Posts Tagged “printing on clay”

New lino-cuts for mug templates

I started this post exactly 14 hours ago, but then the day beckoned with all her obligations and I’m only now getting back to finishing my draft around 10:30pm (normally way past my bedtime - yeah, I really know how to party).  I wanted to publish the post tonight, however,  so that I can spend some time tomorrow morning perusing all my favorite blogs while I drink my coffee instead of forcing my brain cells to align just enough to write something coherent.

I think this one turned out really well considering that this is the first impression and all the linoleum dingle berries have yet to dislodge themselves.  The dingles will burn out though when I bisque this.  Speaking of doing a bisque fire, I think I will have enough new work to fill the kiln next week!

Here’s the almost finished mug - I say almost because it still needs to be cleaned up once it firms up to the leather hard stage.  At this point in the process, I actually don’t touch this very much once assembled.  I tweaked the handle template a bit and came up with this sassy one.  I like it better than the original which just seemed to have too much clay.  I’ll probably tweak the handle template just a bit more so that it’s slightly larger.  I’m really excited about these new pieces and the direction it’s taking me - I sure hope they turn out nicely.

^6 stoneware test tiles

In my last post, I mentioned that I had hoped to start doing some glaze testing this week.  It’s been delayed slightly.  In my enthusiasm to find new glazes for these pieces, I neglected to check if I had sufficient test tiles.  I only found 1 usable test tile in my studio and it was a porcelain clay  one - so I made about 100 test tiles using the white stoneware clay body on Tuesday night.  I want to do some 6 part color progression glaze testing using Mason Stains and need a lot of the tiles to accomplish my goal.  I’ll need even more if my tests don’t turn out so well.  Time to put on my chemist’s hat…

Meanwhile, I did nothing in the way of clay today.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  After an early morning Dr. appointment and a few other errands, I spent the day at Park Meadows Mall.  I normally consider this an evil place and quite energy sapping, but I promised my daughter that I’d take her for an afternoon of lunch and shopping - she had $44.00 in her pocket that was burning a hole.  I had an ulterior motive though.  I was on a mission to visit every kitchen store possible in search for some new studio tools.  I did pretty well and will be playing around with the new tools all day tomorrow.

Do you know what?  I’d love to visit and travel around Japan someday.  There’s such a rich ceramic and pottery tradition in Asia that would be wonderful to soak in and witness.  No - I’m not going to Japan any time soon, but 3 of my pieces are this week or early next week.  I hope they’re well received.

That’s it for tonight,

~Cynthia

PS.  I’ll edit this in the morning - so please excuse all grammatical and spelling errors.

Tags: flowers, hand built mugs, printing on clay

Hand-built printed stoneware cup

Original lino-cut used to print slab of clay for cup Okay, so the two images above are really eye candy for this post. I don’t have the heart to post without adding a photo or two. Really, I’ve want to talk about Bloglines! Frankly, I don’t know how I’ve lived without this service in the past 2 years. Actually, at first, it wasn’t really a big deal. I started blogging and only really followed a couple other blogs. But, over the past 2 years of blogging, I’ve added about 60 blogs to my blogroll, not including the ones that you don’t see listed. It ain’t easy following that many blogs. A once pleasurable task became a formidable one… that is until I decided to add all my faves to my bloglines account. Not everyone posts every day or even very frequently - so to toggle back and forth to see who has posted and who hasn’t was a major pain in my a**!

Now, I’ve almost subscribed to all my blogroll via bloglines and I’m a very happy camper. I can login to my account and bloglines tells me who has a new post and I can take a looksie. If I’m moved to comment, I can transport myself painlessly to their blog and come right on back. I can’t recommend this service enough. A++

As far as the question of retail & wholesale, that may be a question for later - unless you want a super long post? Okay, well here it goes… I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine from the now glazed cup you see above (photo to be posted later) so I’m feeling a bit verbose, if you will… it is Friday night after all. I just got my first wholesale order yesterday - very exciting stuff. The buyer orders, I make. Pretty painless. Now, as a fairly new artist, I’m not making a ton of money on either wholesale or retail from my pottery. I make more money teaching clay to be honest. I’ve been reading some posts on the WSC website forums, which unfortunately you don’t have access to unless you are a member. Retailers don’t like artists having a foot in both fronts. If you’re retailing and wholesaling, some argue that you become their competitor. As an artist, I feel like if I were making a living wage from wholesaling, I would stop retailing. But, I’m not there yet - and I’ve got bills to pay. So, I’ve decided to do both. I’m not alone in this - there are several artists who both retail and wholesale.

I sell online via Etsy and I do a limited amount of in person sales at art festivals. I think the trick lies in creating a happy retail price point for myself that doesn’t undercut the retailer. I personally believe that people who shop online are not necessarily the same people who shop galleries and fine craft shops at various locales across the globe. I know I personally like to touch pottery before purchasing someone else’s work. I would have to know the potter’s work before buying something touch unfelt from someone online - pottery is a tactile experience for me. So, in that sense, an in-person gallery is ideal. I’ll take this moment to thank the folks who’ve purchased work from me online based on just a photograph or two.

I understand that with our current economy, galleries and shops are struggling since disposable income is limited for a lot of folks. So what are artists to do? I’m not at a point in my career where I can turn off selling in person just yet. I would, personally prefer to pay a higher percentage to wholesale an item than to consign one - consignment carries a risk to the artist, whereas, wholesale shifts the risk to the gallery. One has to totally trust the gallery or shop to which one is consigning work. What if they go out of business and keep the work? What if it doesn’t sell, and sits there indefinitely? So, with that said, I’m not keen on consignment other than for a special exhibit.

What do you think? I’m really interested in your opinion, as I’ve been thinking heavily about the topic. I haven’t posted new work in my Etsy shop recently as I sort out my dilemma - but I am committed to a special exhibit that includes a sale, the potter’s guild bi-annual sale and the Summer Art Market in the next few months.

Have a good weekend,

~Cynthia

Tags: bloglines, printing on clay, retail vs. wholesale