…and sharing more joy!

​Every now and then on good old Facebook I do a giveaway. It serves a number of purposes. Partly I like the idea of posting a wee gift to someone who might not be able to buy a piece or have the cash to treat themselves. Partly it helps me to gauge what people are liking and what they go quiet about. And of course it helps to promote Seatree – more people see the ‘giveaway’ posts. So I thought I would give you a heads up… head over to Facebook and like Seatree’s page and you will see when the giveaway pops up – one of these fishing boat posts could be yours!

 

 
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Sharing the joy…

I have some more pottery workshops coming up this year along with my fellow potter Pauline. We will be doing a next steps course for the folks who were learning with us recently at the Burgh Hall in Dunoon and also a day’s course up in Oban at the developing community project Rockfield Centre. We are also going to be running a whole course for Argyll College from October to December. For that we needed artists CVs and a whole detailed programme about what students will achieve and the processes involved. Another stretching moment. When we had done it all we felt quite pleased – seeing it on paper makes it seem like we really know what we are talking about.

 

​Here is one of our students deep in thought at a day’s course we ran at Tighnabruaich Gallery earlier this year. It’s so lovely helping people get used to handling clay, freeing the negative feelings hey have about ability and creativity, and watching the thoughts and ideas develop into actual pieces – each person’s finished work unique and special. We shall we looking forward to an autumn of classes…

 

 
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Heading over the border…

t feels very adventurous that we are now selling over the border in England! Gallery Forty-Nine looks gorgeous and I hope we get to visit one day in the lovely old market town of Bridligton on the Yorkshire coast. We have such an affinity with that coast – it is where we spent our honeymoon as we loved the area – such beautiful coastlines and sunsets and good fish and chips. We have sent a package of goodies to them – mainly fishies as they are by the sea and hope that this is what customers will find appealing.

​It is always such a mix of feelings when we start selling somewhere new: it is very exciting, it is humbling that someone likes our products, there is the pressured feeling of getting it all right and the relief of getting things delivered or posted. Then you have to wait and see. Each are we sell in will be different – depending on the shop style and on the area. We are learning all the time and so thankful for the encouragement of the shops and galleries that sell for us. So, we hope Yorkshire visitors like our sea blues and shoals of fish…

 

 
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Making and selling…

​I think I have mentioned before that the creating part is much easier than the selling part – not because people don’t like our pieces, just because selling your own work can be quite a challenge! It was how the local Collective got started – having visited a craft co-operative while on holiday on the East coast I realised how much easier it is to celebrate and promote other artist’s work. If we formed a co-operative we could sell each other’s work. But the extra unexpected benefit is the confidence it has given me in our own work. Maybe it’s ok after all!

 

 

​Yesterday I was at the beautiful and peaceful Benmore Botanical Gardens for their Open Day. Vintage tractors, birds of prey, Loch Fyne Ales, venison burgers and the Craft Fair. It’s a great chance to meet customers old and new – including a chap visiting he area from  Huddersfield who has brought from us before – and to chat with other crafters. I got in a muddle setting up my stall and my fellow potter Pauline came over and helped move a couple of things around and suddenly it all looked more cohesive. It was one of those moments where it’s about co-operation and not competition.

Some of the learning too has been about beginning to narrow down what we create so that we are becoming clearer about our ‘brand ‘ – not a word I like, but it seems to be important in order to keep our focus while creating and so that customers know what they will find on our stall, either online or in person. My learning runs together – learning all the time how to make better pots and how to sell better – both steep but very enjoyable climbs…

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Being part of something bigger…

We sell on Etsy but they are much bigger than an online store. We joined some time ago but decided last year to really make a go of it, and were pleasantly surprised by how much support there was from Etsy for business and creative development. One of the new things to me was their effort to bring Etsy to life across the UK, with my ‘local’ team being Glasgow. Having taken part last year in their Etsy Made Local event the team asked for blog pieces to help promote their future event, so here is mine…

I was excited to read about the Etsy Made Local event – we do occasional craft fairs – it’s a good chance to meet and talk to potential customers, gauge opinion on new products, talk about commissions – and with any sales being an added bonus. The chance to do this in Glasgow, which would be a new market for us, and to meet other Etsy sellers and the wonderfully hard-working Glasgow Etsy Team made it seem worth a shot at having a stall there.

The day was most unexpected. We got horribly lost on the way in and met hundreds of racing Santa at every turn. We could see where we needed to be and just couldn’t get there without knocking down a few Santas to get through. I posted on the facebook page “help!” and someone phoned my mobile within minutes with directions, saving a few Santas lives in the process.

As for meeting Etsy folks – it didn’t happen! What a busy, busy afternoon. I have never been to a craft fair with queues to get in – and bouncers at the door! There was not a minute to chat except to ask if anyone had spare petty cash or to ask if their izettle was working. The stall was often six people deep. I had some lovely conversations with customers too, but my apologies to those who didn’t get a long explanation about how the pottery gets fired or where we collected our driftwood. Maybe next time, I will bring along even more helpers.

I am really looking forward to more opportunities to meet and chat with other Etsy sellers and really hope to take part in the next Etsy Made Local event – a huge thank you to the organisers who did such great promotion and worked so hard at pulling it together. It was the best craft fair ever.

If you are a maker I would recommend checking out Etsy and their support programmes. Being part of something bigger and with so much support is well worth it.

 

 
 
 
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Cowal Open Studios 2016…

Cowal Open Studios happens every year in the last weekend of September. we have taken part for a few years and enjoy it every year. The dining room becomes a display space. The pottery and woodshed get a big tidy up. Folks drift in over the four days that it runs but with thirty-nine artists people can’t get to every studio. The Cowal Open Studios team work so hard for many months every year putting together routes for people to follow and the beautiful brochure and website.

Some people that arrive really wish to see the work-spaces – getting to see behind the scenes, where the craft happens. Some people are less interested and really want to see and maybe buy the finished articles. Either way it leads to interesting conversations, catching up with local folks or meeting people who have travelled across Scotland or even internationally. Some people exchange their own crafting stories and some want to sit and drink tea and enjoy the view. By the end of the four days we are usually whacked but fulfilled.

It may be that you can’t plan to be here in beautiful Cowal for our Open Studios but I would highly recommend finding your own in your area. It is great to meet artists, get a sneaky look behind the scenes and meet other folks travelling your way. It’s the only downside of doing our own – we miss all of that!

 

 
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The poetry…

​​It might sound a bit cheesy but I do think it’s great that Chris and I can work together on our Seatree crafts. It started with my pottery and his driftwood being pulled together for the fish and shoals. I was also making my ‘words to see you through the week’ – single words imprinted into ceramic hearts. Seeing how lovely the words looked in the clay, I decided to see if I could incorporate Chris’s poetry into the pottery – rather a lot more words but the poetry plaques seemed to really come together with Chris’s words and some simple imagery.

 

 

​I have been developing this style into some 3D pieces, as I have mentioned in an earlier blog post. Chris continues to write, so I will be able to add new poems to the range. In the meantime though he is writing a novel, which is so far beautiful in my opinion. You can see excerpts on his blog – thisfragiletent.com – and some of his poetry as it gets written.

Chris writes from a deep experience and finds words that express what life brings to so many of us and in ways I could not use myself. Yesterday someone collected a poem and described her life events and how the words of a particular poem that Chris has written have become a life-raft. Beautiful.

 

 
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A dish of hope…

​I’ll not be drowning today. I love this poem by Chris. Clinging on, getting through with just enough hope to see you through. There is a quote isn’t there by Francis of Assisi – all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of one single candle. Or words to that effect. It is one of the things I have loved doing recently, taking Chris’s poetry and letting it take shape and come to life on the clay. Here is a bowl I made as part of the collection. Here it is first made…

 

 

​I used a ceramic mould and so the clingfilm is to prevent the bowl I am making form sticking and then losing its shape when I remove it. Once the clay is in its mould and all smoothed out and the edges trimmed and smoothed, I can begin to put the words in. This is just a part of this poem… water in the eyes – the river grey again – as another squall rolls in from the sea – an incongruous splash of partial rainbow… I’ll not be drowning today. The bluey grey splodges are called slip – watered down clay with oxides added. I made the lines, splodges and spots with a ‘slip trailer’ like a balloon you fill with slip and squeeze… great fun!

 

 

​This is the bowl once it has had its first (biscuit) firing. No going back…

 

 

​And this is the finished bowl – black oxide help the letters to stand out and gives the pale blue a greyish tint especially around the edges which I love. Underneath is a rich, dark green. I am having fun exploring different shapes and lines. I am hoping with this bowl that your eye is drawn in to the swirl into the centre of the bowl…

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Stretching myself (and the clay)

I am part of the Scottish Potters Association and each year they host an exhibition, I think usually at the Milton Gallery near Aberdeen. I have never considered that what I make is suitable for such a grand event, but this year was challenged (encouraged?) by a fellow potter to consider contributing. The theme for this year was Still Life. Also contributions had to be 3D, not wall pieces. Quite a challenge…

 

 

​I thought about Still Life… and paintings, flowers, bowls of fruit. I thought I have never made anything that fits into that image. My friend and fellow potter Moira continued to push me. I have made poetry plaques for some time, placing Chris’s beautiful poetry into the clay. Could I not use this poetry and design into 3D pieces too? Suddenly I felt excited at possibilities. I went into the pottery and rolled out some rather sticky clay and waited a day for it to become useable… Then I made my first pot using the poetry – a very tall and slightly wobbly vase. I worked with Chris to find some of his poems that reflected the fact that there was Still Life – despite turmoil and worry and challenges. Still Life. I wrapped the poetry around the vase and decorated it with slip and splashes of coloured glaze.

Once I started I found I couldn’t stop – such a freedom in creating something new and in experimenting. Each piece so far is different as I am trying glazes and oxides and various combinations of slips. Due to family circumstances I did not get to submit my pieces to the exhibition, but have really enjoyed the stretch – making and keeping in shape various pieces of clay, using shells as moulds and making smooth and useable vases that (hopefully) please the eye… What do you think?

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Something for almost nothing…

If you are a Facebook follower of all things arty, please do check us out – Sea Tree – find us on Facebook! We post photos on there of ongoing pieces of work, inspiration, behind the scenes shots and some more random things along the way. Just now there is a ‘giveaway’. I can’t say ‘something for nothing’ as you would need to comment in order to be entered into the prize draw, but it might be worth it! It helps me to get feedback and know what it is that folks enjoy.

We have been making some wee tiles – experimenting with style and shapes, glazes and oxides – all the fun things about pottery! They will be for sale soon at a local craft fair, but I didn’t want any blog readers to miss out on a free deal!

 

 
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