tables and just keep doing the pottery for its therapeutic benefits!!
Thanks so much,
Loretta Wray
Penni on thu 13 jan 05
Whew! Loretta!!
I have to admit first off that I mostly skimmed through your long post (but
that is only because it is late and I am tired and really should be doing
other things besides "playing" on the computer before heading to bed).
I have done most of what you are thinking about.
Single serving classes with guides, brownies, school classes and for holiday
or spring break kids at the local libraries (or not so local as they a
couple were across town for me).
I will try to keep this brief but I fear I can't!
I set up all the classes to run from 1 to 2 hours (1 1/2 works best) with
the exception of one of the school groups as they were part of a rotation
day at the school I work at and we had 1/2 hour to do a project ( I also
taught an art class with grade 4's for a full hour).
I ALWAYS stated first that not only did I have to transport the projects
home to my kiln and load them in and out of my kiln but that pottery is
sometimes a not so easy art. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are or how
sure you are something will work, it breaks or blows up in the kiln. I gave
them rules, no more then this thick, no more then this thin and I always
emphasized the scoring and slipping and not using too much water!
Tools I have stuffed away are: canvas place mats ( about 12" x 12" cut from
a single big piece of heavy canvas I bought at the sewing store), dowling
cut into 12" pieces to be used as rolling pins, large tooth pics (the kind
with one rounded end), tongue depressors (both bought in bulk at a local
craft store) both for scratching and molding the clay, plastic knives for
cutting pieces, dixie cups for water and small 1" square cut up sponges in
the cups with only a WEE bit of water (enough to get the sponge quite damp
but not enough to drench a piece - though they still seem to).
Projects I have done range from a free from - here is the how no go for it
and make something, pinch pot piggie banks (even kids as young as 6 have
managed this one though you need to be able to circulate among them all),
wind chimes and bowls for them to paint with underglazes.
At the libraries I did 1 hour classes and had the kids to the piggies banks
and then we all painted bowls. After firing all in a glaze firing I returned
glazed, painted bowls for them to use and unglazed piggie banks for them to
paint with tempra paints or whatever. The wind chimes are really easy. I
have a ton of foam stamps and have pre-prepared slabs for each of them (1 lb
each). They use the stamps, texture items and whatever to make a pattern
then I come aroudn the cut a header and the chimes to hang off of it.
Hardest part for this was A) keeping all the parts of one chime together so
the same kid got all of his bits back and B) when the stamped so hard to
textured so much the slab was thin as paper!
In terms of charging, I tried to figure out how much I needed to earn per
hour in order to make it worth my while and I added in the prep time and
kiln loading/ unloading time too. Then divide by the number of kids you can
handle (I have had up to 30 with at least one other adult - this is the
older kids mind you, younger ones, 20 with 2 other bodies or no more then 12
alone!). Then I looked at the cost per kid. Was it enough? How much per kid
for materials? I always broke it down too. $X for class and $X for
materials. No one balked at that. I admit though, I did not have lots of
overhead expenses like advertising. Most of these kids classes fell into my
lap. I was a the right place at the right time.
I think I've got everything. If you've got any other questions you can
e-mail me privately if you wish.
Penni
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