The Scene

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Minnesota pottery scene. I have a great affinity for it. It seems like there are a lot of potters there that throw loose, and let things grow organically. Forms are well constructed but not fussed over.

I’ve gotten quite a few pots from the Schaller Gallery which houses quite a few of those mid western potter’s, and I was able to check out Northern Clay Center’s gallery after helping a friend move to St. Cloud in 2019. There are some great grant opportunities in MN for artists, and potter especially, but I do wonder why a whole region of potter’s would have a certain feel. A folk esque sense.

Did it come from McKenzie settling there and what his experience was, and his teachings. Is that what the people there gravitated towards, or did other potters like Linda Christianson work, work, and do more work to help get that style established. With that thought there is the wood firer’s of Carolina and their history. I think Eric Botbyl/ Companion Gallery has created something in a digital age that is a clean, and tight aesthetic. Which I wonder what the future of galleries look like with more potter’s going digital and selling their work online will be. Tony Clennell in his book wrote about the experience of his retail shop, people going into the shop for an experience and getting that. Digitally galleries are able to do that with call for entries and show’s which Companion Gallery definitely does that well.

I live close to Montana and they have a pretty nice clay scene also. Red Lodge Clay Center is where I go to get all of my glaze materials, and they always have a good show going on with incredible artists/pots in their show room. I also make sure to make it up to the Archie Bray every year in Helena for a workshop and just to feel inundated with the history of makers there. Their residency program is incredible, but there is something about the history of the Bray and seeing all of the pots that have been left on the grounds that just seeps into you while your there. Helena is great because potters end up making it to the Bray, and then never leaving Helena. So Helena is definitely a melting….pot of potters and styles.

For the other parts of the country I don’t know much about them and I hope to figure it out in the future. I live in Wyoming and there are little splashes of a clay scene, but it doesn’t feel like much of an identity here for potters. A big goal of mine is to change that. I have started a campaign to raise funds for a state anagama kiln, built by Simon Levin in Sheridan planned for fall of 2021. This would be mainly for high school students to be able to experience this type of firing and a networking/community building project. Bringing students/people/artists together from all over the state to fire. I believe that’s where it starts. Get high school students or younger kids interested. Plant that seed and give them an unforgettable experience. They are impacted by that, and hopefully go learn and grow - and then if we’re lucky come back and share that knowledge. Create a spark and some interest in clay. Once one wood kiln is made hopefully that area can have multiple kilns and atmospheres built. Maybe a small residency. Create that interest, and also document that and make sure to share it with the people around us to keep the flame alive and growing. That’s the goal. Create a scene, and get people interested.

This post was a little more rambling, but some goals and thoughts on creating an atmosphere for clay.

Wholesale Online Retail Fulfillment and Expectations

Happy May 15th!

I do quite a bit of wholesale with my production line. I match up designs and mug style/color to fit the brand needs of online lifestyle brands, and brick and mortar retail store’s, along with wholesaling my production line designs all over to craft shop, and carry all of my work in my retail shop on main street in Sheridan, WY.

I am happy to work with all of the folks that I do business with most of the time, and though I’m not quite to a spot where I can tell someone to take a walk if they give me a run around - I’m close.

The people who own, manage, and run those wholesale accounts 99% of the time have no problem. My goal is to broaden the reach of a handmade pot. I want to put a handmade mug or vase, or whatever it is into an unsuspecting consumer. Ooh I’ll hear them say, or wow your mug is my favorite I use it every morning! Handmade is always better, and people have been doing it for thousands and thousands of years. Of course it’s going to relate to people on a deeper level then they were expecting. Hopefully that handmade mug is the gateway pot - and helps them seek out more handmade.

Back to my original thought though - when working with wholesale accounts I have been fortunate to find ones that are cool with every mug being different. I have had requests to get my mugs closer to being similar to match photographs they’ve used in their online store, but everyone I work with is fine with me doing my thing and each mug being a bit different. This has taken a bit of salesmanship on my part, but that’s part of the gig. The people who consume those brands though might not be. A most recent story is a life style brand sent out a mug - the costumer received the mug, used it, and sent it back. - I like to keep the rim loose, a flowing undulating line that captures the eye and bring you into the pot . A protrusion and bevel fit’s that sucker right in the crease of your lips and makes that line pop -. Since the rim wasn’t perfectly level - it spilled when they tried to use it - now I’m not a physicist - but I did have a roommate that was an environmental engineer that studied the surface tension of water after it had been passed through tightly woven molecular filter to strain out contaminates. Surface tension alone - even at the point of a bursting full cup - should be enough to keep that liquid in a state of flow from said cup to said mouth without spilling.

When selling to a market that is un-a-tuned to nuance of handmade, or who want a straight edge even rim because that’s what their used to - I think it’s fair to expect the uncomfortable nature of it will make them second guess. I’m comfortable with that, and after a bit of grumbling and hrmphing - I had a good laugh about the amount of shakiness that would take to spill out of that particular cup - I took that feedback, felt invigorated to continue to make my pots and sell to a market unfamiliar with intention and handmade. I’ll bring more into the fold - on a plus side the fulfillment worker was able to keep that mug because it was sent back. It was one of her favorites.

Hello!

I’ll jump on here and update studio things, works, and other thoughts that are jumping around in my head.

I’ve been looking a lot at the works and websites of Tony Clennell, Linda Christianson, Josh DeWeese , and George McCauley. Inspiring to say the least - all of these folks have such a looseness but utter control of the clay. If you don’t know their work check them out.

Tony Clennell - http://smokieclennell.blogspot.com/

Linda Christianson - https://www.christiansonpottery.com/

Josh DeWeese - http://www.joshdeweese.com/

George McCauley - https://www.georgeshouseofclay.com/

Workshops

Workshops. I make sure to attend at least one workshop every year. I’m a big fan of that environment. People coming together, working towards a common goal of growth, working my ass off, and learning from other people who think like I do.

Sheridan is a short jump for me to head up to Helena, MT to the Archie Bray Center. If you don’t know that organization you have to check it out. Lots of incredible history especially for this part of the country. http://archiebray.org/ In the inspiration post I’m going to post here soon: there is a free video you can look up that talks about Volkous and Autio at the Bray, and Josh DeWeese who was a director for a while talks about the history either on his ceramic arts daily video or somewhere. I have been going to the Archie Bray since 2015 for workshops and have had some incredible experiences. Here is a list:

2020:Making and Seeing Bandana Pottery

2019: Chris Staley, Linda Christianson, Simon Levin

Glazing. Pete Pinnell 

2017: Fundamental Questions of Utilitarian Pots Michael Connelly and Alleghany Meadows.        

2016: Josh Dewitt 

2015: Mark Hewitt

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention going to Red Lodge Clay Center for a two day workshop with Suze Lindsay and Mike Helke. Red Lodge is only a couple hours from where I’m at, and is where I get all of my glaze materials. their website is also something I look at constantly to read artist statments and look at good pots. If you don’t know that organization that is another great one to look up. www.redlodgeclaycenter.com

I will make my way to Anderson Ranch and Penland in the future, but with two little guys trips like that can be tough. I volunteered this year to help out at Arrowmont in Sept. so I’m excited about that but we’ll see if Covid is still hanging around or flares up again at that time. In the future when my little guys (a 4 year old and 1.5 year old) are grown a little bit I can hopefully apply to short term residencies nationwide and internationally.

Another great resource is the Ceramics Field Guide. They just recently started an instagram, but they have some incredible insights, and this link will bring you to workshop etiquette. It can be a bit daunting to go to one of these your first time so this has some good insights of what to expect. http://ceramicsfieldguide.org/chapter-2/workshops/