April Pots
Felt great to be back making pots. I had to glaze 60 pots after work on a Friday at the paper factory. Started at 11:30 pm and got done at 2:00 am then started the gas kiln at 6:00 am to run it long for a raw fire so I could have pots for a show at 11:00 am on a Sunday. It worked out great I took a little nap and then loaded the gas kiln at 5:30 am and had it down by 2:00 pm.
Out loading at 5:30 am the birds were singing and the turkey was calling with a few geese flying over. I had to have the kiln down by early afternoon due to a threat of rain so it all worked out.
Had a customer stop by check on a lid I am making for his GoodWill pot he found that I forgot to make and he said it was ok as he had time as he’s retired. I did the order because he just brought it over and dropped it off and he was a Veteran. We stood watching the updraft kiln fire while we talk about what a good cook his wife was and how when they met she made this awesome chicken cordon bleu and he knew he had to marry her.
After the kiln made temperature I put it in the reduction for 15 min overtime and then shut it down and smoked it out with wood then sealed it up and took an nap. The Daffodils are up on the lawn and other than my Facebook business account getting hacked it was a perfect day to be alive making pots.
What type of new techniques would you like to try if you didn’t feel the need to have each result be successful? Make some junk pots and try that. Just try enjoying the technique or process not caring for the results all that much. You will be amazed at what you learn not worrying about the result working out all the time. Because as we know it may not.
Loss & Wins
So I had some wins in all the fails this month.
1. I went to an in-person show with the pots and just broke even. But I put in the work and I still showed up.
* One person who collects my work drove an hour out to see me and bought more. They went on for some time about how much they liked the work and how much they enjoyed seeing it created in live feeds.
* I was invited to do demos and sell pots at another show that was looking for handmade
* I was able to work and vend with friends who were very inspiring and supportive and we have plans to collaborate
2. Lost my Facebook business page and 3600 people and my VIP group to bad guys and Facebook has been zero help. But I still put in the work and I still showed up
*My website reached 100, 000 views
*I got two new wholesale accounts
*My location was put in an area travel guide for an artist tour.
*I have another in-person show.
*I tried a new making style and technique that worked out.
So overall, it was a fair and foul month but like some say “done is better than perfect. “. And many times you just need to keep showing up for yourself and others. Losing a whole buying community will take a while to walk off but I had already started diversifying last year and so only lost about 1/3 of my revenue.
I’m a big community guy and my peeps were so much fun. I do hope to rebuild in some way on a platform that is more supportive maybe. May I never get so big I quit caring about the little folks.
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Happy Potting!
Al Wayman
