Hank Murrow on wed 20 jul 05
On Jul 20, 2005, at 6:06 PM, Susan Nebeker wrote:
> As far as working the kids, all three of my daughters have financed
> themselves with their work done in my studio. The middle one
> completely put herself through her last three years of college with
> her earnings.
>
> They've worked their little tails off, and it's been a great way to
> spend time with them too.....
Haven't met the daughters, but the mom is a peach!
Cheers, Hank
www.murrow.biz/hank
Kris Bliss on wed 20 jul 05
susan, darlin,
what are bubble wands?
i have a grandma with me now...
mostly she just visits in the studio, tried a bit of glazing but
no go..
kris
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Nebeker"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: inexpensive sales
> mel jacobson wrote:
> i have reported this before...but it can be repeated.
>
> child labor.
> god, i love it...should have more of it.
>
> Just for chuckles, Mel- let me share this with ya'll.......
>
> The bubble wands I wrote about that make such great kiln fillers were
> originally a project for my grandmother. She lived with me for a few
> years till 2003. Paralyzed on the left side of her body, confined
> to a wheel chair.
>
> She absolutely loved going out to the studio with me. Husband built a
> great ramp for the chair, off we'd go every day, up that ramp and into the
> studio. She'd sit by the slab roller/wheel and just watch and watch. But
> then, I could see that finding a way for her to be productive would be so
> much better. I'd let her scratch the "fur texture" onto my animal
> sculptures, trim the bottom of my handbuilt planters with the needle tool.
>
> It was so great for this woman- who before the stroke that landed her in
> a wheelchair- could and DID do anything and everything. She could be
> helpful, she could be creative and productive again. Mentally, she was/is
> sharp as a tack. (91 years old now!) She hated being stuck in that
> chair, not able to work.
>
> Then came the bubble wand idea..........I extruded the coils for her,
> gave her the boxes of stamps, and let her go. She was a maniac, kept at
> those suckers all afternoon, day after day.
>
> The day of the spring sale, she sat a few feet away from the table where
> the wands were, and just beamed. She still likes to tell people about
> "our studio" and how many hundreds of dollars worth of those wands she
> sold!
>
> As far as working the kids, all three of my daughters have financed
> themselves with their work done in my studio. The middle one completely
> put herself through her last three years of college with her earnings.
>
> They've worked their little tails off, and it's been a great way to spend
> time with them too..... Best way to build self-esteem? A big shot of
> personal success- and creative success is the best kind of success there
> is.
>
> :) Susan
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
mel jacobson on wed 20 jul 05
i have reported this before...but it can be repeated.
child labor.
god, i love it...should have more of it.
i could relive the 7 acre oats field.
88 degrees, a mason jar of water.
i learned that i had to do it...one shock at a time.
no one was going to help me.
do one, move on. just like real life.
now a kid would have his parents do it for him..and
they would. then drive him to a little league game and sit
in the sun and watch while he plays. then he would get a trophy
bigger than the nfl championship trophy...for participation.
anyway.
house numbers.
buy a set of large cookie cutter numbers 1-9,0
use dark and light clay...some with holes, some without.
my daughter made them...9-13 years old...or so.
slab roller, cut them out...set them by the kiln.
i would load them under platters etc.
she would glaze some.
1 buck each.
45391 aldrich avenue...5 bucks.
she had them all counted.
at the end of a show....`dad, you owe me 192 dollars please`.
kept her off the streets.
she also made soap dishes...add marbles, let them melt...she sold tons.
mel
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
http://home.comcast.net/~figglywig/clayart.htm
for gail's year book.
Susan Nebeker on wed 20 jul 05
mel jacobson wrote:
i have reported this before...but it can be repeated.
child labor.
god, i love it...should have more of it.
Just for chuckles, Mel- let me share this with ya'll.......
The bubble wands I wrote about that make such great kiln fillers were originally a project for my grandmother. She lived with me for a few years till 2003. Paralyzed on the left side of her body, confined to a wheel chair.
She absolutely loved going out to the studio with me. Husband built a great ramp for the chair, off we'd go every day, up that ramp and into the studio. She'd sit by the slab roller/wheel and just watch and watch. But then, I could see that finding a way for her to be productive would be so much better. I'd let her scratch the "fur texture" onto my animal sculptures, trim the bottom of my handbuilt planters with the needle tool.
It was so great for this woman- who before the stroke that landed her in a wheelchair- could and DID do anything and everything. She could be helpful, she could be creative and productive again. Mentally, she was/is sharp as a tack. (91 years old now!) She hated being stuck in that chair, not able to work.
Then came the bubble wand idea..........I extruded the coils for her, gave her the boxes of stamps, and let her go. She was a maniac, kept at those suckers all afternoon, day after day.
The day of the spring sale, she sat a few feet away from the table where the wands were, and just beamed. She still likes to tell people about "our studio" and how many hundreds of dollars worth of those wands she sold!
As far as working the kids, all three of my daughters have financed themselves with their work done in my studio. The middle one completely put herself through her last three years of college with her earnings.
They've worked their little tails off, and it's been a great way to spend time with them too..... Best way to build self-esteem? A big shot of personal success- and creative success is the best kind of success there is.
:) Susan
__________________________________________________
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Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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Jane Murray-Smith on thu 21 jul 05
Hi Susan,
Ditto to the following question...are just the handles extruded? is the
bubble soap end out of clay as well?
Thanks...I love your work.
Jane
www.dragonflypottery.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kris Bliss"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 10:07 PM
Subject: Re: inexpensive sales
> susan, darlin,
> what are bubble wands?
> i have a grandma with me now...
> mostly she just visits in the studio, tried a bit of glazing but
> no go..
> kris
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Susan Nebeker"
> To:
> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 5:06 PM
> Subject: Re: inexpensive sales
>
>
>> mel jacobson wrote:
>> i have reported this before...but it can be repeated.
>>
>> child labor.
>> god, i love it...should have more of it.
>>
>> Just for chuckles, Mel- let me share this with ya'll.......
>>
>> The bubble wands I wrote about that make such great kiln fillers were
>> originally a project for my grandmother. She lived with me for a few
>> years till 2003. Paralyzed on the left side of her body, confined
>> to a wheel chair.
>>
>> She absolutely loved going out to the studio with me. Husband built a
>> great ramp for the chair, off we'd go every day, up that ramp and into
>> the
>> studio. She'd sit by the slab roller/wheel and just watch and watch.
>> But
>> then, I could see that finding a way for her to be productive would be so
>> much better. I'd let her scratch the "fur texture" onto my animal
>> sculptures, trim the bottom of my handbuilt planters with the needle
>> tool.
>>
>> It was so great for this woman- who before the stroke that landed her in
>> a wheelchair- could and DID do anything and everything. She could be
>> helpful, she could be creative and productive again. Mentally, she
>> was/is
>> sharp as a tack. (91 years old now!) She hated being stuck in that
>> chair, not able to work.
>>
>> Then came the bubble wand idea..........I extruded the coils for her,
>> gave her the boxes of stamps, and let her go. She was a maniac, kept at
>> those suckers all afternoon, day after day.
>>
>> The day of the spring sale, she sat a few feet away from the table where
>> the wands were, and just beamed. She still likes to tell people about
>> "our studio" and how many hundreds of dollars worth of those wands she
>> sold!
>>
>> As far as working the kids, all three of my daughters have financed
>> themselves with their work done in my studio. The middle one completely
>> put herself through her last three years of college with her earnings.
>>
>> They've worked their little tails off, and it's been a great way to spend
>> time with them too..... Best way to build self-esteem? A big shot of
>> personal success- and creative success is the best kind of success there
>> is.
>>
>> :) Susan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> __________________________________________________
>> Do You Yahoo!?
>> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>> http://mail.yahoo.com
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________________________
>> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>>
>> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>>
>> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>> melpots@pclink.com.
>>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Darlene Yarnetsky-Mudcat Pottery on thu 21 jul 05
Just catching some of these posts on making inexpensive items. The
best suggestion I have seen was to make something you enjoy! If you
are going to be making a whole bunch of little somethings to fill the
kiln spaces, make sure it is something you are willing to do over and
over and over. My husband and I got into designing tiles for a while
after 9/11 left us with a pile of pots. It was good to try something
totally different, and the tiles are a small fun item that I sell
quite a few of. Pressing them can get tedious, but I love designing
them and they are so easy to glaze after my multi layered pieces that
it it makes up for the pressing of them.
One thought on making small items though. I found that if I make 2
sizes of mugs, I can never predict who wants which and end up having
to make twice as many mugs. It drove me crazy. I finally settled on a
size and they sell just fine, though I occasionally do steins as a
special order. It is very easy to try to please every one and end up
carrying too many items and trying to do too much. You want to think
about what you want to make in the long run. If you want to carry 20
or 30 or more items, or if you want to do just a few production
pieces. Follow your interests and the sales will come.
I knew I didn't want to make identical plates and mugs for the next
40 years, but that is the way my business was going for a while
because I made what I thought would be easiest to sell at the
beginning. Really got burned out trying to please everyone but
myself. Now I do a small amount of production items, and
complimentary one off pieces. For me it is a good balance. Choosing
what to make is all about finding what works for you and getting it
to the people who will buy it.
Darlene Yarnetsky in Madison Indiana,
looking forward to a swim at the city pool this evening!
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