Thursday, November 27, 2008

Pricing

I have just been thinking about the issue of how to price pottery (or any other art / craft for that matter.
It has come to my attention that recently; a plate of mine was entered into a fund raising auction where it fetched 3 times what the original purchaser paid for it. I have also put items into these types of fund raising auctions where they generate between 3 and 6 times what I feel is a fair retail price.
My belief is that this jump in what people are paying is due to the fact that they are supporting a good cause, and are getting something as a “bonus” for donating money. I have been told that if people are buying these items for a greater amount than what I am charging, then I should increase my prices to reflect this. That would be nice, in theory…however, I think they are priced accordingly, and in all honesty, I could not ask someone to pay over $100 for a small 13” plate. I think people should be able to afford this art form, and to price it out of the “every day person’s” budget is, in my mind, a little greedy. Now, I don’t have a problem charging a higher price for something that is extra special that came out of the kiln with just a bit more pizzazz that was expected, or that I spent 20 hours working on as opposed to 1 or 2 hours. For instance, I charge between $15 and $20 for a cereal bowl, but $20-25 for a coffee mug. It takes longer to make the cup, even though it may be the same size or smaller than the cereal bowl.

Delinquent Blogger

Ok, so I have been a bit tardy. It has been a while since my last post, and a few things have happened.
We had our Fairview Studios Pottery sale, and even with the “recession” our sales were still quite robust. Not a record breaker, but not the worst either. We made $8302 in 3 hours, not bad for a Saturday mornings work. I managed to sleep in, and arrived at the venue with 10 minutes to spare. Everyone helped me set up, but as I did not have very much this year, it went quite smoothly. I usually pack my tables to the gills, and then only sell half. This year, I sold almost everything, but then again, I probably had half of what I normally do.
Another recent event, Fairview Studios is going to be moving. The lease was not renewed, as the owners want to expand their business into the studio’s bay. The good news is that they helped Dave find a new space, are going to pay the expenses of the move etc. The only glitch was that they had to increase the gas pressure in the new space to accommodate the large gas kiln we use. The new space is a Quonset, well lit, very well insulated (so we wont freeze our fingers off in the winter, and will stay cool in the summer). It has a gated yard and is located in a purely industrial location so we can do all kinds of alternative firings year round (unless a fire ban is on in the summer), so we can do mid winter raku etc…maybe I can perfect my naked raku process.

A few weeks ago, I fired the kiln solo. Dave was going to Kansas, and in order for one more glaze to get fired before the sale, I volunteered to learn how to fire it and then fire it on my own the Sunday before the sale. It went well, it is a bit tricky during the reduction, as you have to keep the back pressure up just enough, but not too much so you don’t fill the studio with stinky fumes, and then again, during the rest of the firing, you want to keep the back pressure up just enough so that the flame is just licking out the peep hole, but have the air intakes open all the way, and the dampers slightly closed. That night, I had nightmares of under fired ware, ware that had stuck to the UNDERSIDE of all the kiln shelves, over fired ware, etc…but it all worked out fine. No disasters, and it all looked good.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Catching Up


The 5x5 show officially opened on Sunday. It was a pretty successful day I think. Not tooo many people showed up, but enough came and opened up their wallets. The pic I have posted above is all I have had time to post right now. The ones I took are still in the camera, and so this came from my Mum's blog (I don't think I would have ever imagined using the phrase "my Mum's blog" 5 years ago)
Susan and I set up on Saturday, and it took over 2 hours to clear out the old stuff from the front and get all the new pieces artfully arranged.
There was food, and drink, and I think everything was pretty well received.
I did find out that I have a 1 person fan club. I guess this guy comes in and buys my altered teapots all the time and gives them away as gifts.

I will be teaching classes for Dave for the next few days (tonight, tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday) while he is away in Bend Oregon for a family reunion.

Susan from the Galleria in Inglewood has asked for several large pieces to go into a home decorating and design show in the Round Up Centre in September, and I am currently working on a couple of really large, low and wide bowls, plus I have a huge planter waiting to be glazed. Hopefully these will survive and that she likes them.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Gallery Opening July 20, 2008

5x5 Loud & Clear is the name of the show. There will be 3 painters and 2 potters. This is going to be the last group show for Centennial Gallery. The Gallery will be moving to a new location in August, with a Galla Re-Opening set for Sept. 13/08. The new space is smaller than their current location, so there will not be enough room to have group shows. There will be a small room that will be used for single artist showings/Artist of the month type events.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

it's been two weeks since I last posted an entry, and a little bit has happened since then.The Art Market opportunity for the CCAA did not happen. Probably for various reasons such as not enough notice. I only got a couple of replies, and that would not have been enough people.Second, the Centennial Gallery will be moving its location in August. Our current location is in a section of the Palliser Square that will be undergoing radical renovations. The space they are in now is going to become escalators. So...we will be moving down the hall to a smaller space, but one that hopefully will allow for more off the street foot traffic. The only really big issue with the space right now is that in order to maintain our current level of rent (ie: really really cheap), the management will not be responsible for much in the way of renovations or getting the space ready for us to move in. The big problem that we are facing is that the last tenant was a jewelry store / diamond cutting school, and they did a midnight run and took all the keys to the space. When we finally got in there to have a looks, it was discovered that there were 15 concrete pillars that the diamond cutting machines were mounted on, and then behind that, there are the same number of concrete posts for what purpose I have no idea. So, we have to find a way to remove these GD pillars and posts, without it costing too much. Personally, I think that is our main concern, and the other renos are cosmetic at the most, ie: washing walls, carpet cleaning, painting, lighting etc. This work can be done by members, or the on site electrician (donated to us by the management). The pillars need to be contracted out to a cutting and coring company. The funny thing is that this has to be done in July, as the space is directly over Vertigo theatre, and they are currently closed, but will begin rehearsals during the day in August, and we can't make any noise.
Thirdly, I will be in the last group show for Centennial (no group shows after we move, due to lack of space), only individual shows. The show will be running from July 18-Aug 15, and the Official Opening is July 20th noon to 3pm.
Lastly, I may, if Dave chooses to pick me, be his studio tech/cleaner. In exchange, I would get free classes, a private(ish) studio space, a reduction in firing fees, and 24/7 access.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Starting to get webbed feet...

If it continues to rain much more, I will start to get webbed feet, and my condo will become a house boat...
At this rate, we wont have fire bans this summer, and the studio can raku with reckless abandon...
Just when you think the rain has stopped, the clouds open up and another downpour is underway.
It was hailing last night on my way home from work, and I heard that it was snowing in some part of the foothills this morning (it's June for crying out loud!) I guess we should never be amazed at the constantly ever changing variety of weather we get here in Calgary, but we always are.

On another note...
I was working at Ceramics Canada on Saturday, and I met two very eager potters. A husband and wife who just recently moved here from Portland Oregon were in the shop pricing out materials, and wheels etc... They seemed to be very eager to get going with their studio, and getting involved with the clay community here (such as it is). I told them about the CCAA, and they were all excited about the new group. I hope that in time they will become members, once we get ourselves sorted out and are able to offer something other than an e-mail list :)

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Possible Opportunity for the CCAA

The City of Calgary, in conjunction with the EPCORE Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Olympic Plaza Cultural District are starting up a new initiative called Sunday Art Market in the Plaza. They are inviting local artists to submit applications to be a part of this event. Every Sunday from Jun 22nd to August 31st, there will be an outdoor (indoor if weather doesn’t cooperate) art market. This first year, it is being offered free of charge to artists on a first come first serve basis. I am in the process of finding out if they will accept a “group” application, whereby the CCAA would be the booth, but each Sunday would promote a different set of artists. There is the potential to have 22 artists participate under the CCAA umbrella. The Art Market wants the vendors to be there for as many of the 11 Sundays as possible, so this would let many of us participate, but not feel over burdened with having to set up and tear down displays for 11 weeks.

We don’t have much time to organize this, as the cut off for application is June 10, and then after that, only 2 weeks until the opening day.

Monday, May 19, 2008

How I spent my Victoria Day Long Weekend...

For most people, the first long weekend of the summer (In Canada, it is the Victoria Day Long Weekend) means packing up a tent, or trailer, and heading to the mountains, or lake, or cabin etc. I am the exception to that rule. I spent my entire holiday at the studio, where I found my inner mug. I normally hate throwing mugs, but every once in a while, I take it on as a challenge to find "that perfect mug". I think I found that mug. The one that I can throw with ease repeatedly, has an interresting shape, allows for a comfortable handle, and allows for surface decoration and interresting glaze applications. I will need to see how they turn out with various glazes, but so far so good.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

pottery bomb

A bomb exploded in my living room. I have pottery from my sliding doors to my front door. The studio sale is in 3 days, and I have to wrap and pack it all before Friday.
At the very least, it is a great anti theft method. If anyone tries to break in, they would break their neck on my pottery before they ever got out again.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Tall, Taller, Tallest

On Saturday, I finished working at Ceramics Canada for the day, and decided that I wanted to go to the studio and throw for a couple of hours (scratch that, a couple always turns into 3 or 4).
I didn't have a set goal in mind, but I hadn't thrown anything large or tall in a while, and so I set out to throw the tallest cylinder I could in one go, ie: not in segments.
I wedged up about 1/3rd of a bag of Laguna B-mix, and away I went, made a relatively tall cylinder that became a vase, nothing too huge, just to get me warmed up. I would say about 12-13 inches high. next I wedged up about a half a bag of clay, centered it, opened, and pulled, collared, and pulled and collared and pulled and collared.....I pulled and collared more than the standard 3 times, as I wanted it to be as narrow as possible. After all, I'm not making sewer pipes. Anyhow, I soon discovered however that the height of the tallest cylinder that I can throw (unless thrown in sections) is limited my my arm pit. I can only reach so far down inside the pot before I can't raise from the bottom anymore. So...I figure I could have gotten it taller if my arm was longer, and I was taller, as it is, I made it to approximately 23-24 inches. The size of the finished bottle though is only about 14 inches, so it is quite amazing how much height you lose when shaping and finishing the form.
Another thing that I noticed while throwing these forms (Threw 4 over 2 days) is that if I am listening to my ipod with headphones, I am able to concentrate much more, but remain really loose, as opposed to when I am either listening to the radio, or nothing at all. The result being a much taller and better thrown and on centre pot if I have the headphones on.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Still snowing...

Sunny, snowy, sunny, snowy, windy, cold. This weather is horrible.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

where did spring go?

It's -13 outside right now. It started snowing on Friday afternoon, and it didn't stop until Saturday afternoon. It started again Saturday night, and snowed until approximately noon today. Needless to say, not nice outside.
I had a CCAA sale committee meeting today. We met to decide what we are going to do, and how we are going to do it. So, it looks like we will have a non juried show that starts on Sept 5th, with the opening gala on Thursday Sept 4th. This is contingent upon our getting the gallery space that is currently vacant in Art Central
I went to the studio this afternoon after the meeting, and worked on some new altered forms. I am anxious to see how they turn out. I am concerned that there might be cracking or separation at the seams were I pinch and cut the excess clay away.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Latest News

Snow!!! AAAARGH

It isn't yet, but they say that tomorrow we could get 10-15 cm's of the white stuff, and it is going to stick around too. Oh well, it's Calgary, and as we all know, the weather here is weird. You could be golfing on New Years Day, and have a blizzard in July.

Now that I have that off my chest...

I started working at Ceramics Canada a few weeks ago on Saturdays to help them out while one of their staff goes on maternity leave. It's kinda like writing a physics test when you haven't even cracked a text book or gone to a lecture. I mean, I know stuff, but not that much (I only know what I read, I don't have formal ceramics training). People have all kinds of strange questions, requests, etc. Like last week, someone wanted to build a blast furnace, and wanted to know what kind of clay he should use to insulate the walls. Good greif, I don't know...:). At least he had plans, and wasn't asking me how to actually build it.

I am sure I will learn a lot working there though

Currently, I am working towards a couple of sales. One is for the Fairview Studios Sale on May 10, the next one is in the middle of July at Centennial gallery, and then the Calgary Clay Arts Association (newly formed) is trying to put a sale together for the first part of September at Art Central to coincide with the Calgary Art Walk. Art Central has an empty gallery space where Dashwood Gallery used to be, and the management of the space is offering the space up to individuals and groups that want to show somewhere for a short period of time. It is rent free, they just take 10% of all sales.

This will be a juried show (I think, will know more after CCAA meeting on 20th), so I need to start thinking about what I want to enter. It will probably be limited to 1-2 pieces per entrant.

That's all I can think of right now, and yay, it is almost time to go home (I am writing this at work – my bad)

Friday, April 11, 2008





Here are the latest pots. The glazed 3 part canister is the prototype, and the unglazd one is the 2nd one I have made. There was to be a 3rd 2 tiered box, but alas, it failed in the bisque. The lid, AND the bottom cracked. The celadon jar is just what it is, but has some interresting curlycues on top, and actually inspired the 3 part box set beside it.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Spring Pottery Sale


Here it is, the details for the upcoming Fairview Studios Pottery Sale!

Altered Pots (and other stuff_

It Snowed like crazy today, 8-10 inches in just a few hours fell this morning, and it was the heavy, wet and stickey kind. Then it got sunny, melted a lot of the snow, and then it snowed again. Right now it is clear, and mild, tomorrow it should be 10 degrees (celcius), and by Sunday it should be 21 degrees. This town sure has some crazy weather.

I will be taking some pictures tomorrow. My boxes were all in the kiln for a bisque firing over this last weekend, so I was unable to take any.
Taught a class this Monday, and my demo was tall cylinders. I have not thrown anything without altering it in some way in a while, so it was good to do it again, but I can see why I need the variety inherant in messing around with the freshly thrown pot, even if it is just squaring it off.
The Calgary Clay Arts Association is getting off to a pretty good start. We are planning a sale in September, and the e-mails are just flying.
The Airdrie Food Bank is having an empty bowls event in June, and in order to help supply some bowls, Galleria is hosting a "Clay-lympics" event. Various potters, the public, and hopefully some celebs will be on site to create some one of a kind bowls.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

just stuff

Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything, but I have been busy working, making pots, having shows, and attending meetings.
I am a member of the newly formed Calgary Clay Arts Association, and we have been working on getting registered, and thinking of things to do for our first event etc.
I also attended my first AGM for Centennial Gallery. This is the only true cooperative gallery in Calgary, and has been in operation for 34 years. It is located in Palliser Square, right next to the Calgary Tower. The major topic of conversation tonight was the fact that the gallery will have to vacate its space as of Aug 31st this year, as the building will be undergoing very major renovations that are expected to last over a period of 1o years. There is a new tower being built, and then each of the other towers will be renovated to bring everything up to date. The managemet has asked that we remain as a tennant, but move to a new location closer to the Calgary Tower entrance. Sooo. I have just started showing my work there, and I am faced with another gallery move (The Galleria just finished moving into their new space in March). I am starting to think it is me...:P
I am currently working on some new, and for me, quite a diversion from my regular style of work. I will take some pics and post shortly. They are multi layer boxes, ranging anywhere from 2-5 sections in height. The body is thrown seprately, and a thrown base is added to each of the sections. The lids are constructed from a slab that has been draped into the opening, turned over, cut to fit, and then has additions of clay around the edge of the lid to add more substance and interrest. So far I have only glazed one of them, and there are some refinements in the glazing technique that I have to do, but just minior ones. The glaze is adding a thickness such that the lid does not quite fit right. I know this does not make much sense, so I will post some pictures shortly.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

“We have a really good shoe...”

Sunday the 13th will be the official opening of the Artists and Friends – Emerging Talent show at Centennial Gallery. I delivered and set up my work on Sunday, met one of the other participants (she is doing some really nice hand build work). I will be taking pictures of the event, and will post them Sunday night (unless I am too lazy).

I am looking forward to this event. It will be my first gallery show. I do sell out of Galleria, but they do not do shows, and are currently relocating, so as of Jan 31st, I will not have a venue until March 1. I am hoping that Centennial will generate some new interrest in my work. I might even become a gallery member...not sure yet though. It is a cooperative, and so would require a commitment to work there on my part.

As for Galleria, I am excited about the move. They had to leave their current location due to the dramatic increase in their rent, but found a space in another trendy area of town (Inglewood). They are currently in Kensington, which is also a shopping destination hotspot, but good parking is hard to find, and it is too hard to get in and out of. The popularity of Inglewood is on the rise, whereas Kensinton has, in my opinion, peaked, and is now kind of flat.

Anyway, lots of change in the next little while, and hopefully it will all be for the good.