"As the designer and creator, Brooke approaches each piece as its own creation where the irregularities are embraced and the moment to moment approach is captured in the expressive creations as the artists hand is left to be blatantly and proudly shown on the pieces. Each piece is hand formed and hand painted, so that the irregular details that characterize each piece are never alike. The minimal shape of the forms and focus on porcelain as the primary material juxtaposes the white smooth, silky porcelain against the graphic hand painted designs."
To be honest, I never really set out to have a business. I had been making ceramics consistently for about 10 years as gifts and for fun. My friends really encouraged me to put together a show of my pieces at a small gallery in Brooklyn. I did and much to my surprise a lot of pieces sold! It was really the first time it occurred to me that people would be interested in buying my pieces. A good friend of mine then helped me set up an etsy shop and everything kind of grew from there. I started getting inquiries for custom orders and wholesale requests from stores and luckily it hasn't really stopped!
What are the perks of having your own business?
What are the perks of having your own business?
There really are a lot of perks. You get to make the job and the business your own. The hours can be flexible, though I try to consistently start around 9 every morning. But if an emergency or maybe even a vacation pops up, it's really easy to give yourself the days off!
What are the downsides / struggles?
What are the downsides / struggles?
The other side of all the perks is that it can be stressful to have your own business if you let it. Being insanely organized helps (always working on this one) but it is really easy to always be working. I'm responsible for everything so nothing gets done unless I do it. The flexible schedule and being able to take time off is great, but it means that nothing is getting done. There's no one else to pick up the slack so being able to stop the constant to do list I have running through my mind is a continuing battle. Ceramics specifically is a slow craft and things can go wrong at every step of the process which means starting over. It's really challenging to accurately convey to people the amount of time pieces take to make from start to finish and that there really is no speeding up the process. Clay takes as long as it takes to dry and it has to be fired in a kiln and cooled down at a slow pace and there's really no getting around it.
Do you have any tips for people starting up?
Do you have any tips for people starting up?
Love what you do! If you want to make something to sell, make sure you really really enjoy it because you're going to be putting in an insane amount of hours doing it. It's totally worth it but it is an insane amount of work. Definitely say goodbye to 40-50 hour work weeks! Another one I'm still working on is learning to say no. There is a limit to how much one person can do and knowing your limits and listening to them is essential. And most important, remember to have fun!!
No comments:
Post a Comment