The Beauty You Love

Joyful Blaze

2012-02-22T14:44:00.001-06:00

When I first met my husband, we often stayed up all night talking. We sat opposite each other on the couch, our feet tangled between us. In the morning we watched the sun rise. There is always that moment when the dawn hits the horizon and the sky lights up with an astounding brilliance. Gold flows over the landscape.

I have never been able to photograph a sunrise that captures the rich surprise of color. So I have said in glaze what my camera cannot. This series of hand built ceramic bowls is Joyful Blaze.

Birds Nest Casserole

2012-02-17T20:34:00.001-06:00

I made this casserole extra large. it is 4 qts. I didn’t like the way it photographed on my white staging table, so I moved it to the old enamel table in my kitchen. I had to move the table around to get nice soft light, but I am really happy with these shots. I am using more food styling. The buttermilk is from a local dairy and the organic eggs are local, too. There is nothing like real farm fresh food. We are fortunate here in Asheville to have so many farmers markets and organic grocery stores that support our local growers and farmers.

Here is the Birds Nest casserole in my Etsy store. A bird's nest with eggs is a symbol of prosperity, comfort and good fortune on it's way.

Urban Rustic Dinnerware

2012-02-15T21:05:00.000-06:00

Beach Storm dinnerware set

My dinnerware had to be changed. This directive did not come from the marketplace, clearly; I have orders booked 8 months out. I don’t know, after all these years, what drives my work forward in new directions.

Ice blue bowl with vines

I know that I worked through many transitions until these new pieces finally emerged. As soon as I had enough individual pieces that felt right, I began assembling them into sets. The last piece to emerge was the thrown and altered bowl from Minimalist:

Minimalist dinnerware set

Which is also in this set:

Soft Kiss dinnerware set

River Journey has the same elements of my older set except for the vines on the underside:

But I truly, after all these years, do not know where these ideas come from. If I want new ideas, what I do is to stare at something from the natural world, or perhaps photographs of it. One minute there are shadows from the fence posts in the late afternoon, and the next there are textured stripes in my clay.

Sarah- Lambert Cooke wrote this week about inspiration here. Victoria, owner of Donauluft wrote about it here.

We seem to have one thing in common. Inspiration is born in moments of fascination. It is the best experience I have ever known.

Lace Textured Ceramics

2012-01-22T11:38:00.002-06:00

One of the first things children love to do with clay is to press objects with texture into it. The yielding clay surface magically conforms to the pressed object, making a negative imprint. I’ve never lost this fascination, and have returned to it in the past few weeks.

To do this, I roll the clay into a thin slab. Hand rolling in multiple directions makes the final piece much stronger and more durable than using a slab roller. The particles of clay are packed more densely. I select a fabric from my growing stash and use a rolling pin to press the pattern into the clay. Sometimes I press the entire surface and sometimes just a select amount.

A round template is used and the clay is cut with a needle tool. This round slab is then left to dry to leather hard. It should stand upright but have some flexibility. Trial and error will show you when the clay is ready to be formed.

I curl the edges up by hand, rotating the bowl. I like rustic shapes so I don’t force perfect conformity. There is a refined organic flow that can happen if you take your time and allow a unique shape to emerge.

I use a potter’s rib to check the inside diameter, although this is more of a guide than a template. Do you see the rounded rim? That is important for strength and function. I have smoothed and slightly thickened the rim. A thick rim protects the bowl from shattering if it gets bumped. A thin rim will transfer the shock of impact to the center of the plate, causing a crack.

When the bowl is stiff but not yet bone dry, I center it on a hump mold on my wheel. A thin foot rim is thrown, and the piece is signed. The foot rim allows the piece to sit with stability.
I’m waiting on a kiln load to cool now that has some of my first tests with lace textured ceramics, so you can check OneClayBead to see if any are listed yet.
This will be my 2012 line of dinnerware. I love making it, and can’t wait to see where this journey takes me.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup with Arugula

2012-01-18T13:27:00.001-06:00

This is a soup we often eat after working out. It has the high protein, low fat ratio that my trainer approves and is so intensely flavorful that I now prefer it over high fat creamy soups. like all of my Thai dishes, I’ve tweaked it with Moroccan elements.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup with Arugula:

1 lb cruelty free organic center cut pork, cubed

1 T olive oil

2 C vegetable broth

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 14 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes

1/2 C chopped roasted green chilies

1 14 oz can organic coconut milk

1 T lime juice

1 T Thai red curry paste

1/8 t cinnamon

1/8 t cumin

Sauté pork in large fry pan over medium heat, using about 1 T olive oil. When meat is fully cooked, add all of the other ingredients, cover, and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 C baby arugula greens. Let soften. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

serves 4

This soup is great served in my flower curry bowl- check here for availability. Since my current rage is food styling, I’ll be sharing more of my home cookin recipes. let me know how you like them!

photo styling

2012-01-16T13:22:00.002-06:00

restyled photo Tree Roots planter

This is a before and after shot using props in my photos. I am transitioning from the plain Varitone backdrop to shots that create a style story. As with anything I am obsessed with, there will be more to come!

The piece is a Tree Roots planter. The idea to make this came spontaneously one day. I suppose I was thinking of family and roots when this lively little piece emerged. It was entirely hand sculpted without molds. The clay is raw outside and glazed in green tea inside. The outside may grow moss over time, making it even more treelike..

You can see the piece for sale at OneClayBead.

New Blog Design!

2012-01-15T13:49:00.003-06:00

I’ve needed a better graphic look for this blog! It never even had a banner until now and the text scrolled in a tiny narrow strip. I’m a fairly decent writer and love blathering away and imagining that I am important enough to read, so Sarah of Tuckooandmoocow came over yesterday and pimped my blog up. I designed the banner and sidebars, she made the buttons for social media links and created the HTML.
Sarah loved the vintage Zuni fetish beads that I use sparingly in my jewelry. They are hand carved by individual artisans in the 70’s, right before Native American jewelry moved largely into production assembly. These tiny works of art have a powerful beauty. I noticed that Sarah handled them reverently and appreciated the totemic meaning. I traded her 5 beads for her help. She plans to pair them with her landscape painted miniatures. You can follow tuckooandmoocow on Facebook to find out how she uses them.

It is way cool that I bartered for her expertise with beads. Such an old way of honoring someone’s labor.
I’m going to be writing more often now. You know how happy I get when you let me know that my visual obsessions please you, so don’t hesitate to comment here, and on my Lee Wolfe Pottery Facebook, too!

Minimalist Ceramics

2012-01-13T20:28:00.002-06:00

As snow covers my once busy landscape, all but a few stark details recede into the soft white. It seems to reflect our lives, which were filled to the point of strain only a month ago, and now we have entire mornings unscheduled. So I could say that this is where my new affair with minimalist ceramics begins.
A less poetic explanation is that I've spent hours of time on Pinterest lately, creating style boards, and have discovered Nordic and Scandinavian blogs by interior designers and food stylists that I’ve lusted over.

This series of flower bowls is called Winter Lovers:
Winter Lovers captures the romance of frost on the windows, walks through the snow, and melting into someone you love by the fire.

It consists of my Ice Crystal Blue glaze, Satin White Glaze, and Cloud glaze, with the Flower bowl shape.
Hope you find some minimally busy time to do something aimless, something unplanned, something simply for pleasure.

Occupy

2012-01-02T08:45:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I cleared moist dead leaves that clung in crevices of a bush in our garden. The bush had brown spots where the leaves had blocked sunlight all summer long. On New Years Day, as we clear away the old to make space for new growth, I thought of all the possibilities in my own life that have manifested only after I cleared away the dead debris, and opened myself to the transformative powers of sunlight.

And I think there are two parts to the magic that changes and heals. One is the act of protest, of knowing what needs to be hauled away and allowed to compost. It is then necessary to open oneself to the sunlight, to allow the mysterious and unknowable process of renewal to take place in our own hearts and minds.

In 2012, I will be a clearing for the good stuff to show up.

Do you ever lift your face to the warm sun and let it fill you with pleasure? Or are you lost in he world where status matters, and your clothes tell us who you really are?

Battle of the bowls

2011-12-02T09:15:00.001-06:00

My eye is drawn to pattern and so the flower shaped bowl, with its complex symmetry, has become a signature form. The second bowl is the flower bowl just before the rim is altered into the waves. Something inside me has been wanting to stop there. So, in the middle of my busiest season, I took time out to throw 4 of each.

There is no clear winner yet. The flower bowls sold out faster but those who bought the round ones loved them a lot.

When you love pottery as I do, certain pieces appear as if I've been searching for them a long time only I've just remembered that I lost it. They feel both utterly new and utterly familiar all at once. Both bowls evoked this type of reaction, so I don’t know if I should choose just 1 to continue, even though that is far more practical.

Which do you like better?

Family

2011-11-27T20:11:00.001-06:00

I rarely start out to make these insanely elaborate decorations. You would think that after 70+ hour weeks in the studio making pottery, I’d just make a pie, or stick flowers in a vase. But my mind is racing with imagery. At the market I just have to have these particular lime green mums, and…not those…not those…oh, have to have these bright red mini carnations! And then they have to be meticulously arranged. Like this:

And the funny thing is, I never feel closer to my grandmother than when I am obsessed with getting the pie crust to look just right. I can so vividly recall her lattice crust and the way she used a zigzag cutter to cut the strips.

This Thanksgiving, my daughter returned for the first time a grown woman. She went right to work in the studio, making pottery for her Etsy shop, MarciG. When she helped me cook and bake, I was amazed at how much she knew without being told. And then it occurred to me how many years she’d silently been there, just watching.

Flock of Love by MarciG

I think what makes us family is not so much our genetics, as we are all so very different. It is rather this silent language that runs through us.

We make our nests, our homes like a monk prays, or like a little bird sings.

Raised In Love from OneClayBead

Beatles vs Stones

2011-10-17T22:18:00.001-05:00

I liked the Rolling Stones better than the Beatles, and if you were a teen in the late 60’s to 70’s, this choice had to be made. It defined who you were. Maybe it still does.
I am listening to Keith Richards’ book, Life, on CD in my studio, and then caught Martin Scorcese’s documentary on George Harrison the same day. Keith was the guitar player for the Stones; George for the Beatles. I was struck by a sharp contrast between these 2 British rock stars who rode the same wave to fame.
George used his music to say something important. It was message driven music. He railed against the Tax Man and advocated Eastern mysticism and philosophy. Whereas Keith was obsessed with what he could learn from playing guitar. He was driven by a need to get a chord he’d heard or a blend of sound that felt right. George was a teacher who used art in his lessons. Keith was a student and his art was his teacher. And that’s why I’ve related to Keith and the Stones more than George and the Beatles.
It's not that I disliked the Beatles nor mysticism, and George wrote some of the best, like Here Comes the Sun and Something. It's just that, as far as music goes, George wasn't all in the way that Keith was all in. There's this old quote that gets attributed to different people, that goes:
"If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you."
Music was that thing within Keith that saved him. And that is what pottery is like for me. I'm not expressing joy or awe in my work. Joy and awe are expressing through me when I am making pottery, and that's why I make it.

I don’t have anything to say with my art, yet it has taught me to live a life filled with satisfaction. What I find there is beyond words, beliefs, theology.

flower bowl in OneClayBead
Who are you, as an artist? Stones or Beatles?

Marketing Tips from Steven Jobs and Me

2011-10-06T09:13:00.001-05:00

Apple CEO Steven Jobs was truly brilliant. He left many great quotes as part of his legacy, and here is one that stands out for me:

"We've never worried about numbers. In the market place, Apple is trying to focus the spotlight on products, because products really make a difference. [...] Ad campaigns are necessary for competition; IBM's ads are everywhere. But good PR educates people; that's all it is. You can't con people in this business. The products speak for themselves."

In contrast to this I also read the Etsy forums, which are full of advice on how to market your work. You know, you can Twitter and ban together as teams to dominate Front Page coverage and do a Feasibility Analysis and give your work away for free in order to attract attention. And yes, I've tried all these things and more at one time or another.

The sad reality of Etsy is that only 5% of the 290,000 sellers on Etsy are making over $30,000/ yr in sales. And in the face of this overwhelming failure, they are intent on marketing more, marketing better, and marketing different.

Not that marketing is bad… but as Steven Jobs says, it focuses attention on your products. So if marketing more, better and different isn’t working, it might be time to focus on improving the products. For an artisan, good products don’t come from making what everyone else is making. Good products come from connecting to that adventurous inner desire to try something new, to master a technique, to innovate, to push something known into the unknown.

My rustic ceramic bowls, hand sculpted with vintage lace textures and up to 7 layers of glazes are where I'm currently pushing the boundaries on functional pottery.

Style

2011-08-03T11:50:00.001-05:00

I invited a few local creative clayfolks over to my studio to show them tricks that have made me successful on Etsy. These are people who already have a unique body of work. That’s the #1 thing. I believe that the second most important element for success is how you style your photos.

Above is a One Clay bead necklace from my My Tribe collection. I used natural sunlight, a vintage looking Boho shirt, and a model with no makeup and carefree hair. This one is all about natural beauty. It’s for a woman who wants that look, and meant to draw her in to look at the close up photos that are second in the listing.

Here are a few other successfully styled photos from the Artisans Gallery Team. Notice how each one is so much more than a catalog shot. The photos make a statement about the work, and tell us who the target audience is for that artisan. (Click on any photo to learn more).

From Birribe, the scarf pops against a subdued palette and the rustic bowl says ‘handmade, and ‘timelessly fashionable’.

From Starbags, a playful, fun and energetic styling photo says that this is for a woman who is light hearted and adventurous. She needs a bag that has personality but is made well enough to withstand her capricious and active lifestyle.

From Polestar, this conveys a message that the necklace will be front and center, a focal point for your outfit. Simple and powerful presentation.

From WolfArtGlass, the recycled shot glass is shown emerging from the bottles- a clever way to convey the process and its eco friendly nature. The target market- eco conscious buyers- are defined instantly.

From Ileaiye, the styling shows us a comfortable and flattering shawl in the easy going pose of the model. The white textured brick background also says urban. The styling successfully says that it is made for a woman who needs hip current styling but demands comfort.

From LeshasWorkshop, “turn your shoes into boot” is perfectly conveyed. The buyer is modern, youthful, sexy, and confident.

As Rod Stewart once sang “Every picture tells a story, don’t it?” I enjoy styling my pottery. it’s another artform unto itself.

the TuckooandMooCow story

2011-07-16T09:13:00.001-05:00

I met up with Sarah-Lambert Cook at the Big Crafty in downtown Asheville. She’s using her drawing talents to capture a niche audience with quirky miniature jewelry based on literary and film characters. If you enjoy The Hobbit, Monty Python or Shakespeare, her zany meets cute world will wow you.

Here’s how she went from unemployed to full time artisan, in her own words:

I began listing items in May 2010, selling art and the hand painted jewelry. In the first few weeks, sales were few but steady. Since it was mostly the jewelry, I decided I ought to focus all of my energy on that. But life threw a curve-ball in August when the store I was working at in Kansas closed. My husband and I decided it would be the perfect time to pick up and move east. My parents were living in Atlanta and offered us the front room of their house until we could get settled. For seven months we lived in one room as storage space, bedroom and studio simultaneously.

Emboldened by reaching 80 sales by the end of October I stopped looking for work and focused my energy on Tuckooandmoocow. Researching, networking, renewing, and creating new designs paid off! I had almost 200 new sales the next month! Business stayed steady through Christmas, and when things didn't slow down much for the rest of winter, I knew I had it.

Now, we live in beautiful Asheville, NC and are able to depend on sales from TuckooandMooCow to support us. There have been things that didn't work: shipping UPS express international is a cluster-cuss for everyone involved, staying up all night for more than 3 nights in a row will cause a massive migraine and creative burnout, and with made-to-order items there must always be time budgeted for unforeseen circumstances. Some things have been godsends: Etsy is a community of artisans, not just solely a venue, so getting involved in some aspect of that can be very helpful to your business and your sanity. As TuckooandMooCow grows, I'd like to eventually be much more self-sufficient and not purchase settings, but make them myself.

I haven't had a full day off since November, but I'm happy and the rewards have been worth the effort.

Pottery Loved by a Potter

2011-07-07T10:52:00.001-05:00

I’ve always been opinionated, especially about what looks good, and really, there should be some sort of syndrome named for how opinionated I am about what is good or bad in pottery. Maybe 2% of all pottery made qualifies as even good, and then only maybe 10% of that qualifies as something I like. So there may be worthwhile pottery that doesn’t make my list but you cannot convince me of that, so don’t even go there!
So here are pieces by a few claymakers whose work enthralls me at the moment:

By Romy and Clare, it’s the organic shapes that push the barriers of function without being unfuctional that really awe me. And the modern version of hand painted fruit. I just love it, and everything they do!

From HodakaPottery, it’s how harmonious and quiet this piece seems, while using so many design flourishes. Really quite stunning.

By JustMare, it’s the soft, subtle glazes paired with the twig handle- such an original interpretation of a mug!

You know I'm a fan of MarciG! Even if she wasn’t my daughter…. I’d be in awe of this huge emerging talent. Her pieces are magical and functional.

By peifferStudios, the organic shape that utilizes both stained and glazed areas is alive with that peace that comes from knowing nature intimately.

This is someone to watch! She has always had a unique vision and she’s really coming into her own lately. Keep your eye on DBabcock!
By WhitneySmith, this pine cone inspired set of nesting bowls is visually sophisticated and flawlessly executed. Whitney is a creative giant whose work evolves in new directions as if a fine geneticist is cross breeding nature with clay.
When I look at pottery, which has been made by human hands for over 10,000 years, the words of Werner Erhard come to mind:
“Any idiot can walk the path when shown it. But out here, there is no path. The path is made by your walking. “
And that’s what I love to see. Someone following their own muse, forging their own path, speaking in an ancient tongue but saying something that takes you into a yet uncharted inner terrain.

Cover Girl

2011-07-01T10:05:00.001-05:00

I received so many appreciative and encouraging replies to my interview with Handmadeology, which was first published on Marketing Creatively. Thanks, Lisa! It is an honor and pleasure to have my interview chosen for the April cover.

Pottery is a path of irony in that shaping clay day after day shapes you. Centering the clay on a wheel centers you. The zone of pottery making requires a zen attention to mastery of simple tasks. It is no wonder that success, as a potter, is rich in intangibles, and financially modest. My stepsons have BA’s and are on fine career paths. My daughter will be attending a private university, thanks partially to my pottery income and that of her own. I own a home furnished with fine art and collectibles, with gardens and views that are daily gifts of inspiration. My marriage is happy.

I wake up most days eager to explore a bit of new territory with clay. It’s a good life, overall.

Graduation 2011

2011-06-15T12:03:00.003-05:00

When I first held my beautiful newborn girl, I thought of all the milestones in her life to come. Her eyes, so large and inquisitive, told me that her smile would be an answer to my every question, and that one day she would walk beyond my home and into a life of her own imagining and dreams. Eighteen years have passed, and I watched her walk across the stage to graduate high school, with honors. In a few short months Marci will begin college at High Point University, as an interior design major. She makes me proud!

Here are some of our friends and family who came over to celebrate Marci’s graduation.

SEO for your Etsy Shop

2011-04-04T09:01:00.002-05:00

That’s right- Search Engine Optimization. Don’t let your eyes gloss over! If you can upload a photo to Etsy without making a piece of jewelry resemble a squid, then you have the capacity to make Google results work for you. Or you can ask Cindy of cindylouwho2. She has researched Etsy and SEO, and I will be a customer of hers when her SEO shop opens, because Google changes the rules more often than the ref at your daughter’s soccer game.
The last big change was in late February, when Google demoted “content farms”- which have content that was copied from other sources. In articles across the web, Etsy was consistently named as a winner in this new shift! My views from Google, and consequently my sales, have benefitted from this! If yours have not, read this! I asked Cindy for practical changes we all can make to use Etsy’s higher ranking for own own shops.
Lee: Why did Etsy come out as one of the 5 top winners from Google's recent decision to penalize the content farms?
Cindy: Legitimate shopping sites did well overall with the changes, & Etsy was one of the top in that group.
If you are putting your Etsy content anywhere else online, make sure you change the titles & descriptions at least a bit to avoid this duplicate content problem.
Lee: Does the new motivation to make and click links in treasuries boost Etsy's SEO overall? Does it boost the SEO of often featured shops who get clickthroughs from the treasuries?
Cindy: Yes, in general, having pages well-linked internally is good for SEO, so if one of your listings is in a lot of treasuries, that definitely helps! Any internal link back to your shop – in a treasury, in the forum, comments in the Storque, on public team threads – is helping the page linked & helping Etsy overall. It takes a lot of these little internal links to make a real difference. However, it is usually easier than getting the higher-value external links, so internal links are an SEO tactic that should not be ignored.
Lee: One of my teams has a blog with static pages that are the copy and pasted bios of team members. Are these duplications of content hurting the blog's ranking and/ or authority? Should we all be looking to reduce duplicate content on our promotional sites across the web?
Cindy:
Those sorts of cut & paste pages might hurt in at least two different ways.
1) There is the possibility that Google will consider the copies to be the authoritative page, & give the copies a higher ranking than the originals.
2) If you have links on many pages that are of low value in Google’s eyes, it can actually hurt the original page.
It doesn’t usually hurt you, especially if there is unique content on the page with the copies, & the pieces copied are a small part of the original pages. Be careful to link back to the original pages on the copied page! Teams often include links directly to the shops, rather than the links to the page where the bio came from (usually the profile page). Including the link to the original tells Google that the content had another source. Additionally, you can link to the shop, for extra SEO benefits.
Here is a level-headed discussion of duplicate content, although most readers will find it more relevant for blogs & free-standing websites than for Etsy:
www.searchenginejournal.com/duplicate-content-phantom-dont-be-duped-be-inform...
Lee: Is there a different formula to come up in Google images search?
Cindy: Yes, the search algorithm for each part of Google is different. There’s not a lot we can do on Etsy to make our pics rank on Google Images, other than what we already do to help the rank of the listing page itself.
Lee: Is it good or bad to put links (to our own shop) in our shop listings? How about outbound links to another shop?
Cindy: Linking to a shop section or your shop home page is good for those pages, in terms of SEO.
Linking to another shop helps out that other shop. It is not entirely clear to me that linking within Etsy is good for the page with the links on it, but the scant evidence I have seen points to “Yes!
Additionally, Kathy of OhYum advises us to use the renew/sold option rather than creating a new listing each time when we can.

Kathy:The more often a specific page (ie: URL) is looked at, the higher Google wants to display the page.
Here’s one more tip from me: Google rewards new content. I make incremental changes in my shop announcement and listing copy weekly. Two years ago I didn’t know the difference between a keyword and a corkscrew, and here I am giving sage advice and selling like I actually understand anything on the internet!

I’ve been eating my staging props

2011-03-10T08:31:00.001-06:00

In order to show the size of my pottery, I've been using food as staging props. I scour the produce and bakery sections for food that looks good. I've gotten quite anal about it, actually.

I know I’m starting to sound eccentric in the grocery, but when I saw these great looking radishes, I picked through every bunch to get the perfect color. It sort of annoyed another woman, but hey! I need my radishes to be bright RED, ya know?!

I’m glad that Valentine’s Day has passed. Because my diet has gotten healthier. How would you like to have this on your counter staring at you after you’ve used it for staging?

Target Marketing that Works For Me

2011-02-09T10:37:00.001-06:00

I don’t seek out marketing tips because I’m generally selling very well. So I tuned into Etsy’s Success Symposium yesterday at random and just happened to catch April Bowles- Olin’s workshop Attract Your Target Market — You're Not Walmart. I enjoy writing (have you guessed?) so I got caught up in her writing exercise. First you list the characteristics of your buyers. A few of mine are: nature loving, eco lifestyle, animal lovers, non commercial, cooks at home, appreciates the simple pleasures. So then you write a profile of this person- a character who is a composite of your buyers. Mine is a woman who passionately cares about her kids, about the world’s complex big issues, who is creative herself, is proud of her homemaking and entertaining abilities. It goes on and on but that’s the condensed version.

So then April threw in a strange question: “What problem do you solve for this customer?” I scribbled aimlessly and then figured out a few things. It feels silly to even reveal that, so I won’t.

But what I can say is that I listed 4 new pieces last night. Two sold immediately. Those were the ones in which I added a short sentence to what I usually write in my listing copy, based on April’s exercise. Not only that, one sold to the exact same woman who I pictured as my typical buyer.

There are lots of obvious answers to that question- “What problem do you solve for this customer?” Sometimes it’s wanting to give an original gift. Sometimes it’s wanting something that is not disposable, that will live with you and pass memories down through new generations. But the power isn’t in knowing the answer, like knowing my answer.The power is in the question.

Thanks, April Bowles-Olin! I like your style. Marketing doesn’t have to be hyping yourself into a celebrity and stepping over others to get there. It really can be just discreetly, authentically, and effectively, connecting to the people who want to buy your stuff.

New Works

2011-02-02T22:17:00.001-06:00

Love Birds Luminary

When snow falls deep and fat in January, i give myself time to experiment. I’m trying out some new glazes, and this one above, Rust, has some great possibilities. It has that organic woodland feel that I have been pursuing the last few years.

Birds Nest casserole

I also reformulated my cobalt blue glaze, made it more opaque, and lighter. Here it is on a casserole.

Bird Yunomi

And here it is on a tea bowl (yunomi),

under Flow (a glaze that creates fluid flowing).

Here’s another glaze I plan to use this year: Root Beer Brown

Bee Yunomi

I’m working on a few new designs, too. Today I made a few soap holders, which will have doves, ravens and owls. It’s important for me to take this time to work without a rigid schedule. Some days I've just read and not worked in the studio at all. It feels so luxurious! November and December were 80 hour work weeks so this is a nice balance.

How to ride the trend wave in 2011

2010-12-24T10:06:00.001-06:00

The global financial crisis was a game changer in how we spend our money. Before November of 2008, advertising was all about “more, newer, and different” without looking at the substance or deeper significance of what was being sold. Tips and trends were about how to ride a tsunami. That it would inevitably crash and devastate lives was not part of the advertising conversation.

We were supposed to market our work to consumers with disposable income, who were assumedly seeking satisfaction by having more of what they had, or a newer version, or a different kind of it, or more of a newer thing… you get the picture. It was pretty shallow.

By the end of 2010, we can’t read any substantial forecast for 2011 that doesn’t mention values such as sustainability, simplicity, and the human connection. The very good news for artisans is that we no longer have to find a surfboard to ride the trend wave. This year we are the wave! The trend gurus are predicting that artisan, handmade goods made with sustainability and lasting quality by humans with a story to tell are It. All you have to do to market your work now is to show who you are and what you do. Make a cohesive statement in your presentation; your photos and shop copy, if you sell on Etsy.

Through ArtisansGalleryTeam, we are carefully selecting works from the pool of Etsy shops that are legitimately handmade in an artisan studio by those who bring individual vision and advanced skills to their works. Joining with others who are the real deal is going to make riding the wave easier.

Here are some trend reports worth noting:

I have been working in "ethical" for a long time, because I find humanitarian principles very important, and I hated big fashion's disregard for them. Having said that, I think the global economic crisis has made people re think how things are made, where they come from, and has led to an appreciation of small-scale, handcrafted, tangible, home-made etc.. The human stories behind the products are interesting, the big manufacturing model had become boring, impersonal & mechanical.

Ann McCreath from Kiko Romeo

Organic Waldorf Doll By SewnNatural

IMM Cologne believes that as a result of the financial crisis people are questioning what it is they need to live well. This is leading to the emergence of simplistic, formal or severe designs that combine the basic and old with the modern and the high-tech.

Interior Trends 2011 was recently released by IMM Cologne

Natural Gemstone Cluster by ThePeachTree

Whenever we feel as consumers that the time is right for paring down, we focus on simple designs and simple, warm colors. Plain metals and eco friendly materials: wood, bone, simple and soft semi- precious stones with Earth colors and a simple palette will prevail for 2011.

Lisa Jesse (Lisa Jesse has the #1 website on Google for trend prediction)

home business on steroids

2010-12-11T10:54:00.002-06:00

What you see here is one day’s sales from OneClayBead and MarciG on Etsy! It’s freaking awesome and out of control! This is where we eat dinner generally. You can see the menorah and the flowers left from Thanksgiving, which are lost in the jumble. I print orders as things sell, and put them, with the correct piece, on my long table. There is typically lots of room for the 3 of us to eat, but it’s getting harder to sit down to a quiet meal. We have to push the sales down in order to set the table.

My friend Natalie has been coming over in the evenings to help with the packing. Here she is with my husband, Ken, as they make PayPal labels. Today the packages wouldn’t all fit in the car and we have to make 2 runs to the post office. This is my computer room but it now looks like UPS has set up an annex with board games, books, and a drum circle.
I’ve lost my zen a few times just living in this much activity every day. What brings me back is the feedback and notes from my buyers :
Beautiful! Gorgeous! Even better in real life! I am so happy with this and will be back to buy more! Oh and insanely fast shipping too... OneClayBead is awesome!
This is truly one of the cutest things. Thanks so much! I can't wait to give this to my friend for Christmas!
These are such beautiful ornaments. My infant daughter died two weeks after Christmas nearly 4 years ago, and each Christmas her brothers and I pick out a special ornament for her. Your doves are perfect.
The emotional connections made through buying and selling my handmade pottery are truly moving. It makes the chaos of my home a worthy price to pay.
Wishing you some joyful chaos today!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T08:02:00.003-06:00

Me, Marci, husband Ken, Mom and Dad Wolfe
We’ve eaten, walked by the French Broad River, shopped, played Scrabble and worked. This year has been so full of blessings and rich in rewards. I am grateful for my health this year, for my daughter’s acceptance into High Point University, my husband’s career success, my in law’s wisdom. There is more, actually so much more.
I wish for you:
After you sit down at the table
After you eat and savor those familiar dishes
After you look deeply and joyfully into the eyes of those who love you :
Take a bit of food outdoors
Walk among trees, by a river, or find, along a country lane
some wild critter, and share your feast.
If you can, look into wild eyes.
Then touch a place of this beautiful earth, like homage to that which feeds us.
Happy Thanksgiving.