Christmas Rush

Wow, I cannot believe I haven't posted since April.  To have that big of a lapse means I better have something to show for it...

You'll be pleased to know that I haven't fared too badly...as you can see below.

In looking at the photo, I guess it doesn't look like 6 months worth of stock.  But trust me, when you are turning out this stuff in a 5 x 7 shed, I was definitely maxing out my space!

All that is left now is marketing and getting to those shows!  My first big show year and I am super excited about my new wares - I just hope the public likes them too.

After 8 years of potting, some things still get the better of me....

Like kneading hard, freakin' cold clay early in the morning.

Or making up a 5 kilo batch of tried and tested glaze, only to find the kiln load you just slapped the stuff on came out a completely different colour than you expected.

How about the lower back pain after a long day at the wheel?

And why does semi-porcelain have to be so darned difficult to throw with?

Or sitting at a show for 2 days and knowing you aren't even going to break-even?

On the flip side, there are some things about pottery that just make me all warm and fuzzy....other than the expected heat of the kiln...

• How about that nervous feeling when cracking open that kiln?  Man, nothing beats that rush of anticipation - it's like Christmas morning and wondering if I got lucky the Barbie camper set I wanted or if I got stuck ith a handmade knitted sweater with a big teddy bear on the front.....

• The reaction of people when you send or hand over their custom-made pot.  The "wow, you made that?" reaction - how cool is that?

• What people say when you tell them you are a potter.  There are the inevitable "Ghost" references roughly 80% of the time, followed by childhood memories in art class.  My favorite reactions are the disbelieving ones who cannot contemplate that it is an actual profession.  Nothing like surprising people to make my day!

• Conquering a new form on the wheel.  Transforming  an idea from paper to reality and it actually working out - WOW - the sense of accomplishment is fantastic!

I always thought that because pottery was my passion, that I would easily overcome any adversity and never experience times when I would just not be interested in being out in the pottery making.  But I have realised that like any profession or any path one embarks upon, there will always be highs and lows; moments of intense activity and development; times of barren creativity or action.  That's the way it goes.  Accepting these ups and downs as part of the process rather than using them as proof of my lack of drive or ability is helping me to be less critical and more optomistic.  Not easy, but I'm giving it a go!

You win some, you lose some...

January and February seem to be the big application months in pottery land.  As Christmas time is typically the biggest earning period of the year for most potters, the November and December shows are highly sought after, requiring a selection process well in advance of the event.  Deadlines for Christmas loom around Feb or March for the bigger shows, and May-June for the smaller affairs.
In all, I have applied to 9 shows thus far, with 4 others not having posted their apps online just yet.  So far, I've had 2 rejections and 3 acceptances...
For my first year at this, I'm happy.
The oddest thing for me is thinking about Christmas in March! From this moment forward I will be making Christmas specific items and building up stock in readiness for the winter madness (yeah, I'm assuming that if "I make it, they will come").
So, Merry Christmas all and enjoy the spring weather!

Trading overalls for full body lycra

I feel I must explain my absence from the blogging scene these past few months.  A madness has taken over those close to me, including my husband....we have taken on the London Marathon.
I really thought I could manage potting and training, but alas muscle soarness in netherregions I never knew existied and incredible fatigue post runs have rendered me useless in the land of pottery.
Conversations have reduced to the never-ending use of running terminology - with phrases like "stress reaction, interval training, negative splits, calcaneo cuboid joint instability, hip abductor strain, carb loading" worming their way into any discussion being had.  Sadly, we've even taken to sharing and analyzing toilet rituals pre and post runs.

Even more frightening is my comfort level when donning full body lycra.  I've taken to wearing it to bed, to make the morning fight to get out of the house at 5.30 a much easier process - slip on my shoes and go....

I am getting too comfortable in this stuff, even having visions that the "me" who is in the tight black running gear is some form of alter-ego super-hardass who would fit very rituously alongside the Marvel greats.  I haven't thought of a name for this "super me", so any suggestions are welcome.

Gym sessions keep me away from home on average 4 hours each go, three times a week, inclusive of travel.  The long runs can last up to 3.3 hours, once a week.  But if I had to rate my usefulness after these bad boys, my score wouldn't even hit the radar.  A big meal and commute home ends in me plonking on the couch with my feet elevated for the rest of the day.  Hubby knows not to dare ask for ANYTHING on those days....

Add a work schedule to the fun and you have the makings for a very exhausted little potter.

I'm nursing a foot injury at the moment which isn't what I had imagined for my training experience.  But, with only 4 weeks to go, the light at the end of the tunnel is certainly getting brighter.

Never you worry though, you'll be happy to know I had a very successful February from pre-made stock on sale in folksy and some custom orders too!

So, keep your fingers crossed and  thanks for being patient.  I'll be back on form (hopefully) after 26 April, allowing for a week post marathon of doing nothing of course!

They like me, They really like me!!!

WOOHOO!!
I just got my acceptance letter for my very first ceramics only show!

Ceramics South East is set in the private gardens of the Aylesford Pottery, which was established by David Leach - the son of Bernard Leach (who, coincidentally was a buddy with Lucie Rie who in turn taught Ray Silverman, my instructor at Rosetta Studios!).
I had been there once before two summers ago, helping out a potter buddy of mine, Jeremy Nichols, and really found the venue very nice.
I'm really looking forward to the show.  What's really great is it is very close to a mate's house down in Ashford so I'm gonna beg for boarding that weekend!
I have another 8-10 shows I have and will be applying to for this year....so wish me luck!

Updated Etsy Shop Sorted!

Now Etsy has my whole new range for view.
Given that, I have to say that I am not relying on etsy very much at all for bringing in sales.
The fact that my wares are ceramic and therefore heavy, shipping rates from UK to the states are astronomical.  (This is one of the few times of recent years I have yearned to be in the states so I could take advantage of national postal rates!).
With such high shipping costs, I'd imagine most people are put off.  I guess posting my wares on there is more of a way of being seen.  I don't imagine it will amount to much and that's why I am pushing Folksy more.  If I was a jeweller or a textiles person, the Etsy world would be open to me, but for now I am just going to have to use it as a showcase.
So, here it is!

www.etsy.com/shop/jmlpottery

The woes of working with a homemade lightbox

As promised (okay, 4 months later - sorry!), I am here to report that finding lamps to fit those darned bulbs, which wouldn't cost the earth, was a painful process!

In the end, I settled on 3 of these beauties!

and one of these:

Ordered from The Lightworks (from one of the only suppliers I could find that confirmed the lamps were suitable for ES bulbs)at the lowest price I could find for £10.97each for the black and £19.97 for the white.

Note: The taller white lamp was ordered for behind the photobox to hover over the top for downlighting.

I gave up on finding the clip-on desk lamps because none seemed to have a big enough shade diameter or none would/could confirm.

Got 3 in total and ended up with this setup (insert picture here).

As for the pictures that resulted from the light box, they left much to be desired!!! No amount of hue/saturation editing in photoshop could get these babies light enough.

 

So, back to the drawing board. I figured there wasn't enough light.  So, I ended up ordering two more lamps to increase the brightness. Results as follows:

As you can see, they are an improvement, but when I photograph lighter coloured and white objects I still have some serious issues. You can see that the white and light pink suffer the most.

I'm not sure if I am drowning too much light now? 
Would a coloured background paper be better to bring out the object more? 
Where else can I put lamps to backlight the object?  I have such a small photobox, I fear needing to make a larger one!

All the blue, green and yellow items look pretty good for beginner's standards.  I am just not happy with the pink and white.  Looks like I'll be posting updates on this matter in the future!

For the time being, they will suffice.

Making up time

A new product in my range is clocks!!!

I have decided that my swirly slip patterns would look pretty slick on a round clock face and provide a really nice textural effect behind the clock hands - kind of like functional art!

The thing I love about making these, is that they are dead simple to make and fun! The hardest part is finding the appropriate movements to turn it into a clock! More on that later.

So, how do I make these things, eh?

First, I throw a wide shallow cylinder:

Then I wait for it to go leather hard and turn it into shape, cleaning off all the nasty bumpy bits.

Next I apply my slip texture, wait for that to firm up and add the central hole then fire! Vioila! Done!

Making it a real clock....

What movements do you need?

Well, from what I can gather from my research and some trial and error, you need to be certain of the spindle length of the clock movement. It's depth is super important.

My clock faces are about 3/8" thick (roughly 9.7mm) and the spindles (the shaft that goes through your clock face and connects the dails to the mechanism) come in 11, 13.8, 16.2 ,20.1, 26.2 mm lengths. You need to measure the thickness of your clock face and allow for a little length of spindle to stick out in the front of the clock face so you can screw the hands and finishing nuts on the spindle to finish off the clock.

With my clock face thickness, I chose the 13.8 length. Don't worry if none of the lengths seem to suit your needs, as the mechanisms come with rubber washers of various thicknesses to adjust the spindle's length accordingly.

Shop around because a lot of the hour and second hand movements I have been finding on the internet are quite old fashioned. After many hours, I finally found some suppliers who stock a bit more contemporary hands, so they are out there. I ended up choosing the B series hands from:

bude time enterprises ltd.

You need to choose hands that are the appropriate length to fit onto your clock face, and that decision is completely yours, as you may want to make an off-centred clock face or so forth.

What I can say, is you should be aware that the larger the face, the more powerful a motor you will need- more kick to get it around over time. This motor is called Model High Torque Euroshaft Movement, well it is called that in the UK, on this site, not sure about other sites! For the average sized clock, all you need is the Euroshaft Standard Movement.

Once fitted into the central hole and secured, one battery in and you have a working clock! You've just created time! Magic!

Resolution Number One - Sort out my folksy home page!

After taking most of last year to develop my new range of work, I was finally able to photograph the work in late November in my makeshift light box.
All in all, I have managed to document 80% of my range, with a few hiccups preventing completion of the remaining wares. I still have to load all my mirrors online and photographing them has become a real issue (more on that later....).
I know I need to improve the light quality on some of the photos, but for now, I am happy with a cohesive brand. Finally!!!
Let the sales begin!!! Please!!!
http://www.folksy.com/shops/jmlpottery

Dulwich Craft Fair

Okay, my first official Craft Fair was on 14 November at St. Barnabas Hall in Dulwich!

I was very excited, but after a Friday night drive into south London, after leaving central london to go home in the east, I was pooped by the time we got everything set up and got home at 11.30pm!

And, guess what, I forgot to take pictures of my stand!!! So, my photos of my setup the night before in my dining room will have to suffice.

For a first show, I managed to get a bit more than breakeven! But, that darned sandwich I bought brought me right down to zero profit! Learned my lesson on that one....

All in all, crappy weather but great organisers and fellow stall buddies. Fabric Nation and her fabulous set-up (with mince pies thank you very much) were an inspiration on how to fit a table full of kit into an amazingly reduced travel set (without a car!!!)!

Light up my life

Last time I tried to take photos of my work, it took me 4 hours to photograph 10 items.

The sun moved too much that the position I setup in was useless midway into the "shoot" due to shadows from hanging branches.

Those little damned green flies kept sitting on my background paper and wouldn't go away when I blew at them (whilst kneeling on one knee with one hand on camera reaching awkwardly over to rid the scene of them!).

The background paper I had taped into position to some lawn chairs had seperated from the wind howling and bending and tearing the paper.

I nearly lost all feeling in my legs while kneeling on the concrete bending over and peering into the camera.

I had enough! Time to get myself a professional photography studio and leave all that drama behind....

you know how much that would cost? Forget it. I needed to figure out a much cheaper alternative....a light box. Not just any light bow, but a homemade one!

After scouring the internet, I found several amazing sites with instructions on how to build a variation of light boxes with plumbing tubes, boxes, lamp shades and ikea products....to name a few.

I settled on the Ikea option with instructions from PlanetJune, as seen here:

http://www.planetjune.com/blog/light-tent-for-better-product-photography/

I thought I'd send along my step by step progress of assembling my photo box to show you how I achieved it!!

1. Get the Antonius Hamper Frame from Ikea http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10103804. Only £5 - what a bargain.

2. Get some type of white fabric. I chose a cotton sheet from Ikea because I was there and it was cheap. You could get white fabric just about anywhere, but in the UK, no Joanne's Fabric or Michaels to hop to in craft emergencies - so Ikea it had to be...

3. Cut 3 large rectangular pieces from the fabric, using the frame as a guide, cutting 1.5 inches or so bigger than the actual frame size. Do the same for the two ends, cutting smaller more square pieces. Start pinning them together on the frame to get a good snug fit.

4. After pinning, start sewing your pieces together. Put it on the frame to check the fit and adjust where necessary.

5. Start figuring out the lighting!

This is something I haven't had much luck finding! Many thanks to all the Etsians and countless blogs that I have reviewed for some more insight into the appropriate bulbs to use for this light box.

Being in the UK reading US blogs means I cannot take advantage of the great product suggestions available at all those great US hardware shops. In London, B&Q and Homebase without the Lowe's, Home Depots and Walmarts, don't seem to even have a small portion of the selection of bulbs I would have available to me!

I have resorted to online ordering which isn't so bad for ordering the bulbs. However, finding the appropriate light fixtures has proven to be much more difficult!!! Can I ask all of you out there, where did those clunky old clamp-on desk lights go? That is a blog entry for another day...

However, for the bulbs, I can gladly report my decision based on the advice of loads of Etsians:

I am ordering the trumpet low energy compact fluorescent daylight photo bulbs.
They are a bit wider than the usual bulbs, but it seems loads of people have had a lot of luck with them. They have a kelvin temp of around 6000, close to daylight as possible.

The width of them makes finding a lamp more difficult, but I am determined. More on that next time.

I'll post photos of some test shoots as soon as I sort out the lighting!

Does training for a 1/2 marathon and potting mix?

Hmmmn, that would be a big fat NO!!!!
Every morning that I train, I cannot help but be extremely exhausted and useless the remainder of the day! Sadly, with my impending race next weekend, more training sessions means more useless days.
I did have one to two really productive days this past week.
First, I managed to clear 118 test batches of glaze. Yes, you read correctly, 118 batches of 100g glaze pots, built up over 2 years in my endeavour to find that perfect glaze and slip. Can you believe it took over 3 hours to scrape clean into plaster batt (to dry for easy dumping into toxic section of my local recycling/waste centre) and scrub the pots clean. Man, that was a workout in itself! However, what a great feeling it was. Not only did it open up space in my already cramped pottery, but it was a realisation that I had reached the end of my journey of researching, developing and testing.
Once thought of as the unreachable goal, I find myself emerging on the other side of that excrutiating long dark tunnel I have been crawling through for years. I feel like I can finally start enjoying the creative process again, now that I have some decisive conclusions about the clay, additives, slips and glazes I will be using going forward. No more juggling between 22 strains of stain concentrations tested amongst 6 different types of slips which lie under the choice of 15 different glazes, all of which can be applied on top of 11 various white clays. You get the point. The variables have narrowed to a manageable amount.
I have my chosen materials and batches of slip/glaze.
I know how my kiln fires - knowing the hot and cold spots and how best to fire my chosen materials.
I know the forms I want to make and sell.
I have even managed to simplify what it is that I am making - reducing the types of forms on offer, streamlining the making process to a more suitable level of ease.

This leads to the second productive day of my week: I actually started making my new forms and it felt so good just to create, knowing exactly what decoration I was going to apply rather than settling with some undeveloped glaze cover for the sake of finishing the form off. How great did it feel!!! Now I just have to fire and assemble the goods to see how they look!

So, from now on it is time to keep moving with my prototypes and emerge from my long retreat and show everyone what it is that I can offer the world.
A very exciting time! Perhaps all these years of slogging it behind the scenes with scores and scores of okay ideas always seemingly resulting in bad outcomes will actually start paying off!

So, after next weekend's big race, I can only imagine what more energy from reduced running will bring to the potter's wheel! I cannot wait!

Just how specific is this darned specific gravity?

So, there I was remeasuring the specific gravity of my orange glaze, making sure it read as it should from a month ago. Good news, it read the same. Bad news, it looked so damn lumpy and so different from a month ago, I really couldn't believe what I was seeing.

To appreciate the amount of frustration I was feeling at that juncture, I must go back 2-3 months ago when I undertook the painful process of understanding my glazes more. With every kiln firing producing various results, I had undergone the necessary cone fire testings to ensure the right controls were in place and that I was firing evenly and consistantly. After cracking that issue (mind you, that took about 4 months....), I started reading up on how to get my glaze consistancy constant (say that over and over again really fast- I dare you).



I started with hyrdrometers and after reading bucket loads of info on potters.org, decided against persuing that angle. However, the good people on potters.org recommended using SPECIFIC GRAVITY as a reliable method for measuring the amount of water (the consistancy) in a batch of glaze so you can replicate it every time you make up a new batch.

So I eagerly and dutifully tested all my glazes at a thick, medium and thin consistancies to better decide which one was best for the glaze. Once confirmed, I made sure the batches were well mixed and measured the specific gravity accordingly. In fact, I did this three times to ensure little to no room for error.

This is why after re-measuring the batch recently and recording a same specific gravity as before, I was dumbfounded to see a thick muddy pool of glaze. Help!!! Does this mean I cannot even rely on this measurement either? I don't want to go back to sticking my finger in the batch and measuring thickness by just how much of my skin texture can be seen through the glaze film - too much room for error!

Anway, I will proceed. I am ready to dump these glazes once and for all and streamline to one reliable glaze - is there such a thing!?!

WOW - I have been such a bad blogger the past few months! I have been too busy going away like a little jetsetter on holiday to Tobago with my hubby! It was the first holiday with just the two of us that we have had in so many years!
I was hoping to find inspiration where we were, with the flora and fauna of the beautiful island providing me with a feast of ideas to explore in clay. Instead, I found that my initiative melted away in the 30degrees plus Celcius sun and I couldn't really get beyond rubbing my sunscreen on every 15 minutes. Man, that was a lot of work anyway!
What I did discover was an incredible sense of calm and centredness. No time constraints, no plans, no dressing up, no make-up, no brush (!), no noise, no pollution, no rushing, no one to answer to, no diet, no mirrors (that IS the best way to start chilling out ladies!).... just plain and simple R & R.
It is really so true what they say about the positive impact the sun has on us. Those rays and a quiet connectedness with nature really brought my mind back to the basics: eat, sleep, and be merry. How nice life could be if we could always have it in our minds to seek no more than what we need and to enjoy what is around us.
I was so very hard to get my mind back into gear after getting home - a good week. And now when I begin to stress, I close my eyes and remember all those moments sitting on the beach when I told myself to just listen to the waves rolling in, because it is that sound that I can hear now when I need to escape.
So, rambling over. I'm off to fire my kiln tonight.

My new project!

I finally worked on something that has been in my sketchbook for a good 2 years or so now!
It was so very relaxing and I am so pleased with the outcome!

Picture three of these next to each other in a wall hanging, or a massive singular flower plaque on its own! The options are endless!

I'm a little worried I might get swine flu

with all these pigs around!

Coloured clay! Results are in!

I must confess, I've had these results for some time now, but just hadn't gotten around to posting them!

As you may recall from previous posts, I went ahead and added three concentrations (2, 5 and 10%) of stain to my semi-porcelain body to see what results I would get...

Here is the lilac, which I don't think really looks lilac at all...

The green which I thought was best from the two I tested:

I thought this green was a bit too mint gum looking!

Here is the blue. Oh, the different finishes on each bowl were two differnt glazes on either side with coloured clay exposed in the middle, which honestly is my favourite part on all of them! No glaze, no hassle!

Shame that I like the mandarin so much, as 100grams is THREE TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE than the other stains. Damn!

Out of all the tests, I settled on these particular shades for each colour to make up my pastel pallet.


Now that I have tried adding stain to this clay, I am very intrigued and excited to explore this further. However, looking at the price of the stains, I now realise my my instructor never wanted us to go near them!

Round Two: Piggy Banks with stained clay and glazes

Well - my first go at using coloured clay in an actual item finally came and went . It was so exciting getting the coloured piggy banks out of the kiln! As I made them, the percentages of stain in each clay body didn't really look like much but once fired with a clear glaze over them - they looked fab!

What was really upsetting about the entire exercise was the costing of the pigs with stains inclusive! After punching through my numbers, pigs with NO stain cost 3/4 less to make than those with stains!

As Joe and I had already agreed a per pig price prior to use of stains, my profit margin shrunk by a third when I added them in! No good for me!

Luckily, the results of some glaze tests with stains in them also came out of the kiln at the same time as the pigs! I had tested 2, 5, and 10% stain additions in two white base glazes. One didn't take the stains at all, but the other really reacted!

I tested green, a pink, blue and yellow - here are the results! I LIKE!

When examining the costs of adding these to the glaze instead of the clay, it worked out to be a far cheaper alternative! Joe ended up liking the results as well, so to save costs we decided to go forward with the coloured glazes.

The only thing left to do now is see how my new ceramic transfers with Joe's company's logo that I ordered from Ceramic Digital will look on top of coloured backgrounds!

Visit to Lacock Village and Pottery

Over Easter Weekend, Joe and I planned a trip to Bristol, hitting various National Trust sites (click here to see my blog about the cool properties we have visited) along the way.

We rolled up in one village arguing that it sounded vaguely familiar but not sure why.

Lacock, voted the prettiest village in England at some point (or so Joe told me!).

Then it dawned on us - we had been here before with my Grandparents when they were visiting around Easter last year! Before, our visit was on a very unforgiving day weather-wise and we had collapsed into a fabulously warm, welcoming pub all toasted up with roaring fire and drool inducing homemade dishes. It was dark and rainy that day, but I remember seeing a pottery sign which upon further inspection, revealed a quite gallery space closed for that day.

So, little did we realise that the National Trust's Lacock Abbey was indeed in the same place as that fab pub and village we stumbled upon before.

This time, full daylight with cloud greeted us as we drove in, but the village was buzzing with littl-in's and parents on an early Easter Egg hunt through the streets and businesses in the village. And guess what, that pottery was open!

Take a look at this grand and beautiful property! Believe it or not, it is David McDowell's pottery, gallery cum bed and breakfast all in one!

As we stepped into the gallery space, David was walking up the back steps from his pottery to greet us visitors. After introducing myself, he graciously offered to show us around!

David was so busy, but spent over an hour showing us around and making us feel so welcome. We found out that over 20 years ago, he had to apply to the National Trust to live in this building, taking it over from the previous dweller, Robert Fournier (yeah, the man who wrote that awesome Pottery Dictionary that I love)!!!! Most of it was is in shambles and he restored it during every bit of limited free time that he had while running pottery classes to make the dosh! (Forgive me if I got this wrong David!!)

The location is superb, across from this amazing church, just at the end of the village road.

His kiln building out back was derelict when he moved in and it now houses a handmade massive gas kiln and quite an impressively organized wall system of props and shelves (the envy of any potter really!).

The icing on the cake for me was his big ole pottery in the lower ground of the house (under the gallery which the steps lead up to in the photo below) and all the fab pottery scattered around his B&B. He has Wally Keeler, John Maltby, and many others all just hanging out together on shelves - cool, eh?!

Here's Joe, David and the rhubarb!

He showed us around the house and then asked if we wanted to come to his allotment to pick up fresh rubarb and rocket for dinner that night. Well, if the set-up wasn't making me drool already, come on - how much more idyllic can this get!

It can! The allotment happened to be at the end of a path winding around the church beyond a lovely stone wall and locked wooden door. And check out that rubarb! My Aunt Rose would be so envious!

Needless to say, I had effectively died and gone to heaven in that afternoon. I had found my utopia....Joe was a little giddy too, although not convinced about my sudden desire to be a B&B owner...

I just cannot thank David enough for being so great to us! His pots, rhubarb and B&B are all fab!

Anyone interested in staying, here is his website. Well worth the visit! Lacock itself is pretty much smack between Bristol and London, close to Bath and very lovely countryside.

Did we even make it to the Abbey - nah, but who cares! What an afternoon!

Pigs coming out of my ears!

Hubby Joe was kind enough to offer me the opportunity to submit a quote (is this how you say that?) for an order of hand-made piggy banks he could use for his business, MyEggNest.com.

Now, I personally think I've won the contract (even without submitting a quote), but he was quick to clarify that my status as "wife" had no bearing on this process at all.

Hmmmn, I guess I will be taking this seriously after all, considering I need the money and I need the experience learning how to cost for purposes of winning contracts in the future.

So, after looking back at some earlier research I had done on this subject from a few years ago, in addition to some training I recieved at a CockPit Arts session AND recent reading - I figure I will need to do the following:

• make a prototype of the item, making sure to calculate clay and other materials used per unit


• once prototype reviewed and accepted by hubby "aka...client" make a few more units, taking care to quanitify time required per unit, and reconfirmation of clay and glaze materials (and any other additional items needed) used per unit
  

• determine cost of firing items. THIS IS DATA I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO GET FOR A YEAR NOW but haven't gotten around to it. Get the kilowatt/hour charges from the electricity supplier and work out the rates....


• consider my wage and profit margin
  

• add all costs together for each unit, use this to determine total cost for total order
  


• figure out time frame required to complete order
  


• submit quote and keep my fingers crossed!

I guess this is a process much in keeping with the design brief concept I used to touch upon with my students in the City and Guilds 7922 Ceramics course. Sadly, I never had that much experience with this process so my students kindof lost out on this front.

I am wondering what other potters do to win contracts or orders?

About two years ago, I did go through an intensive exercise similar to this in preparation for an open house in which I was going to be selling my wares. Although I didn't have a client as it were, I did work to a very strict record keeping procedure, logging every minute and ounce of materials used for each item I made. This real data was then used to calculate a final price for each item, taking into account margins, wages, etc. What was shocking to me at the time was just how much everything was going to cost if I paid myself a decent wage!!! In many instances, the forms were coming out at double what I knew was reasonable to charge.

I wonder with a bit more making experience under my belt this time around that my making time will have decreased, thus reducing the total wages i would have to charge.

Who actually works these quantities out? Are potters actually, on the whole, charging a total price which accounts for a wage to be earned? I would love to hear from someone who does!

Well, to end on a happy note, here is a photo play by play of my journey making piggie banks!

These little vases had no idea they were turning into little piggies!

After a little bit of work, they emerge as very happy pigs! I wonder which one you like best - I need some help on this one!

With cute bottoms!