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…