Rock climbing... finally!

I love our potter friends because there is always somebody who is up for anything. I have been trying for over a year now to get someone to go to Urban Krag with me, and maybe I was just asking the wrong people, but I finally got one of our potter friends to go with me and it was AWESOME. I have not climbed a rock wall since college and boy did I miss it. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I jumped right back into it. Lisa had NEVER climbed before and she did awesome, and she loved it, so I think I got her hooked. Yay! Can't wait to make this a weekly work-out.

Sorry, no pots today... Have a great weekend!

"I know where you can sell your pots."

Every once in a while I will vent talk about conversations we have over and over. In the moment it is rude to just say, "hey we have this under control," pottery is not a jack of all trades kind of business. Yes, like many fields, there are many different ways to persue a career as an artist, and we have chose the path best suited to us. One of the most common phrases we hear is "I know where you could sell your pots", so I wanted to give a little background on the life of an artist.

When you go out to a nice restaurant do you ever think or say to the owner, hey I know how you can increase your revenue, you can charge to take a tour of the restaurant and kitchen, you can take photos of your food and sell them, or you can set up as a vendor on the street and sell your food? No, when you go to a restaurant that is considered fine dining, you appreciate the meal, you probably go there because someone recommended it and you are willing to pay a little bit more for a quality product. This is very similar to a fine art. In our case Geno makes pots to appeal to a demographic of collectors of fine art. People who appreciate the craft and understand the process and technique, so they are willing to pay a bit more.

Every small business owner has a business plan, even an artist. Yes, some do set-up at food festivals, they demonstrate their work at wineries or make goblets to sell at renaissance festivals. This is their living, or a hobby they've taken up on the side. Then their is a group of fine crafts people. These artists sell their work at a few fine art shows a year, display their work in museums, and sell their work at galleries. The cost of a piece by one of these artists can range from $300 and in to the tens of thousands. This IS their living. Chances are they have thought through this art thing as a career, and they have a plan. Of course it is nice to brainstorm and think of galleries that would be appropriate for the style of their work, or shows that they may not be aware of or maybe they are but didn't realize that their work would sell well there. No matter how young they are if an artist is showing their work at fine art shows across the country it is safe to assume that this is their business, profession, life, etc. Being an artist is a struggle at the beginning, similar to many professions. You have to prove yourself. But, it is a career, and while there are many different types of art, like there are many different focusses for all fields, each one chose their focus and has a plan for execution.

So, next time you are at a festival, art festival or fine craft show ask the artist where their next show is, where they sell their work, or how long they have been working as an artist. We get that there are other ways to sell art, but this is the road we chose to travel. :)

What do I do with it?

Now that I am all up-to-date on our life for the year, let's have some fun. I love to cook, but more than I love to cook I love to eat! So, I am going to start a series on my blog called "What do I do with it?". This is a question we get asked a lot, to me it's a stupid question, but there are no stupid questions and I am in this every day and there are pots all over our house that I use for various things, but mostly for cooking and eating. So, I will show you all what I do with our pots, and in the process share some of my favorite recipes with you. I would love for you to tell me about your favorite art piece, who made it, the story behind it, and what you do with it.

Today I will start simple with your standard coffee mug, because this is something we have that many of our friends made or Geno made, but we use them every day. This is not an object or piece of art that is meant to be displayed on a shelf, it is meant to be used.

One of Geno's mugs.

Do you have a favorite mug? Is it hand made? What is they story behind your favorite mug?

Blue Spiral Gallery

Unfortunately I didn't get to go to this show, so this will be a hear say story, which you will get from time to time because I am not always able to make it to the shows. This crazy things called a job and our little doggies keep me home sometimes, but I would still like to pass the info along.

A few years ago we were in graduate school at East Tennessee State University which is very close to Asheville, North Carolina. While we were in school we took a day trip to Asheville and visited one of the best ceramics galleries in the country, Blue Spiral Gallery. Geno told me all about the artists who were showing their work there at the time, where they were in their career, and how one day it would be so amazing if he could show there.

Fast forward about four years, Geno gets an email from the gallery manager of Blue Spiral letting him know that they had a show coming up where they would be exhibiting cremation containers from an online gallery, Shine on Brightly,  they really like Geno's work and would like him to display some of his pieces in the show. He would not have to submit for jurying, if he was interested they would send him the information on when to send his work and what they would need from him. IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!?

Of course he said yes, shipped a few pieces, and the week after the Friends and Family sale he drove down to Asheville for the opening. I was so excited for him and so jealous that I couldn't go. He met the gallery manager, chatted with visitors, and then headed to his campsite for the night. The next day he met up with some of our friends from ETSU at Penland and then headed home.

Friends and Family Sale!

Just a few weeks after Cherry Creek we had scheduled a Friends and Family sale. This is typically called a studio sale, but most of our friends and Geno's family live a few hours away, so we just called it Friends and Family (because it was no where near his studio) and set up shop at Geno's parents house. I think I can easily say this is the best show we have ever done. No load in time, no 10x10 square that you cannot have anything outside of, no fighting with the artist next door who is trying to hang things on their booth by hammering nails into their booth walls forcing them to knock against ours (pots are breakable you know). It was great! We took our time setting up, rearranged things a few times, and then a few more times.

All set up!

The day of the sale his dad, grandpa, and brothers cooked chickens on a spit over an open fire. So YUMMY! I have only had the pleasure of devouring eating these a few times, but man are they good. Part of me hopes that this sale becomes an annual event so that I can look forward to chickens every year. 

The chickens were done a couple hours after everyone arrived, so Geno and I had to eat on the go. I was the check out lady and Geno was demonstrating throwing pots (which was a HUGE hit). Since we live so far from our friends and Geno's family it is rare that they actually get to see him in action, some had never seen him throw before at all, so it was a lot of fun to see the reactions and answer questions.

Then he let the guest try their hand at throwing a pot. This was the most fun! Geno makes it look so easy, but boy is it hard. I was really impressed with the rookies pots. 

It actually looks like a bowl!

Day turned into night, people started to leave and we helped his mom clean things up after a long day. The siblings and significant others stayed up chatting and reminiscing the days events, what pots were still left, which ones sold, who was there and who didn't make it. Another show came to an end, but this time there was no line to load up. We were able to take our time packing up the van, and this time were fed lunch before we hit the road. Oh, the good life.

Denver vacation!

I was looking forward to Cherry Creek more than any other show because this was my vacation for the year. The show was only three days, and I had never been to Denver, so I took the whole week off and we enjoyed the mountains. Before we headed up in to the mountains we spent a day in the city because we had heard that we could not miss the clay exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.

After spending the entire day walking through the museum, we headed up to the mountains.

We drove up.

Set up camp.

and spent our days hiking.

It was amazing. For the first few days we stayed at a state park not far from Boulder. It was great, there were hardly any people. Then we went to Rocky Mountain National Park, because anyone that knows me knows that I could not be that close to a National Park without getting a stamp in my passport to the National Parks.

Got my stamp!

We hiked a couple of trails in the National Park that were recommended by some locals we met at the show. Then we headed back to Denver to check out Plinth Gallery before heading home. Little did we know that we would learn the true meaning of flash flooding.

So, we didn't get to go in Plinth Gallery, but we eventually made it out of the city and headed home. Not without one more stop along the way. Last stop, Brown vs. Board of Education for one more passport stamp! Call me a dork, but I will make it to every National Park, monument, historical site in America to fill my passport.

Eighteen hours later, we made it home. 

On the road...

Next stop, Cherry Creek. Many of the same artist do the same shows, so Cherry Creek was the next stop for everyone to get together, catch up, and talk about life between shows. Time in the studio, shows in between Smithsonian and Cherry Creek, kiln firings, kiln builds. For the wives, discussing income from the same show last year, updates from other artists that weren't there, but one of us had seen in between shows, where we were staying for the week, and where we were heading next.

Cherry Creek was the only outdoor show we did this year. Outdoor events are always weather dependent, so you never know what to expect. It was hot. The temperature was in the upper 90's all weekend and we were set-up on a blacktop street. Needless to say, it was a little slow. This is typically a really good show from what we have heard, but I couldn't hardly stand to walk down the street and I had to be there, so I can't imagine choosing to spend the day walking in 90 degree heat, walking through paved streets in to booths that were twice as hot.

Set-up in the hot sun.

Talking to customers.

Another show came to an end, we waited in line, packed up the van, but this time we weren't headed home just yet. It was time for a vacation! Off to the mountains! (In our cargo van. This should be interesting)

First Stop, The Smithsonian Craft Show

Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of preparation for this. To read more about the preparation for the show check out Michelle Pajak-Reynolds blog, Countdown to the Smithsonian Craft Show.

I'm going to jump right to the show, because I am anxious to get to present day adventures.

I took nearly two weeks off of work so that we could head up to Cleveland and pack up the booth, which was at Geno's parents house, before really getting on the road. Like any high stress situation we were both on edge, Geno was a bit demanding and quite snippy, so there were a few fights along the way. But, we made it to the show, got everything set up and had an amazing week.

The first night was the preview night. A nice buffet dinner for the artist, free beer and wine, and a visit from Sonia Sotomayor. We were in awe, and still couldn't believe we were there. At the end of the night, high on excitement, we went back to our fancy hotel just a block away. Typically we would go right to sleep after a show, they are long exhausting days, but this hotel had cable. CABLE! This is a luxury we rarely get to enjoy, so man did we take advantage of it. We watched T.V. for a couple of hours and finally got some sleep for the long week ahead.

Day two, non-stop sales! It was amazing! We finally felt like we might actually make some money off of this art thing. Geno chatted it up with collectors eight hours straight, I chatted it up with artists. We left the show that night feeling fantastic, so what do we do when we have a great day? We EAT!

Day three and four were much slower. With fewer customers the artists were getting to know each other. I was okay with that, let's be friends, let's trade work! I came home with a wood sculpture by Koji Tanaka, and a vase and two tea bowls by Peggy Loudon.  Day three we went to dinner with Brian Beam and his wife, another artist couple, at a skeezy chinese restaurant (the show was near China Town). They had done the show before, so they filled us in on what was different this time and how you never know what to expect. We hear that a lot and are learning it first-hand very quickly.

The show came to an end, everyone packed up their booths, waited in the long line to pack it into their cargo van or box truck, and said goodbye. We'll see you on the road.

You mean these things cost money!?!

Oh, yes. Reality sets in. You mean you want me to pay you $1,200 to set up at your craft show? You recommend I stay at this $130 a night hotel, and of course we will need a van to get there, we've never done this before.$$

This booth we have just won't due, so we are definitely going to need a new one.$$ 

I don't have anything to wear to a show of this caliber, so of course I am going to need a weeks worth of new clothing for this... aaahhhh! $$$

So, as much as I would love to travel the country going to art shows all year, we had to decide which ones we could afford were worth it. Well, I've never been to Denver, and I really like D.C., not so excited about Atlanta. So, the decision was made. Only a crazy person would turn down the Smithsonian Craft Show, so that one was a yes. I had never been to Denver and we really love to camp and hike, so Cherry Creek was a go. Only 40 artist would be setting up at the Rochester Craft Show, pretty good odds that we would make a few bucks, so yes to that one. Finally, West Chester, this was also a go.

The first three months of 2011 were pretty stressful. It had only been five years since we had visited our college professors (the best artists in the world. Love you Dave and Roberta!) at the Smithsonian Craft Show and now we were going. Holy shnikies!

So, Geno made some pots. About 200 to be exact.

We built a booth

And we hit the road. First stop, Washington D.C.

I GOT IN!!!

November 2010, what a ride.

In September of 2010 Geno and I started the search for our first home, each night we would get online, see what was available, go through the listings of what the realtor had sent us and each weekend we would drive around doing walk-throughs.

In the meantime, Geno was applying to national shows for the first time, including THE Smithsonian Craft Show. He went back and forth, "maybe I should wait another year, it doesn't hurt to try..." In the end (after a little nagging from yours truly), he applied. We continued our home search, and November came... We had chosen our first home and were set to close mid-November, just before we closed (a couple days before to be exact) he got the news, "I GOT IN!" Me: "You what?" Geno: "I got in to the Smithsonian Craft Show!"

After that they just kept coming in, Cherry Creek Arts Festival - accepted. Group show at Blue Spiral Gallery - accepted. This one without even applying, they called him! Rochester Memorial Art Gallery Fine Craft Show - accepted. Washington Craft Show - accepted. West Chester Craft Show - accepted. American Craft Council Show in Atlanta - accepted. Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show - denied. American Craft Council Show in Baltimore - denied. Pretty good for the first year.

But Geno, we just bought a HOUSE! YAY, this is exciting! Our first house! Ok, well maybe not as exciting as the Smithsonian Craft Show when you are a 27 year old artist. So, the house decorating was put on hold and we prepared for the Smithsonian Craft Show. Don't feel bad for me, ten day vacation in Washington D.C. with 120 of the best artists in the country. Let's do this.

Well, here it goes...

Too often I tell my husband that he needs to write a blog about the adventures of being a potter. Then I thought, why does HE have to write the blog? I am nearly as involved as he is, I just don't make the pots, so I decided that I would start a blog about our adventures.

I hope that writing this blog will force encourage me to take more photos, document, and remember this journey. While Geno has been a professional potter for about five years now, it has just been in the last year that we have started traveling to national shows and his career really seems to be taking off. So, in the first few post I will back track to the end of 2010 when Geno was accepted in to the Smithsonian Craft Show and the fun began.

Once I bring you up to speed I will blog about things like building a kiln, firing a wood kiln, and saving for shows, because let's face it it's not free to set up at the Smithsonian Craft Show, nor is it free to travel there, stay there, or look good in the process. So, let's just say borderline extreme couponing is somewhat necessary.

Welcome to the life wife of a potter!