A very nice way to kick off the long weekend

Perhaps I am jumping the gun, but I wanted to share my good news. I was contacted today by someone who was inquiring about the pots I have on display at Sunlife and if any of them were still available for purchase. Up until now, I have not had anyone express an interest, or contact me about them, so yes, they were all still available. I sent him a price range and thought he might be interested in one or two pots. The response back was that he would take them ALL. So if you are the one that just bought all of my pots, I thank you, A LOT.

I must say that my experience with selling my work has been “interesting”. I have met a lot of people and I have sold a lot of pots, but man, is it hard work. I get the tire kickers; the ones with $20 in their wallet who try to spread it around as many vendors as possible; or the ones that will try to chip away at your price because you should be so lucky that they want to buy your work, but at the price they want to pay. I also get the ones that love the work, and will buy a piece without even knowing how much. The ones who boggle my mind are the ones that ask that age old craft sale question “what would I use it for?”. Usually they are referring to a bowl. I mean really, what would you use a bowl for? Oh ya, the other question I get is “ooooh, I like that, but do you have it in blue?” These people never buy anything (at my stall anyway). They will not flinch at paying $20 for a temporary tattoo though…..weird.

I began selling my pots a couple of years after I joined Fairview Studios at one of the semi annual pottery sales that Fairview puts on. I was a bit hesitant and nervous, having never put my work out there for the public to openly judge, but was pleasantly surprised when I made $400. I thought that was fantastic and have been present at every Fairview sale since. I soon realized that the quality of my work was getting better and that the prices I was charging was not fair (to me). So I upped the prices a bit, not much, but enough to help me continue doing this crazy pottery thing. A couple years later, I started selling at Galleria and was again amazed that people buy my pots (I am my worst critic). I participated in a group show at Centennial Gallery and was essentially Shanghaied by a gallery member to join and start selling my work there permanently.

I like selling out of galleries for the ease. I don’t have to work hard to keep my pots on display and they sell them for me, what a deal.

I have also occasionally entered into the world of commission work. Some successful, some not so much. I won’t go into the bad, but there has been some good and that is what keeps me open to commissions. This is a scary way to sell work. It is basically like buying a house on spec. I can tell you what it will probably look like, or show you a similar example, but the finished piece probably never matches what the customer had in their mind’s eye, especially when it comes to glaze colour. Expectations rarely match reality. Although, sometimes reality surpasses imagination.

So, from kitchy craft fairs, to more sedate gallery settings, dealing with demanding and unknowledgable customers asking for the unattainable, to the most amazing clients that keep asking for work and never balk at your prices and then sometimes pay you more than you ask. It is a crazy thing trying to be your own sales person. I almost feel embarrassed asking people to pay me money for something that is not (and never will be) a “job”.

Last Chance!

Friday, December 20^th from 7 – 10 pm will be your LAST* chance to get some of my HAND MADE pottery before Christmas. I will be showing my work at Brandy & Moe’s Christmas Market located at Brandy Leigh’s at 233 10^th Street N.W.

Along with my pottery there will be lots of other art and craft vendors to get that one of a kind and very unique gift that has eluded you this shopping season.

I will have a lot of my very new black and white sgraffito work, as well as some more colourful items. I will have tons of teapots, many mugs, copious casseroles, plenty of pitchers, bountiful bowls, you get the drift. If you want the alliteration to stop, come to the sale!

In fact, some of the items I will have on offer will be still warm (ish) from the kiln. I don’t even know what they look like yet!

So tie up your galoshes, put on your toque and come cheque it out. Oh ya, if you need more temptation, there will be bevies and snacks to munch on too!

It should be noted that part of the proceeds are being donated to charity. It’s like killing a whole bunch of birds with one stone. What more could you ask for?

* Technically it isn’t really your last chance, if you contact me at ashleymorrow@shaw.ca we can always work something out before it really is too late.  

These pics are some of the items that will be there, they are just in the kiln right now, so I can't give you a "finished" pic. You will just have to come check out the sale to see what they look like all shiny from the kiln.

Post Sale Blues

Another sale is in the books, but not the record books. We began arriving to set up the hall at 6:45 on Saturday morning. I managed to forget to bring coffee cups, so I had to run off and buy some at Safeway. I have never been the first person in a grocery store before, but now I have. Gotta say, the employees are mildly crabby at 8am. The set up went well, not rushed. I only broke one thing :(. I tipped a plate over onto a teapot and cracked the lid. The doors opened at 9am on the dot, and although the crowds were nothing compared to the black friday freakyness in the US, I took my life in my hands opening the doors up. I'm pretty sure that if I had not gotten out of the way quickly enough I would have been knocked down and run over by crazed pottery buyers and their rolling suitcases and I would have been just a stain on the linoleum. As per usual, the crowds rushed around grabbing everything they saw, shoving it into their boxes and bags to be picked over in a corner of the hall when the frenzy subsided. I must say I still don't understand the buying public's thought processes. The things that attract me and make me oooh and aaah are obviously not the same as what attracts their attention. It apparently doesn't matter if a piece is perfectly thrown and glazed just right. They like the bling. If it has super busy glazes, then that is what they love. If you spent hours carving a piece, no matter, they don't care. They just want cheap. So, if it is lumpy, bumpy and much less than perfect, but only costs $10, then they will take it, doesn't matter. Perhaps it matches their drapes. One shopper came with a friend and was heard saying “this isn't a seconds sale, I thought it was a seconds sale”. We have never advertised it as a seconds sale. I don't know who told her it was, but we gotta nip that in the bud. She was pleased that the quality was much better than a seconds sale, but would she have come on her own if she did not know? Probably not. I think the sale was above average in sales, but mine were down a bit from previous years, so I guess that is what has me bummed a little. What I thought would fly off the table did not, so I guess I will need to rethink my new work, or just bombard them with it at the next sale and not give them a choice.