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what did you do with the first $$?

updated fri 31 aug 07

 

Elizabeth Priddy on thu 23 aug 07


re-invest it into your business.

A pottery book is very durable, so are tools.

For the first money, i would buy a book and have my customer inscribe
the first blank page.

E


Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA

Natural Instincts Conference Information:
http://downtothepottershouse.com/NaturalInstincts.html
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7973282@N03/

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Gayle Bair on thu 23 aug 07


Anne,

Congrats on your first sale!

I took my first $ and invested it in new pottery tools.
My pottery pays for my pottery expenses.
Whatever tools, equipment or supplies I buy or workshops I take
has to pay for themselves. I have been doing this from the
beginning of my clay career and continues today. My most recent
acquisition was a Bosch Hammer drill because I found it very hard to drill
holes in rock
with my portable drill even if it was just sandstone! My first sculpture
paid for it
with $ left over. (Don't worry I won't use the hammer feature when drilling
the sandstone!)

Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
Tucson, AZ
http://claybair.com

-----Original Message-----
From:Anne Doyle

Hi folks,

I'm just curious to know what others have done...
I rec'd several weeks ago my first $20 from a commissioned piece, (o.k. it
was a small piece...)snip>

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6:51 PM

Anne Doyle on thu 23 aug 07


Hi folks,

I'm just curious to know what others have done...
I rec'd several weeks ago my first $20 from a commissioned piece, (o.k. it
was a small piece...)
I haven't figured out yet what i will do with the $20 bill...
Some ppl keep the $ from their first sale and put it up in their shops...
Its still sitting on my dining table as of yet, with the note from the
friend saying its great and she loved the colour... i think i'll put the
note in a shadow box or in my pottery scrapbook, but i still don't know
about the bill...
i'm tempted to put it up in a discreet place in the workshop where only
i'll know its there to inspire me ...

So, what did you do with yours?

Thanx!
Anne, in Saint-Sauveur
where the skies are black as coal and the rains, they are a-coming...

Lynn Goodman Porcelain Pottery on thu 23 aug 07


On Aug 23, 2007, at 8:10 PM, Anne Doyle wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I'm just curious to know what others have done...
> I rec'd several weeks ago my first $20 from a commissioned piece,
> (o.k. it
> was a small piece...)
> I haven't figured out yet what i will do with the $20 bill...



I got my first pottery sale while still in college. I spent it
immediately! I don't remember what I spent it on (probably some
music), but I do remember being thrilled that I had made money from
my work. (I still find it pretty thrilling.)

Lynn


Lynn Goodman
Fine Porcelain Pottery
Cell 347-526-9805
www.lynngoodmanporcelain.com

Robin Wolf on fri 24 aug 07


When I (luckily) sold 1 nice jug for over $100, I promptly used that as a
reason to spend a chunk of $$ to build a MFT kiln!



Apparently that is proof that I am suffering from "claymania" or a chronic
case of "pot-itis" - a common ailment seen in novice potters when they
create, glaze and successfully fire their first truly beautiful (or even
halfway nice) pieces - and actually sell one of them for decent $$$$!



Symptoms to look for are: chronic dry hands - fingernails that are
perpetually short - long periods of intense thought that center around
gerstley borate and oxides - most conversations include the terms
"reduction", "oxidation", "wheel", "slip", "mess" and are punctuated with
various forms of the word "damn". Amazingly, many novice potters will also
notice a sharp decrease in any spare cash that they may have had prior to
making their first sale. Spouses or significant others may notice a loss
of house keeping skills or kitchen involvement.



At this point, my prognosis is good, continued involvement with clay and
glaze materials is mandatory, followed by 5-12 hours of intense heat therapy
as necessary to clear the shelves. With continued clay involvement, I hear
tell that there may be at least a few more of those nice sales to add to
that first $100! This is obviously a long term ailment, and will take MANY
years of therapy!



Robin Wolf



In flood ravaged Kingfisher, Oklahoma where it is raining again. And yes, I
do know the couple that were rescued by the helicopter. As a small
community, we are very lucky that they were both ok after their ordeal. We
did loose our Daylight Donut Shop, so the town has lost an average of 3 lbs
per person!

Nancy on fri 24 aug 07


Ann

I bought more clay :)

Nancy

Anne Doyle wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm just curious to know what others have done...
> I rec'd several weeks ago my first $20 from a commissioned piece, (o.k. it
> was a small piece...)
> I haven't figured out yet what i will do with the $20 bill...
> Some ppl keep the $ from their first sale and put it up in their shops...
> Its still sitting on my dining table as of yet, with the note from the
> friend saying its great and she loved the colour... i think i'll put the
> note in a shadow box or in my pottery scrapbook, but i still don't know
> about the bill...
> i'm tempted to put it up in a discreet place in the workshop where only
> i'll know its there to inspire me ...
>
> So, what did you do with yours?
>
> Thanx!
> Anne, in Saint-Sauveur
> where the skies are black as coal and the rains, they are a-coming...
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
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>
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>
>

James and Sherron Bowen on fri 24 aug 07


If you don't have Functional Pottery by Robin Hopper the folks at Hamilton
Booksellers are selling the second edition (Pub in 2000 by A C Black ) for
$4.95 + $3.50 shipping PER ORDER! Good book. Shipping is so cheap I loaded
up on left wing political books, too. Never have enough good reading.
JB

----- Original Message -----
From: "Elizabeth Priddy"
To:
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 10:18 PM
Subject: Re: What did you do with the first $$?


> re-invest it into your business.
>
> A pottery book is very durable, so are tools.
>
> For the first money, i would buy a book and have my customer inscribe
> the first blank page.
>
> E
>
>
> Elizabeth Priddy
> Beaufort, NC - USA
>
> Natural Instincts Conference Information:
> http://downtothepottershouse.com/NaturalInstincts.html
> http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/7973282@N03/
>
> ---------------------------------
> Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car
> Finder tool.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
>

Jonathan Kirkendall on sat 25 aug 07


My very first weekend sale brought in $600. I used it to buy a brand
new wheel to replace the Flying Tiger I had inherited and was keeping
alive with those thick blue elastic bands that grocery stores used to
hold broccoli stalks together - really. We ate a lot of broccoli
leading up to the sale.

UPS dropped the wheel when they delivered it, putting a small dent in
the corner of the wheel. They told me it wasn't worth their while to
pick it back up, and they notified the company that I'd ordered it from,
who sent another one. Suddenly, this poor potter, one year out of
graduate school, trying to figure out how to buy groceries AND pay rent
in NYC had two new wheels. Unbelievable.

Jonathan in DC
where it's to get up to 101 today. Why is it the days I'm planning on
firing the kiln tend to be record setting hot days?
>

Anne Doyle on thu 30 aug 07


I want to thank everyone for the variety of responses on what they did
with the $ from their first sale... it was really interesting to hear from
you and see where you were at when you made your first pottery income.

I actually own a few dozen pottery books, being mostly autodidact, i do
read quite a bit, so for now the only one i think i'd like is Hamer &
Hamer, and i think the $ will go towards that ... as i've just recently
bought a photo lightbox and am pretty set for tools except the extruder &
pugmill i dream of and the slabroller i need* ... i'll have to sell a lot
of salt pigs to buy them!!

Anne , in Saint-Sauveur, where the skies are greyer than grey and i'm on
my way down to the studio to make something!! How cool is that! I really
truly feel blessed to be able to play with clay for a little while longer
as i don't go back to work now til mid-september...
*i use the word "need" very loosely here, i am actually using a rolling
pin now and its fine most days but the wrists and shoulders are screaming
some nights when i come upstairs and i think before long i will have to
invest in a slabroller, but first we wait and see if i get into this
juried show for XMas... fingers and toes crossed! OK its gonna be tough to
roll clay out with fingers crossed... maybe just toes then :)