Sabbatical

I appreciate the comments on the last post, it's nice to know there are people out there still reading this thing.  We all have a different take on things, and of course different needs, but I think it's important that we not let ourselves be taken advantage of.  If you're willing to go "the extra mile" for your galleries then you need to make sure that it is on your terms and your choice.  Remember that the galleries don't exist without us but to a certain extent we can exist without them, so who is doing who the favor? 

I've been wholesaling for the last few years and it has been very good to me.  This year was a particularly rough one.  Most of my work went to the east coast but last fall was a doozey for that region.  One of my smaller galleries was on their last leg and the government shutdown put them out of business, my largest gallery had to scale back and haven't reordered from me, that is a pretty big hit for me.  I haven't taken an order since the summer, so I'm not sure how things are going over there.  I opted not to go to Baltimore this year, with my kiln needing a rebuild I just didn't feel comfortable committing to it.  It also gave me a chance to take a breather and reconsider how I'm marketing my work.  I'm not sure that I want to commit to wholesaling on the scale that I was, but I'm not ruling it out yet.  Having a new kiln with an easier turn around might make those commitments easier. 

I've been taking a bit of a sabbatical since October.  I've spent a lot of time working on my house and property.  I'm starting to phase back into the pottery.  I spent the last week cleaning up the back acre, it was one huge gigantic trashy mess.  Wood piles and 5 foot weeds.  Here is a nice before and after. 

I'm digging out an area next to my studio to pour a slab for the new kiln.  Over the next couple weeks I'll be disassembling the wood kiln and sorting out what is salvageable.  I'm hoping to get it built during March and get firing again sometime in April/May.  I don't know exactly when I'll get back to making pots but it shouldn't be too much longer.  I'm also considering a showroom expansion and having regular hours, but I'm getting ahead of myself there.  Well, that's all I have going on here right now.  Hope all is well with you all.

Cheers!