Blog

If you come upon a mysterious object, such as what I  found at this puzzlePhotos blog (above photo, from site, not my work) , you will surely wonder about its function.

But if it is a work of art, such as a painting,photograph,a sculpture, the question isn't normally asked, at least not in the same way. Ceramics has always floated in and out of the concern for whether it is functional or if it is art, (or some variation on that theme.) I would imagine that is why I get so many questions about what many of my ceramic pieces are for.

Don Bendel was my Ceramics professor at Northern Arizona University. He told this story that I get a lot of traction out of when dealing with the question " what is it for?".

(caption:Don used to put these on the top shelf of the salt kiln, toss empty beer bottles on top, creating a glaze pool)

"I got this commission for a dozen or so of my pots.
 She wanted to use them in her garden. I made and delivered  the pieces, and she thought they were great. Later, she invited me over to show me how great they fit in her garden. I was led into her garden and there were of my pieces, turned upside-down, buried up to the foot into the earth, being used as stepping stones.
After getting over my surprise, I realized that once I sold the pieces to her, they were hers to do with whatever she wanted. I then had to agree, they really did look good in her garden.” Don Bendel
  That's how I remember it.

It is not uncommon for me to relate this story when I get asked what one of my pieces is for, a  fairly common occurance, actually. Sometimes they make a suggestion, indicating how they might use it:

"Well, I could put a candle in it", or I might even suggest something "some people put a frog in the bottom and use it for an Ikebana. Of course either is fine with me. Normally I do explain that what I am really doing is looking at form and construction techniques and playing with them. Function following form. But then I usually define the vessel to them as what it in terms of function, that it is a bowl, or a vase.

It might even look good turned upside-down and used as a stepping stone in a garden!

This one does baffle a decent number  of people:

 I just bet that others (depending on the type of work you do, and maybe how easily it is categorized) get similar or more entertaining responses.

This one does baffle a decent number  of people:

Mmmm, gravy boat? In term of function, I leave it up to the buyer. As form, its what I call a two-sided bowl.

One my  favorites is when I had an 8" maquette of this piece on sale at an art fair:

Patron: "What is this for?"
Artist : "Its a band-aid dispensor" (the mouth was just about the size to hold 5 band-aids, and, well, after putting your finger in to get a band-aid, you would immediately need another one, as you cut your finger pulling out a band-aid).
The patron was very amused, (but apparently not enough to buy it ).
So, when I have a patron who wants to know, what a piece is for, I like to relate Don's stepping-stone story. It lets the patron know they are free to do whatever they want with the piece, and allows the artist to accept it too.

Caption: (Don, my sister Sheila, and me at my BFA show, circa 1981

This season-by which I mean Spring until the end of November, possibly into December-will be the first time I do anything aside from Hallowe'en. I'm a potter and a sculptor living and working in California, and I'm branching out into more "mainstream" ceramics to expand my business as I'm still working at mastering my craft. I have functional pottery available, such as cups, pitchers, plates and the like, plus I'll be making some "fine art," higher-end sculptures for the shows where I'm most likely to have that kind of buyer. I'm taking my first steps in discovering where to show my work, and man, do I need help!

I've found a few places to show and have started a list, but I have no idea which fairs will be the best fit for me. There's one in San Francisco that I hope to get into next year-the deadline to sign up for this year was last June, and I obviously missed the deadline!-I figure 100,000 people walking through will be good for sales. It's difficult to come up with the money to rent out booth space for these places, which I'm sure everyone here knows already, and covering all business expenses, travel, materials, booth fees, etc., will be challenging. I can already see I need to upgrade my kiln within the next year or two if I'm going to be more efficient with my fuel costs vs. product made, and I am literally having dreams of how to best set up my booth space and what "furniture" I must have vs. what I can put off until later. Of course, around the corner is the necessity of buying a new SUV or van, and/or a trailer for my stuff. Any ideas? 

It's all dizzying!

So here's the question I have for everyone out there: where in the Northern California/Lake Tahoe/Nevada areas are there good prospects for shows and (dare I ask?) actual profit?

If there are any ceramics folks out there, how do you pack your product so you can pack and unpack quickly? Not all of my product is of a standard size, so I find myself individually wrapping everything in paper and putting them in big plastic bins. This take for-flipping-ever to pack and unpack, and I know there must be a better way.

Oh, and any thoughts on how to take credit cards? I have a Droid Bionic, and would love to get a reader or something for it. Any recommendations? And any thoughts as to what to look out for when I'm starting an account?

Well, thanks for any info you can give me! Good luck to all of you this coming Season, too!

I will admit I was in a lousy mood for the early morning set-up on Saturday. Perhaps it was the nightmare- just before I woke- that someone stole our newly purchased (used)Mini-van loaded the night before with all the art fair stuff?

Everyone seemed a bit grumpy and “off” and I can only blame the humidity that lifted mid-afternoon. Or maybe Mercury finally moved all the way out of retro-grade- whatever that means. The artists were pretty much on their own for parking management made even more complicated because after 9 or so, stages and things began to be set up and routes became even more limited. I ended up parking on a nearby street despite free parking provided for the artists at a nearby school.

I was assisted in unloading by a friendly and cheerful (and strong!) volunteer and that went a long way toward making me feel welcome and supported.

Check-in was not advertised and only the sight of other artists striding past with a plate full of muffins and bagels and a banana and a glass of OJ notified us of free food Saturday morning (only). When I checked at the info booth, I was given a small info packet and (best!!) a free little black apron with pockets. What a useful freebie! Thank you Bucktown!

At any rate, I was ready for my uneven site, having scoped it out a few days before. We brought a few bricks and boards to level things out as well as the shims that we always carry; but I was still feeling sorry for myself until I saw what other artists had to contend with and I had lots of shade! If you get a spot in the park, come prepared for very uneven spots. The guy next to us moved because his site had a lot of really bad tree roots sticking up-I think I’d be most worried about customers tripping on them! 

This left us alone on our little hill and I have to say, I think the booth looked great with the galvanized tin gleaming in the sun.

The fair opened at 11 which seemed luxurious in light of the morning set-up. We had arrived about 7 :40 and were all set by 10. However, I did not make my firs sale until 1:30 so I was relieved to find that this seems to be a fair that just doesn’t get cooking until late afternoon.

This is a NOISY art fair and is also packed with kids and dogs. There are a lot of really terrific shows for the kids and also a kid’s activity tent where my son spent most of his time. There is also a great playground and a city pool- though I didn’t notice if they closed that for the fair. If you have kids, this is a terrific fair to keep them happy- it’s also very contained so they are less likely to get lost or go far.

 My ponderings as I waited to sell anything and then as I waited to “break even” was: perhaps not every fair is the right fair for me even if I get in. Maybe this is too young a crowd; do they want trendy? Or are they just wandering around looking at stuff to entertain themselves. No one was carrying any purchases- this is something artists look for. If someone drags a bunch of bags into your booth, you feel optimistic!

Then, after people began to buy things I decided that my best work always sells. When I mentioned this to my husband, he asked me what percentage of my work is my best work I guessed perhaps 30% of what I create? Don’t get me wrong- and you artists know this; the work I put out is all “good”. It’s technically sound and attractive but there are always those pieces that, when you pull them out of the kiln, you say, “ah, that’s a nice one.” You might even be tempted to keep it- some, the very best, you do. You can’t quite bear to let them go. We know which pieces those are.

At any rate, my day picked up so that by the 7 o’clock closing time, I was relieved and felt I had not made a mistake in participating in what I think, is a lovely little fair.

The next day, again, I did not make a sale until well after noon and, this being my last fair, I put out everything in my bins. I wanted to just get rid of it! Surprisingly, I sold a lot of older work- one vase I was so sick of, I just gave it away with the purchase of a larger vase. It was a great day and this turned out to be a terrific fair- definitely the RIGHT fair for me!

The day ended at 7 again although sales ended about 6 pm. And  the load-out in the dark kind of sucked. Every one was tired, there was even less space (tents and stages still up) and less traffic management. Thank goodness for the van! I cannot imagine slipping in and out of there with anything larger!

Other drawbacks to this fair was that we were positioned precisely where we could hear the kid’s shows (and taped music) at exactly the same volume as we were hearing performances on the main-stage. I went home with a sore throat from having to raise my voice to be heard by friends and customers. I also think that much noise is tiring although I did find it energizing when we were packing up!

Lastly, the hike to the porta-potties was almost painful and  time-consuming and then, at the end of the day, no TP was adding insult to injury. Clearly I’ve been spoiled in the past (most notably by Krasl).

On the way out, I saw this incredible booth (photo) but never saw who it was or what he was selling!?

All in all I think it was a great fair- if you participate, bear in mind it could be a late-starting crowd.