Lotte base located in Jingdezhen in Jingdezhen City Ceramic porcelain sculpture

By JDZ-Ceramic

Sky blue, spring boil noodles. May 1, Lotte Jingdezhen in Jingdezhen City Ceramic base porcelain sculpture was officially established. Master of arts and crafts of China Liu long porcelain in Jingdezhen City Council, porcelain sculpture, pottery Lotte and other relevant agency heads to attend the inaugural ceremony. Liu announced the establishment of ceramic base and at the same time opening the third market Lotte creative.

Lotte sculpture ceramics in Jingdezhen porcelain base is located in the back door, is a studio with offices and speak to one large space LOFT style. “51″ period, the base will be the site for pottery pottery patterns show fans, decorative ceramics, glaze painting, blue, handmade pottery, traditional hand-made brush, bamboo, etc., can also experience the casting, Green flowers and clay figurines. Let the side of pottery can learn to master Jingdezhen ceramics production techniques, the side of Topsy Jingdezhen this “Ceramic History”, to share the fun of ceramics bring.

Lotte’s creativity in the market in the third that the 120 stalls of creative works to the three-meter-large, small fingernails, there are fashion or nostalgia, and daily or leisure, plane or space, there are worn on the body Ceramic necklace, earrings, vases of practical devices, it hung on the wall porcelain pottery, lamps, ornaments and so on are purely decorative, silver, everything is very fine. In particular vegetables covered with bamboo accessories cover, filled with decorative ornaments five bean frame, it is attracting tourists and Taobao’s eye, and even there are many foreign tourists come to visit, browse.

According to Lotte Tao agency responsible person to open up the creative market is young potters hope to provide students with a small stage, to encourage them to not only the freedom to create ceramic art, but also intervene in the market as soon as possible, the combination of creativity and the market, the creation and re-writing the continuation of operations in practice possible. At the same time, the opening of innovative small market can also Jingdezhen ceramics culture brought about by the development of the vitality and creativity of young people active in the cultural atmosphere of the Millennium porcelain to bring fresh supplies and energy. To establish a base for ceramic art ceramics and the vast majority of those who love ceramics, pottery making and to provide to appreciate the art of pottery making the exchange of space, to “Lotte stage, singing the public art, art exchange, together with promoting” the promotion of ceramic culture.

Lotte Jingdezhen Ceramic pottery creative agency of the Promised Land

By JDZ-Ceramic

Lotte Jingdezhen Ceramic pottery creative agency of the Promised Land
Lotte Tao Agency. Established in Hong Kong in 1985 for the purpose of potters and those who love pottery and production space to enjoy. Lotte Tao agency today by the famous Miss Zheng Yi potters command, has become Hong Kong’s largest pottery center. In order to expand the exchange of ceramics, in 2002, Lotte Tao founded the agency in Shanghai, the new studio and showroom; Jingdezhen pottery Lotte agency was set up in 4 years ago; Tao Lotte 2007 Beijing formally established agency. As Lotte Tao Yi Zheng Club annual travel to Hong Kong, Beijing, between Shanghai and Jingdezhen. Very Coincidentally, Ms Cheng at a press conference the day before the interview went just arrived at Jingdezhen. Thus, the reporter had the privilege and the Lotte Tao’s head as she talked about the effort to build the “Kingdom of creativity.”

“Jingdezhen is a very spiritual place, a lot of people would like pottery hereմմ’Aura’.” Miss Zheng Yi is a pleasant person, born optimist, even the talk is the exultant. Lotte Jingdezhen pottery before the creation of social organizations, she has been abroad many times to view the exchange of potters, but every time there regret - do not have a specialized Jingdezhen potters for foreign exchange and creative place. Of course, this place can also provide related services such as catering accommodation, which needs the creation and exchange continue for some time. Are based on this, May 1, 2005, Ms Cheng choose to establish a sculpture of Jingdezhen porcelain pottery Lotte agency, to assume the foreign exchange and creative potters base functions. “Chose porcelain sculpture, is very optimistic about where the ceramic culture.” Zheng Yi said.

Zheng president of the success of a number of foreign countries have come here especially for potters.

Interview the same day, journalists in Lotte’s foreign pottery art room to see the five foreign potters. University of Hawaii from the United States teachers Miss Chen Songli accepted an interview with reporters. This reporter has learned that this is the second time Ms Chan came to Jingdezhen, and is prepared to stay here for six weeks. Back to the United States, she is also prepared to come with their own students.

Last year, Ms. Chen first came to Jingdezhen, the city felt the strong atmosphere of ceramics, “but this kind of environment in other parts of the world’s unparalleled.” She also cited examples reporters, “In the United States, it is very difficult to buy ceramic glaze-related, but in Jingdezhen, these are not problems.” To go back after listening to a lot of students in her introduction, it is thought of Jingdezhen to. Conversation, she opened a small paper, showed reporters not long ago to do her a pair of small porcelain shoes. She said that she take it back to the United States, sent his best friend. Mountains can be seen here, she is very happy.

Lotte social event of pottery not only in foreign countries, “Phoenix” Jingdezhen as its impact on the expansion of the local community, gradually, more and more young people to gather together here. Zheng Yi found that many of these young people, such as ceramic College students in institutions of higher learning, they create works Lotte Lotte to sell on. The reporters found that these young people do not have a fixed work patterns, more like a whim, but very popular with visitors welcome.

The development of the past few years, today’s Jingdezhen pottery Lotte agency has air-conditioned studios, pilot plant, galleries, shops, cafes and artists homes, canteens and so on. Here is not only the artists and young students to exchange and creation of the stage, more like a big family of potters. “I would be happy to Lotte as a pilot plant, more specifically, a ceramic factory creative experiment.” Zheng Yi Tao this to their own social positioning. The people here are willing to put it than for the 798 Art District in Jingdezhen.

Lotte Tao agency has its own “reserve program”, for example, are held every Friday evening in a lecture ceramics. For instance, every Saturday or during holidays or Porcelain Fair, Lotte Jingdezhen pottery agency would provide the college students a venue to enable them to put a stand to sell his pottery works, a fine-sounding name on “creative fair” .

June 28, this reporter went to “creative fair” interview. Liu is on the third time to give them the platform Lotte was very pleased, she said: “Only in Jingdezhen, in Lotte have such an environment. In here that can not only make the cost of living is more important is access to practical experience and recognition of their work. ”

Jingdezhen Ceramic History of the development spoke of the prospects for the creative industries with the confidence of Zheng Yi. In her view, not lack of Jingdezhen ceramics culture, and not missing very edge industry in Jingdezhen, Jingdezhen current lack of creativity is, “Of course, such shortcomings are not unique in Jingdezhen, China’s ceramic industry is the existence of this phenomenon. It is gratifying that the local government of Jingdezhen is attention to this matter, there are a lot of people doing this thing. ” Zheng Yi Jingdezhen were each to want to leave, she said, whether it is in Hong Kong or in Beijing and Shanghai, ceramic art is not very strong atmosphere, with which it is difficult to carry out related work, but not the same as in Jingdezhen, surrounded by so ceramics who are expert, good atmosphere, and easily communicate.

Lotte Tao agency is an “art space” is also a business, the Tao of Lotte’s the next stage of development, Zheng Yi has his own ideas. She said that she is an artist, but also the Tao Lotte’s operators, as a business, the economic benefits that must be considered, otherwise, it would be difficult to survive and develop. Lotte Tao On the main objective of the current agency, said she was very calm and the word Hill - to make money. She played a very vivid metaphor, founder of Lotte Tao agency, just as in the revised Highway, a few years ago the task is to repair, and now the road has been repaired, it is necessary to start charging fees, it is to the benefits.

Today, Lotte Tao agency also set a porcelain sculpture of two large plants, to expand the exchange of artists and venues. Zheng Yi very confidently told reporters that she read the relevant leaders in the planning and operation of these notions, have expressed sincere appreciation for the mountain. “I want to Lotte Tao Jingdezhen Ceramic Society into a model of cultural and creative industries so that more people involved so that more of the ‘ceramic people’ to see the creative industries’ money ‘King.” Zheng Yi still enraptured when they talk.

Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute or the University changed its name to ceramics

By JDZ-Ceramic

A few days ago, Jiangxi University study group of experts set up his 8 visit Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, the University of the hospital changed its name to the work of ceramic preliminary inspection, assessment and verification. Group of Experts on the provincial education department headed thunder Song, deputy inspector, head of the supervision of the Commissioner for the Nanchang Institute of Technology, party secretary and former deputy director of the Board of Education of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang University, Professor Zhou members from Jiangxi Agricultural University, vice president of the Hua-Lin Wang, Nanchang Vice Chancellor of the University Aviation dawn, Gannan Medical College Ringbom Huang, Tung Wah Group of Hong Kong Polytechnic University Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dean Liu Jinhui composition.

Expert missions in the briefing, the Jingdezhen Municipal Standing Committee, vice mayor, said Lin Hua, Jingdezhen municipal party committee and government will give full support to the work of ceramic Institute changed its name. Dean made a good week, entitled “rooted in trade, services of local, influential both at home and abroad to build multidisciplinary university ceramics” reporting, a detailed report to the Group of Experts on the ceramics and construction of the hospital was renamed the University of significance, demonstrated that the renamed the University of the necessity and feasibility of the idea of building the University of ceramic and measures. During the inspection, members of the Group, respectively, the national daily and architectural ceramics Engineering Research Center, the International Ceramic Center, the hospital is a Ceramic Research Institute, Experimental Center for Ceramic Art, chemical laboratory, a library, hospital, etc. History has been inspected. Went to learn more about both teaching and research, and listen to the relevant report.

The afternoon of June 1, the Group held a feedback will be inspected on hospital reform and development in recent years achieved remarkable results, as well as the work done around the renamed fully affirmed. That distinctive characteristics, a great influence at home and abroad, teaching strict management and the quality of teaching high-quality, high standard of teaching. Experts on the current problems and a lack of sound advice and recommendations. Xiao Ren-Xian Institute of party secretary of missions, thanks to experts here, the experts stressed that the views and suggestions on the future development of long-term significance. The hospital will be renamed as an opportunity to apply for, and strive to build both at home and abroad, the influence of the characteristics of schools.

Order ceramic enterprises into foreign trade in October signs of becoming warmer and more

By JDZ-Ceramic

Cai chaozhou Anyang is a person in charge of ceramic enterprises. In recent months, he clearly felt a lot better than the days.The beginning of this year, export ceramics industry was very concerned about him. Workshop was to start the furnace less than half capacity, the workers work on time, the famous ceramics producing area, many companies have even suspended production.

From the beginning of June, ceramics enter the traditional peak season in the export of Cai anyang workers of enterprises not only have to work overtime every night, weekends are all full of. Despite the orders than in previous years it is with small and scattered, but it has been at the top of the October.

Cai anyang described, they are now the biggest difference is the mentality. 3,4 monthս?ders, regardless of good, single bad one had no choice but to follow what are now the most choice, and this year the export value of around 78 as of previous years, but as a result of increased domestic sales efforts at the same time, it is estimated that the annual performance the same can be achieved.

In fact, the province’s ceramics business is a huge foreign trade enterprises epitome of a small group. Although the first half of Guangdong’s import and export up to 20.7% year-on-year decline in ROC optimistic people, but from a number of industries and foreign trade enterprises of all sorts of positive signs that it shows that the decline in “market” are, in fact, not small “plate” and “stock” has been showing an exciting development.

Ceramics for daily use in Hubei Province to the U.S. to achieve “zero” breakthrough

By JDZ-Ceramic

Ceramics for daily use in Hubei Province to the U.S. to achieve “zero” breakthrough
A few days ago, Hubei Jinghua Ceramics Technology Co., Ltd. produced eight clay-type ceramic tableware 9600 Inspection and Quarantine Bureau inspected by the Yellowstone, the successful export to the United States. This also marks the Hubei Daily ceramic products to the U.S. to achieve a “zero” breakthrough.

Hubei Jinghua Ceramics Technology Co., Ltd. is located in Xishui county in Hubei Province. Xishui known as the National “furnace town”, mineral-rich, high quality is to produce quality ceramic raw materials. Xishui county government in order to expand the cluster effect, to create a pillar industry to the eastern coastal industrial transfer as an opportunity to active investment, attracting a large number of Foshan ceramic enterprises to invest in the development of Xishui County. As one of key projects to attract foreign investment, Hubei Jinghua Ceramics Technology Co., Ltd. to build in December 2007, four production lines to be completed by the end of May this year, and formally put into production, with 20 million bottles ceramics, tea sets for the production of 500,000 capacity of more than 200 million yuan output value.

To tie in with the local government investment, local economic development services, Inspection and Quarantine Yellowstone in the early days of the enterprise to build on a rainy day. On the one hand, it will be dynamic in time to the Hubei Textile Inspection and Quarantine, the Certification Office report obtained the support of Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in Hubei Province; On the other hand, it attached great importance to the party group, specialized forced to deploy elite troops in charge of export ceramic test held business plan for the deliberations of the meeting. In March this year, Yellowstone Inspection and Quarantine personnel specialized organizations to learn from Hunan Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Hunan Province visited the two billions of dollars in U.S. exports of ceramics for daily use in business and located in Liling, Hunan Key Laboratory of Ceramics of the country to understand the learning ceramic products and testing of the key requirements of the production process. Continuously upgrade their ability to detect at the same time, Inspection and Quarantine Yellowstone active with the local government and business connections. In the planning stage of the company, take the initiative to the U.S. ceramic-related technical regulations and standards to the enterprise, from the factory planning and design, production process to be a comprehensive guide to start, avoiding detours enterprises to ensure that the plant after the completion of daily quality control of ceramic products in line with the export requirements.

The start of the enterprise, when the international financial crisis, after the Chinese New Year this year, the company received a major food export to the United States orders, which allow enterprises to see the difficult plight of hope. However, the trade of products to a very high quality requirements, and delivery time is very tight, for just such an operation has not been eligible for U.S. exports of ceramics enterprises, is an impossible task. Informed of this situation, Inspection and Quarantine Bureau Huangshi, deputy director Wang Jian led many enterprises of the department staff visited the research, gain first-hand information; the actual situation for enterprises, research to solve the raw material procurement, the key process control, product inspection, etc. family issues; At the same time the council to use its own advantages and take the initiative to help the training of relevant staff, to guide enterprises in the shortest time possible, to establish and organize the implementation of ISO9000 quality management system to enable enterprises to significantly improve the management level. In late April this year in Yellowstone many positive efforts of Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Hunan Textile Inspection and Quarantine, the Certification Board of Hubei, the textile exports of the company’s Office of experts to the U.S. registration of ceramics for daily use on-site audits to help the company In the first the first time in Hubei Province achieved exports to the U.S. ceramic certification permits and through the National Certification and Accreditation Administration submitted to the U.S. FDA filing; early July through the United States FDA audit record, and finally got the export to the United States ceramics for daily use “identity card” .

Products as soon as possible to facilitate the smooth export, while ensuring product quality, Inspection and Quarantine Yellowstone Mill sent inspectors to the implementation of monitoring the entire process of production. Summer heat, choking dust, and inspection personnel and technical personnel of enterprises under the workshop together and engage in analysis, product line click on the sample submitted immediately, as soon as possible for enterprises to win the delivery time.

Hard Work, Soft Clay

By JDZ-Ceramic

Mark Shapiro dries a thrown form with a weed burner before shaping it further, at Stonepool Pottery, Worthington, Massachusetts.
Faceted vase, 14 in. (35 cm) in height, wood-fired salt-glazed stoneware, 2007.
Teapot, 7 in. (18 cm) in height, wood-fired salt-glazed stoneware, 2007.
Bottle, detail, 12 in. (30 cm) in height, wood-fired salt-glazed stoneware, 2007.

Foundation Stones

By JDZ-Ceramic

John Glick slip decorating 26-inch plates at Plum Tree Pottery, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Floral arrangers, to 12 in. (30 cm) in height, thrown and handbuilt stoneware, with multiple glazes, reduction fired, 2007.
Dear Mr. Glick,
I had loved your work and purchased a 16-inch plate about 25 years ago. Workers in my home accidentally broke it and I am devastated. I need to determine the value of this plate and I wonder if you can help with this problem.
Sincerely, Gloria Smith

Dear Mrs. Smith,
Any plate from this phase of my work will be notably different than one from 25 years ago. But, then, that is why I am still at work making things-the fun of exploring new ideas!
Thanks, John Glick

That was an e-mail exchange that took place recently (I have changed the name of the client for privacy reasons). It struck me as I began this task of writing about core issues in my beliefs about potting for a living that what mattered to me was to keep my focus on things I have come to think of as the foundation stones in my professional life. One thing is for sure; having been at this for 43 years, I know that what keeps me interested is exploring ideas that motivate me.

 So, if I were to say where my artistic recharging comes from, I would say it comes every day that I work. I feel blessed that my way of working has formed itself around allowing “surprises” to occur on a regular basis and the playful pursuit of things that are born out of the question “what if?” This leads to color changes, shape variables, turning things around to see other options, surprises, changing the rules-having no rules. So, the e-mail exchange above speaks to the reasons why I continue to work this way; it feeds my enthusiasm.

 It is tempting to consider trying to lay out a plan about how to survive creatively in a career in clay. I could list a series of “must do” things that would help ensure survival both financially and emotionally. Frankly, I didn’t do that during those heady days in 1964 when I rented a building and began Plum Tree Pottery. I wonder if anyone really does such strategic planning at the outset?

From the safety of hindsight, there have been things that have helped knit together my sense of wellbeing as an artist over the past 43 years. Here are some for consideration:

 Having a Showroom

My studio showroom has been my window to an ever-growing and changing cross-section of supportive clients. Some families have been using my work for over three decades, meaning that at special times I may see family members from all three generations during one visit. My heart is often melted by the goodwill felt during such visits. Seeing folks sitting on the floor of my showroom poring over choices, chortling over discoveries and passing pots back and forth with one another-great moments for the soul! Countless times, I have returned to work reassured that this way of interacting with my supportive clientele has a wonderful impact on my life.

 Consider the almost daily feedback from a wide range of clients over so many years. This has been a wonderful, ongoing, real-world education, since I am privileged to observe people reacting to the evolutions in my work year in and year out. Naturally, not everyone is uniformly pleased with the changes that occur in some aspects of my work. But, almost to a person, I sense an acceptance and respect for the fact that in my studio, the work will evolve and old favorite phases of work a client recalls will not be revisited.

 Gallery Involvements

For wider community involvement, I have worked with galleries throughout my career. But I have kept the numbers of such involvements low so that I never feel driven or tempted to make work aimed at satisfying an external demand, which could potentially diminish the feeling of inner commitment to my natural working process and the resultant pots. So, I do have a desire to be in good company with other artists whose work I respect in clay gallery settings, but only in moderation.

 Working Rewards; Daily Experiences

 When I know I am on the right path in my work process, I notice clues that have become like old, welcome friends showing up during the quiet moments, when I am alone in the studio. I especially love the pre-dawn moments when I re-encounter pots from the previous workday, perhaps waiting for further resolution. Magical.

A recent session produced a large series of constructed floral arranger vessels. (See the image below of raw vessels and a fired example.) They were engaging to do and surprisingly effortless in the making, which is exactly what I want to happen since it is my instinctive way of working. The pots seem to make themselves.

I think the hardest feelings for any artist to engender and protect are those of joy and discovery while working. I have observed the long careers of many colleagues in the arts and what fascinates me is how different artists keep their creative spirits alive. Some seem to do it on what I think of as a microcosmic level; I observe tiny explorations carried out over a long span of time. Other times I see huge leaps of discovery make their way into the workflow.

All this is good, all worthwhile for moving along a path where pleasure in the making for the artist is encouraged-and in the eye and soul for the viewer/user who can find their own rewards in work that comes from a challenged and evolving maker.

Hard Work, Soft Clay

By JDZ-Ceramic

Mark Shapiro dries a thrown form with a weed burner before shaping it further, at Stonepool Pottery, Worthington, Massachusetts.

Bottle, detail, 12 in. (30 cm) in height, wood-fired salt-glazed stoneware, 2007.

I built my kiln in 1988. There was nothing I wanted more than to make pots every day, to work in the studio without interruption. I quit my carpentry day job a few years later, after my first American Crafts Council (ACC) wholesale show. It seemed an incredible privilege that I could make a living doing what I loved.

Each generation responds to and shapes the evolving environment through which they move. I started doing juried retail craft shows at a time when they had fairly consistent energy and profitability. I had a string of lucky years in which I did some of the best of them, while keeping a dozen or so wholesale accounts that I’d take each year at the ACC show in Baltimore. I was always trying to balance ordered wholesale pots with pots that I’d make for shows. My income has been supplemented by annual studio sales and occasional purchases from visitors to a small showroom I built. (I have no signage and do not advertise, so people have to seek me out.) At one point, I had ambitions of focusing on showroom sales, being the local potter, but I think I lacked some of the sustained sociability for that role. I was single then, and put all my profits into renovating my house, improving my studio buildings, and buying and fixing equipment.

At a certain point, I wanted to make pots that would be seen together as a coherent body of work. I was also beginning to make larger work and, as my relationships with galleries developed, I felt I had to choose between representing myself (at craft shows) and developing relationships with galleries that were investing in my career. I stopped doing craft shows around 2000 and have since been selling work through gallery exhibitions, my studio and at special venues such as the Old Church pottery sale in Demarest, New Jersey. My income has become even less predictable than when I did shows and wholesale, but somehow the pots find homes and bills eventually get paid. As a gallery artist, I find myself asked to spend more time on things that supplement the work-producing images, writing and speaking and attending events. All take time and energy.

For a dozen years or so, I’ve been teaching workshops, and this continues to be a significant source of both income and community. While preparation, travel and the time away interrupt the flow of studio work, I love teaching, the way working with clay enlivens and brings people together. It’s always exciting to meet a student who feels the same urgency to make pots that I felt. I try to bring some pots to sell at workshops. Often, that makes it possible to teach at places that cannot afford my day rate.

Along the way, I became interested in ceramic history, in particular, the early American salt-glazed pots produced in the region where I live. This has led me to meet collectors, dealers, archaeologists, curators and historians-a wholly different community of clay enthusiasts. I’ve become an advocate for this under-recognized ceramic heritage. This has opened up into other projects: documenting the thoughts and words of contemporary potters I admire and some critical writing. These activities take time away from the studio too (and are often even less remunerative), but they engage and expand other dimensions of the mind and bring different information into my pots. Thinking about excellent pots and trying to articulate what it is that makes them compelling challenges me to reach for a higher standard in my own work.

One of the reasons why I am able to continue without an outside job is that our-now I have a family-overhead is fairly low. I bought a house that was like a shipwreck before all this real estate inflation and began my slow salvage operation. Like the ad for that brokerage firm says, I renovated this place one mug at a time. I have always tried to stay away from debt, except for the mortgage. I buy used equipment and spend a lot of time maintaining it-sometimes this is pound foolish. The initial kiln, kiln shed and studio renovation were completed with the help of Sam Taylor and Michael Kline, with whom I worked for a dozen years, trading a variety of in-kind services for use. While not always simple, pooling resources worked on many levels to boost initially weak prospects. Not only were there enough hands, but there was plenty of energy, encouragement and needed criticism-plus a larger group of friends and relations who couldn’t refuse to show up for our early sales.

So much physical work takes a toll. Throwing is repetitive and asymmetric on your joints-so many potters have lower back issues, especially on the side of their dominant hand. I have been throwing standing-and seated on a treadle wheel for trimming and throwing off the hump-for the last twenty years, which has helped my back. I also try to use the softest clay possible for the pot I’m making. The softer the clay, the less resistance it has to shaping and the less stress there is on the body. For small bowls and the like, the clay I use is so soft it feels like you only have to look at it to move it. Of course, for taller and thinner forms I use the harder stuff, but I’ve taken to using a powerful propane torch-a weed burner, in fact-that I think of as fixative, enabling me to use softer clay, but adding stiffness where I need it. This has also opened up new possibilities of form and scale.
For the last fifteen years, I have worked with a series of apprentices-another form of pooling resources. He or she helps with the heavy lifting around the studio and brings in a shot of youthful energy. I have the satisfaction of sharing my knowledge and watching them develop as potters and people.

We all have to contend with the higher cost of being alive-increased housing, health care, energy and even food costs, not to mention (for those recently out of school) big student loans. Permits for kilns and buildings are becoming the norm and can be difficult and expensive to get. It’s all harder to do without institutional support. On the other hand, the Internet, the trend toward local artisanal products, and a general reconsideration of the human and environmental costs of corporate production and consumption, plus the movement of some craft galleries into the higher end of the market, are changing the context in which handmade pots are perceived and opening up new, diverse opportunities for potters to make a living.

This vocation has always demanded extraordinary skills, energy and tenacity. More than once, a customer has commented that it must be so much fun to be a potter. I hope that is due to a sense of playful wonder that they see in the work. Making things, especially out of a material as sensual as clay, evokes fantasies of a kind of pleasant messing about. But words like fun or play, to me imply a social dimension; studio work, in spite of its many pleasures, is fundamentally something else, something more solitary, sustained and rigorous. I am reminded of a response by the painter Chuck Close to the question, “Where do you get your inspiration?” “Inspiration is for amateurs,” he quipped, “The rest of us just show up.” It is hard work, but I still love showing up.

Small Rewards,But Who’s Counting?

By JDZ-Ceramic

Kitchen Bone Jars, 22 in. (56 cm) in height, thrown porcelain, wood fired and salt glazed.

Porcelain vase trio, to 13 in. (33 cm) in height, thrown porcelain, salt fired.

So, 36 years with clay goes by in a hurry. Twenty-three of those years have been spent making pots full time for a living. Of course, there have been more than a few disappointments, but looking back on it all, it’s been a pretty good time. When it starts to become just a job, one has to realize this job is full of “little Christmases.” These can be a piece that turns out the way you wanted, a great firing or maybe just the best mug on the board. These small, consistent rewards aren’t really part of a lot of other professions. Making pots is simply one of my favorite things to do in life.

Our business is quite simple. My wife, Marty Mitchell, is a landscape painter and we sell almost all of our work at our home studios and gallery. We sell directly to customers, form a relationship with these people and get to know most of them well. The upside to selling work this way is that I have the freedom to decide both what and how many pots I want to make before moving on to something else. This keeps my enthusiasm up, but every now and then I have to be pushed in another direction and start something new. I usually do this by changing environments and being around different shapes, whether they be landscape based, architectural or mechanical.

After working with atmospheric firings for so long, one expects a few “faces” on a piece. I always found my glaze fired work to be a bit monochromatic and uninteresting. Spending more time with potters who produce glazed work, and who know what they are doing, made me realize that I don’t! This is becoming a challenge that asks new questions. For example: Will my familiar forms stand up to this new surface? Is their current scale appropriate? What about clay bodies? And what about temperature (higher, lower or the same)?

I’ll be building a new kiln for this journey. Nothing really large or beautiful; little, funny-looking kilns have always worked best for me as they seem to have to try harder! I’ve also learned to use what they’ll give me and not force them to do what they won’t or what they can’t. I’m getting kind of excited about all of this.

Some of the more challenging issues of being a studio potter are health insurance (barely affordable and the biggest monthly bill), home maintenance and paperwork. And I’ve realized that most of our customers have more money and newer cars than we do! Who’s counting?

Teaching workshops and making things that create a bit of joy and intimacy with food and people’s daily lives keeps me in the clay community. It’s a good community.

Deeply Invested

By JDZ-Ceramic

Silvie Granatelli carves a large leather-hard bowl in her Floyd, Virginia studio.

Breakfast/lunch sets, 10 in. (25 cm) square, slip-cast porcelain with incised decoration and glaze.

The first time I touched clay was at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1966. From that moment on, my life revolved around figuring out how to make a living with ceramics. In the ’60s, there were not many contemporary examples of studio potters, but Ken Ferguson, my professor, made his students aware that being a professional potter was a real possibility. At that time, the many things I didn’t know were a blessing._I thought everything was possible. After graduate school, I worked in several communal studios in and around my native Chicago before making my way to the South.

As a young potter, my central goal was to make a seamless balance between my studio work and my domestic life. After many fits and starts, I ended up in Floyd, Virginia, where I set up a studio. I spent the first twenty years of my career doing craft shows and selling wholesale to galleries. I also did workshops, which greatly supplemented my income.

It was initially difficult to figure out the perfect balance between the options. The upside of craft shows was the direct interaction between my audience and myself. They were a great place to see how people reacted to new work. Selling pots at a craft show is like handing everyone your heart on a plate with a knife and fork. It can be a very vulnerable experience.

The real downside of doing craft shows was the amount of time I had to spend away from the studio. In that regard, selling pots wholesale was a boon, allowing me to stay home and work. But the equation worked only if I managed to spend the right amount of time filling orders while still sustaining a large enough percent of my income through this work. filling wholesale orders had its drawbacks, too-I realized I just had to make too many pots!_
Of all my income options, traveling to teach workshops was perhaps the most gratifying and fulfilling. While standing in front of students, I was able to further articulate my ideas, work on new forms as demonstration pieces and visit wonderful places.

Over the past ten years, I have developed a new and more stable source of income by working closely with a group of craftsmen who live in my community. Together, we started 16 Hands, an art collective whose main approach to selling work is a self-guided tour of our studios. Through this tour, held twice a year, and through year-round sales in my studio gallery, I am able to generate most of my income. To make up the remainder, I still do workshops and participate in gallery shows around the country.

In hindsight, I realize it was fortuitous that I settled in a location where the cost of living was affordable. I own a home and property near a small river in southwest Virginia, and I have health insurance and a retirement account. Health insurance is expensive for the self-employed. In fact, it is my largest yearly bill.

I am also frugal and conscientious of my spending habits. I don’t take out loans to pay for more equipment, additions to the studio, or advertising. Instead, I take on small teaching jobs, workshops, or make special order pottery. I also save 20-30% of my yearly income, which has provided a financial cushion. I consider this money fluidly available for use throughout the year. And if it is not used, at the end of the year I invest it in something I need. I do my own bookkeeping but hire an accountant for taxes, a habit I’ve kept from even my poorest days. This financial plan has held me in good stead for years, allowing me to travel and cook gourmet food, two of my favorite pastimes.

I’ve been fortunate to undergo my professional maturation surrounded by a group of potters in Floyd and the surrounding area. Happenstance has brought us together, connected by like-mindedness and mutual respect. After years of helping each other with technical problems, sharing trips to craft shows, and giving each other advice on both business and personal issues, I can’t imagine a life without our close-knit community of artists.
If I have a business philosophy, it begins with the fact that I chose this life for a reason and I am willing to invest in it deeply. I take my work and my life seriously, and I believe this attention has given me a useful perspective and solid foundation. I’ve also learned that investing in myself helps other people take me seriously as well. As a potter, all you have is your pots, the way you present them, and yourself. If you want to succeed, you have to seriously consider what it takes to get the presentation right. I have a web site, business cards and well-designed brochures advertising the 16 Hands tour. These advertising tools help make my work visible to the public. And, perhaps most importantly, I never say no to an opportunity that might help me grow in my field.

Over the past ten years, I have developed an assistantship program. Through this program, I give young potters a chance to test out a potter’s life before they make their own full investment. They work with me for two years and, during that time, they learn what it takes to develop a body of marketable work and to start selling their work professionally.

As much as I love pots and collect them, I don’t actually derive most of my inspiration from pottery. I travel a great deal, spending time outdoors and, perhaps paradoxically, inside museums (which, of course, house so many representations of nature). The tension of the natural world is inspiring to me-sensual and delicious. And I always hope to find ways to use it in the pots I make.

My life is also deeply connected to food culture, which is a direct source of inspiration for me. Dining and food presentation, the body of a fish, red peppers in a salad, color, texture-all aspects of the way we appreciate the look of food before we sink into the taste-inform many of the pots I choose to make.
Ultimately, I have a lot of ideas, but to give meaning to my work, I have to think and read a great deal. I have to pay close attention to all aspects of the work that comes out of the kiln, to learn where it might lead me next. The pursuit of my vision is still nothing less than a fabulous adventure.

This pursuit is one that, while not losing luster, has maybe grown a little slower. After 40 years in the studio, I realize how the body gives out. Things (tools, bodies) just wear out when you live a physical life. In fact, if I had one practical piece of advice for a young potter, I would advise getting a pug mill early in one’s career. At this stage of my career, the studio looks a little geriatric. I do a great deal of carving on leather hard clay and trimming with a Sureform (rasp) tool. In order to keep my head erect, I use a hydraulic banding-wheel table on casters, allowing me to easily move the table up and down while working on a form. My chair, also on casters, lifts up and down with the touch of a fingertip. My two potter’s wheels are set at different heights, one for throwing and one for trimming. Also, whenever I am stiff, I hang from a pull-up bar wedged into a door frame, which loosens my shoulders and spine._

To me, the combination of the need for physical strength, emotional investment and intellectual acuity to achieve success in pottery is always a challenge, but it is one of unlimited reward. Before 1966, I never imagined a person could make a living working all day in a studio surrounded by clay. Today, I cannot imagine my life in any other way.