Fairview Studios Fall Pottery Sale!! - WE ARE MOVING LOCATIONS!!

The next Fairview Studios pottery sale will be on Sunday, November 26th from 10 - 2pm this year. Also note that we have had to change locations again (sorry about that). We made this decision after our costs for hall rentals almost doubled and in order to keep our pots affordable, we will now be located at the Kingsland Community Hall.

Up Next: Art Horizons Show

If you are in Calgary on Saturday, October 14th, you should consider coming to this show.

Fairview Studios - Spring 2016 Pottery Sale

it's been a while since I posted anything on this blog. There has been a lot going on, but mostly over on Instagram. Anyway, I just want to let everyone know about the pottery sale on May 1st at the Calgary Jewish Centre from 10 am to 2pm. Come and check us out!

Fairview Pottery Sale - Fall 2015 - NEW LOCATION, NEW DAY, NEW TIME!!!

In case you were wondering, the sale info is below. Note that the location has changed, as has the day and time.

Fairview Studios Christmas 2014 Pottery Sale

The Fairview Pottery Sale is swiftly approaching, here are the details...

I know that the saying says that there is no rest for the wicked, but I think it's backwards. It should say that the wicked get to nap. Lucy (aka Lucifer) seems to be able to get some zzzz's. I on the other hand, don't seem to be able to get any rest. I am dealing with condo stuff, condo board stuff, work stuff, pottery stuff, no end to the stuff I am trying to juggle. I was calcining alberta slip yesterday so that I could mix up a large batch of our new glaze "purple rain". It is really just Plainsman clay's GA6-C rutile blue, but purple rain sounds better. I mixed in the calcined AB slip a bit hot, as I needed to get it done before I left for the day, but that shouldn't cause an issue (i hope ;) ) Oh ya, I am going to be in a sale on June 22nd from noon to 5pm at the Bamboo Lounge, next to the Drum an Monkey Pub. It is a family friendly event and all are encouraged to come and check it out. There will be a wide variety of art and craft there to satisfy your every need. So ya, busy busy right now, the condo is still in reno mode. I am not sure when I will be moving back, but the appliances are arriving on Wednesday...The furniture too, but I might change that to next week if I can. It was supposed to be done this week, so hopefully next week... fingers crossed.

Floors and doors

The early morning progress meeting went well and things are moving along. The hardwood floors are all in and the doors are mostly all hung or at least in the space waiting to be hung. Bathtub is next (today) and then tile starts tomorrow. Cabinets are still a bit of a jumble and I have yet to pick the cabinet door fronts and counter top laminate. Not sure if I will be in by the 11th, but I am hoping it will be that week... The Fairview Pottery sale was this past Saturday and although there were only 9 of us in the sale this time, I think our individual sale numbers were good. The turn out for the spring sale is always a bit on the slow side compared to the Christmas sale, but with less participants, we don't have to spread the dollars as thinly. After the expenses were accounted for, it looks like I cleared more than double what I did at the last Christmas sale. That kind of tells you how much that last sale sucked (I blame the polar vortex). Every time I think I have this pottery selling thing figured out, the game changes, the people change, the market changes, mugs become either the hot new craze or you can't give them away because everyone wants goblets or have stopped drinking liquids or something silly like that.

It's that time of year again. The spring pottery sale is set for May 31st this year. As per usual, I don't think I have enough stuff, but as per usual, I will probably have way more than I anticipated. The email notices will go out at the end of April, so don't worry if you have not gotten your notice, it is coming...

Craft market

 

This is what I will be up to this coming weekend. This is the first time for me with this group, but it should be cool. The sale runs from 2-5pm at the Bamboo (next door to the Drum and Monkey)  1201 1 Street SW

So if you are in the area (Victoria Park etc), come over and check us out. I am not sure what I will have to sell, but I will have something for sure. I just fired a kiln with some FLOOD MUGS, and other assorted little pots. I will also have whatever wasn't in my condo during the flood. So, it might be a bit eclectic, but there will be lots of pots. 

I need to load a kiln....a sale is looming

I am really hoping to get a bisque loaded tonight and a glaze fired on Sunday. I will be participating in a craft cooperative sale next Sunday from 12-5 pm. It is being held in conjunction with the Victoria Park Community street festival and will be located inside the Bamboo Tiki Lounge (right beside and conjoined via a breezeway of sorts to the Drum and Monkey Pub). This would have to be the strangest venue I have sold out of, but hey, it is close to beer and that has to count for something. I will probably have some flood mugs, and other assorted stuff that has been sitting on my shelves at the studio for a while. A lot of the stuff is ear marked for the firing at Medalta, but some is cone 6 and destined for the craft sale. I also have to get more flood mugs done for the little presents I want to give to all the helpers and my 1st floor neighbors, but those can wait a bit. I am buying a round or 2 of beer for everyone who came out to get muddy this Sunday, the mugs will come later. Hopefully before 2014.

The Cost of a Cup

I was speaking to a customer at our sale on the weekend and was a bit taken aback by the comment that $10 for a cup is just too much because it is “just a cup”. Personally, I think $10 is a bargain. Let's say that I can make a simple cup (no handle) out of 200g of clay. This is the equivalent of .441 lbs. For arguments sake, let's say half a pound My clay costs about $26 for a 50lb box. So, the cost for the clay to make one cup is $0.26. The cost to glaze and fire this cup is based on the formula that the studio uses and it amounts to approximately $3. So, the absolute bare minimum that this cup would cost is $3.26. Nowhere in this figure is my time taken into account, or the overhead that I pay for using the studio space, the gas that it takes to get my work to the shows and galleries etc. I would say that to throw 1 cup takes me about 1 minute (not a production potter by any means). The trimming takes another 2 minutes, the glazing takes about 10 minutes and includes the waxing of feet, dusting of the pot, waiting for glaze to dry, wiping bottoms etc. So we are at 12 minutes for making and decorating (lets round to 15 minutes). The minimum wage is $9.75/hour in Alberta, so this would work out to $2.44 if I only put the same value on my work as that of a kid working in a fast food chain. The cost in materials and the making/decorating time (at the very least) is $5.70. The way I price my pots is based on the cost to fire and usually amounts to four times that cost, so in fact, the $10 cup, should be more like $12. So, when I have a conversation with a customer that thinks $10 for a cup is just too much because it is “just a cup”, I don't really know what to say. Don't get me started on matching sets. My personal belief is that sets should not be less per item than if you just bought one. So a set of six $10 cups should be no less than $60 and in my humble opinion, should cost a bit more. The effort to produce, by hand (not machine), a set of anything that perfectly matches is not simple. I can't blame the customer for thinking this though. We have been living in a world of mass production that has resulted in consumers that do not think about quality, only how cheap it is and can they get a better deal elsewhere. Pottery is functional, therefore it is not valued as a work of art by most people (unless they have tried to make it themselves and have an appreciation for the skill required).

Now, take that cup and add a handle. It is going to cost a wee bit more than $10. I generally charge in the area of $20 for a plain mug. The handle requires special attention, it is not just a strip of clay haphazardly squished into place. I pull my handles by hand, I don't extrude them, so this takes a little extra time and care. I then consider the mug and determine where it should be placed to have the right visual as well as functional balance. After attaching the handle, the mug is set aside to dry very slowly so that the handle remains an integral part of the mug and not a cracked mess. Do I consider the time it takes to dry these mugs under plastic for a week and then a few more days unwrapped to completely dry? Nope. If I am decorating my mugs, this will increase the cost a bit too. My black and white sgrafitto mugs take quite a bit of extra time.In fact, depending on the pattern, it can take upwards of an hour. I charge about $30 for one of these, so that means I am only getting $10/hour for that time. If I were to price my pots truthfully, they would be unaffordable and that is counter productive.

Biding my time

As of yesterday there are only 4 more weeks to go until I pack it all up to go to Medalta for a salt and soda firing and I have 1 more load to bisque before then. I am also still teaching on Thursday nights, in addition to my regular Tuesday nights. I have been doing so since mid February and will be until April 18th. As yesterday was Thursday, I was teaching, but only 3 students showed, so I did manage to get some work done. I have been fooling around with hand build platters made on an oval hump mold. I have been extruding long fat coils of clay and creating abstract patterns on the mold and then smoothing the backside with ribs and or paddling with sticks. I took down the first one I made as it was the driest of the 2 that I have made so far and began slathering on some underglazes. As these are very experimental for me, I thought what the heck, I will throw some caution up into the wind and see where the pieces fall. My plan was to apply different layers of colour and then erode through them once dry to reveal the different layers as I artificially weather the piece. Like layers of paint on old furniture, or those gobstopper candy's with the multi-coloured layers that slowly reveal themselves as you suck on them. I do remember trying to fit one of those into my 6 year old mouth once and it got kinda stuck. I had to suck my way to freedom or risk suffocation by choking the stupid thing.


Anyway, back to the pot. I opened up my pint of red velvet underglaze that I had purchased in Lexington back in October and to my horror, there was a big glob of green mold sitting on top. And the smell....it was definitely gag inducing. Seeing as how it cost me a bit of money, and I can't readily acquire these underglazes here, I used it, but man was it stinky. The other colours were OK. The yellow had a mild fishy smell, but no mold.

In other studio related news, the Fairview Spring Sale is swiftly approaching. It is on Saturday, May 4th this year and as always, it runs from 9am to Noon at the Canyon Meadows Community Centre. Fairview Studios is also going to have it's first ever (that I know of) Open House. I think I somehow got elected leader for this one. I will be sending out more information as it becomes available, but I can tell you that if you show up on Saturday, June 8th between 11am and 3pm (5650 C Burbank Rd. S.E.), the studio will be open to the public to check it out and see what we do. There will be a raku firing with little take away tea bowls for those that show (first come first served), coffee and snacks will also be available. The volunteer students for this event will also be selling a few pieces of their work. The idea behind this event is to make more people aware of our existence and hopefully attract new students. It is tucked away in a little industrial area and doesn't get any foot traffic. So if you have ever wanted to try pottery but did not know where to go, or if you would even enjoy it, this would be the perfect opportunity to see the studio, meet the instructors and students and ask questions. Any and all are welcome to attend this event. More deets to follow.   It has been snowing on and off for the past 2 days. We reached 12 above on Tuesday, but then plumeted down to -11 on Wednesday. I will be really glad with spring finally takes hold and doesn't let go. Hopefully before I go to the Hat.

Fairview Studios Spring 2013 Pottery Sale

I know it's a bit early to post this, but I see that some people are already searching for this information when I look at my blog stats.
The Fairview Studios Spring Pottery Sale for 2013 will be Saturday, May 4th.

Now What Do I Do?

As you may recall, I made my first (and only, so far) sale via Etsy back in May. I got it out the door and on the way to the Bronx about 2 days after the purchase was made and I thought that would be the end of it. Well, last week I got a notice that there was a package waiting for me at the post office. I couldn't figure out what it might be, but when I got to the post office on Saturday, I discovered that the very same box I sent off to NYC in MAY, just came back to me unclaimed. What am I to do? I had to cover the return postage (~$14), I have tried to contact the purchaser, but the only way I have to contact them is through the conversations on Etsy, they did not put an e-mail address or phone number or anything in their profile. I have asked if they actually do want this piece, and that if they do, there would be an additional $14 in postage, but I would be more than happy to send it to them again. What do I do if they don't contact me? Am I obliged to refund the money? It took 2 months for this to get back to me, and the money is now long spent (they paid by PayPal, and I have since made other online purchases like e-books, etc.

If anyone out there has any advice, or has had something similar happen to them, I would appreciate any feedback.

I guess I will put this little jar back on the shelf, but keep it as “SOLD” for a while in case they do get back to me and do want it.

Dodging Murphy's curve ball

It might just work out in the end, but its gonna be tight (just like OJ's glove). The kiln is getting a new element today (fingers crossed) and then my stuff will be re-fired tonight. So Friday I will be unloading that kiln, then pricing and cataloguing everything else. it's gonna be a long Friday night.


I must say that even though everything was just a tad bit under fired, the glazes looked OK. I still want to refire though, the feet felt a little dry and the glazes were not 100%. The gloss liner glaze was satin, the translucent brown had a purple/bluish haze with little depth, the black and rutile slip on my bas relief stuff did not develop as nicely as it has in the past (begins to react with the glaze and forms a milky opalescence where the glaze pools) and again, the F96 brown clay was still quite orange. I always worry with a refire that the glazes will run off the pots and stick to the shelf. They had already started to flow the first time round, and now will be subjected to a full firing again. Luckily, most of my feet are quite substantial. I love a nice fat foot. However, I have several tall jars and vases that have flat bottoms and the glaze stops quite close to the bottom. Everything should be ok, but you never know.

So, if all goes well, I will have everything priced and packed on Friday night. If I don’t sell anything, then on Sunday I will be posting a whole bunch of stuff on Etsy, so look out...

Long Weekend Shennanigans...

This past weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend. I spent Friday night and all day Saturday at the studio, as well as a split shift on Sunday (sounds a bit sweat shopish). I was at the studio from 9:30am to 1pm madly glazing, then I went open housing with a friend of mine who is thinking of buying a condo. Her rent will be going up and other life situations have brought this to a head and now she is thinking of moving, so I went to a new condo project with her and then we drove around for a bit looking and then stopped for beer and food and then I was back to the studio at 4:30 and glazed and loaded the kiln until 9:30pm. I wouldn’t normally spend so long on the glazing at one time, but I was hoping to get one more load out of the kiln before the Mad Potters sale on Saturday. I took Monday off. I slept in for the first time in a really long time, got up, didn’t shower, barely got dressed. Dealt with the ribs that were defrosting in the fridge (I cooked them up and had a mid afternoon dinner out of them). The air outside my condo was heavy with the scent of the lilac in the front yard that is just starting to blossom, and the small tree outside my patio that I don’t know the name of, but it must be a cherry of some type. The pink/white blossoms are all out and I am sure some of what I smell outside is from that.


I did not think about the pots in the kiln at all on Monday, I just vegged out. I got an e-mail this morning addressed to all studio members and the title was Kiln Stuff. Hmmm. I read on and it looks like one of the elements went again. As this is not my kiln, I can’t really comment on how it is maintained, but when the elements start to go, it would probably behoove you to change them all out at the same time. Not so here. In an attempt to not have to buy all the new elements at once, they are being replaced as they die, which has been about 1-2 firings in between every replacement. I think so far 3 of the 6 elements have been replaced, so this would now be the 4th that needs changing.

This is of course interfering with getting ready for the sale. I had a few things in this firing that I really wanted to put out on Saturday. Maybe it will get fixed today and then no worries, but then again, maybe it will get fixed on Thursday, which would mean very hot pots on Friday. I will be in the studio tonight to teach so I can take stock of the situation and find out if it might be fixed in time for a refire on Wednesday. I had a lot of my bas relief shellacked pots in there. Approximately 14 teabowls, a tall jar with wire doodads on the lid, a test piece for Dave using some Alberta slip, a couple of large platters and other random tall stuff. I had a few glaze combos in there that I was anxious to see as well. Oh well, just another case of Murphy rearing his ugly head again.

I won't be taking these pots to CC to refire, just not enough time. I have a lot of stuff for the sale, that is not the issue, I just wanted some of these pots too.

Off to the Bronx...

I will be shipping a package to NYC (specifically the Bronx) today. It contains a cute little jar that was purchased from my Etsy shop. I must say that trying to figure out shipping costs for things before you sell them is a bit tricky. I knew from the outset that I would probably not get it right the first time and would probably end up either grossly over estimating shipping costs, or even worse, under estimating them. If I overestimate, that is fixable, as the extra can be refunded to the customer. It is the underestimating that is the real problem. Before I listed anything on Etsy, I did a quick survey of other Etsy shops selling roughly the same thing as me to try and figure out what they were charging for shipping. I also focused on those shops that were Canadian to try and get a handle on how much they were charging their US and international customers. But still, I have never shipped pottery to the US, or internationally for that matter, so the whole pricing thing was still a bit of a mystery. I have since discovered a couple of charts that are buried a couple of layers down on the Canada Post website that explain (that’s generous) how things are priced for shipping to the US. If you can keep your parcel under a certain weight (2lbs) and try and keep the dimensions of the overall package on the small side to reduce your “volumetric weight”, then you will only pay about $12.66 to ship to NYC by ground, otherwise, it jumps up to about $20. I am still not sure if my package is under the size and weight limits, but we shall see. Pottery is a tricky thing to wrap too. It’s fragile, so lots of packing materials go into ensuring it arrives in the same number of pieces it left in (usually 1). You need at least 2-3 inches around your piece to make sure there is enough room for the bubble wrap and extra padding, so your box size increases rather dramatically. At this point, I am not even considering the cost of the packing materials themselves. I went to the post office on Monday to pick up some bubble wrap, tape and brown kraft paper. That alone cost me over $11, but will wrap a few packages, so probably $2 or $3 went into the packing supplies for this one. My pot sold for $25, and shipping was charged at $14, so if by some miracle this comes in at $12.66, then I may just have guessed my shipping costs correctly, give or take a buck. If not, then this “road to riches” through pottery is going to be hard and all uphill (one can dream can’t they?).

This weekend is a long weekend (Victoria Day) and while most people take advantage of the nice weather to go camping, or go to their cabins, or whatever, I will be in the studio, as per usual. The Mad Potter’s Sale is quickly approaching, and I need to get one more load fired off before then, so I am hoping to load a bisque on Friday and then a glaze on Sunday. I have yet to price anything, or set in stone what I am taking (mandatory catalogue sheet). I hate catalogue sheets. In fact, hate is not a strong enough sentiment. I loath and detest them with a passion usually reserved for things like war & puppy kickers. For the amount of work that goes into putting them together, I don’t see the benefit. I like the way we do it at the Fairview sale. Blank sheets, price sticker goes on sheet when sold (re-written for security sake) and totaled. Catalogue sheets really mean nothing to me. For instance, if I have 10-12 bowls of similar sizes, then they will all be the same price, so when one sells, I can’t tell which one it was that sold by the catalogue sheet, unless I get really, really descriptive when writing them up, but that takes way too much time, and how many different ways can you describe a bowl in 2 inches of space? I never look back at my catalogue sheets (maybe I should), but I can usually tell, at a glace, what has sold really well, and what didn’t. It becomes very apparent when you are wrapping up your stuff at the end of the day too. The other reason I hate catalogue sheets is that I am a prolific potter for the amount of time I spend in the studio. I always take way too much stuff, and that means having to catalogue approximately 100 pieces that I know will never all sell, but I don’t want to limit my potential, so I tend to bring it all and cross my fingers.

Mad Potters...we don't bite (hard)

I will be in the Mad Potters Sale on Saturday, May 26^th this year. If you are in the Hillhurst/Sunnyside area and want to see some excellent pottery, there will be all kinds of wonderful, functional and sculptural work by local Calgary artists ranging from Cone 10 reduction stoneware to mid range porcelain fired in oxidation. So come on down to the HHSS Community Centre and check us out, we would love to see you there!

First Etsy Sale

It may have taken 3 months, but I just made my first sale through Etsy. It was for a little stoneware jar thrown all in one and then the lid is seperated from the body at the trimming stage. It will be going to the Bronx in a few days. Now I just have to find a box...

Hurrican force winds definitely put a damper on pottery sales

The Calgary Clay Arts Association held their annual Christmas pottery sale this past weekend. Saturday was a pretty good day in terms of foot traffic and dollars spent. Sunday however was an entirely different story. As you may, or may not, be aware, Calgary, and the southern half of Alberta is blessed by a weather phenomenon called Chinooks. A Chinook is a rain shadow wind, caused by the moist Pacific air meeting the mountains where it loses its moisture on the upslope side, and then the resulting dry wind blows down the east side of the mountains onto the plains. As the wind loses it’s moisture it also becomes warmer and more energetic. The tell tale sign of a Chinook, if you are not outside to feel the wind, is the classic Chinook arch. This arch is a band of cloud that forms east of the mountains. Imagine -20 weather and then a Chinook blows in and in less than an hour or so, the temperature can climb above 0. Snow can disappear in a heartbeat, and the wind is warm, although not very gentle. Anyway, Sunday was a doozy. The Chinook that blew in on Saturday night developed wind gusts during Sunday that were classified as a class 1 hurricane in terms of speed. It was so powerful it blew windows out of downtown skyscrapers, and caused the City to shut the downtown core. No vehicle or pedestrian traffic was allowed, and it also stopped the light rapid transit system from going through the city centre.

Many large trees were uprooted, and the damage will be quite high once the figures get added up. Unaware of all the carnage going on, we were sitting in our little sale wondering where all the people were and commenting on how windy it was. Little did we know that there was a wind warning and people were being advised to stay home due to the dangerous driving conditions, flying debris, and trees coming down all over.