thick & thin

We're on a roll, kids! I just love these brief but oh so intense periods of success. I just got my pottery into a new gallery, made a great connection by means of a happy chance encounter, and may have tripled my revenue from my custom order. I need to start getting used to the thick and thin of this being an artist thing. Just when you think it's time to start looking for that wealthy husband, blam! a big dose of possibilities. Maybe that's what I need to work on for April: going with the flow.

Must Sell Pots

Cross your fingers, all. Three custom pieces in the kiln, hopefully one will turn out good! If you've ever taken any custom orders, you probably know about the "Deadline Effect".... It's got to be some unknown law of physics or some impressive sounding thing. No matter how many extras you make, how many precautions you take, or how detailed your order is something ALWAYS goes wrong. Either it's not the right size, color, ect. Or the glaze defects, or, or, or... The best you can do is hope for little mishaps. Maybe that will be my new motto...

In other news, I've just registered for my first summer show EVER. Fulton Street Artists Market. Baby steps... just a little Sunday show, getting my feet wet, maybe I'll even get a good booth photo out of it. Now I just have to make more pots! 16 feet to fill up...

Psycho Babble

They tell me you need a blog as part of your "presence" on the internets. I guess do love to talk about myself... so, what the hell?

Mostly I will probably complain about the struggles I encounter as I try to cut it as a second rate production potter. Set your goals low, kids; avoid disappointment. Maybe someday I will shoot for darn good production potter.... baby steps.

Every once in a while, though something good does happen. Like a sale, or a successful kiln load, or promising phone conversation with a new gallery. And when the good stuff happens, it's great. It's why I haven't given up. That, and I don't know anything else, and I'm not ready to join the collective and work at Walmart.

I feel like there's a lot of us out there. Creative beings in the 20 or 30 something age bracket, maybe with fine arts degrees, disenchanted, disappointed, and settling for bank jobs or housewivery and pushing the joy of creating things to the back shelf. I fell into that attractive trap of a consistent, well paying retail job for three years after earning my Bachelor's Degree. I thought about making art everyday, but was spent at the end of every shift and always told myself, "tomorrow."

Now it's finally tomorrow. I quit the job, found some cheap housing and dove into making pottery every day and applying to several graduate programs. Three out of four rejection letters later, my savings account and positive outlook are getting thinner.

Am I fooling myself?