that conversation again

The frequent topic of frustration and sometimes bafflement- pricing.  I had an email conversation going on last week with a woman who makes and sells butter from an upstate New York dairy.  She was inquiring about getting hand crafted french butter crocks to sell with her butter rounds. Great idea, and I was flattered she tracked me down.  Course, I don't know, she might have sent the same email to a dozen other potters. So, I quoted her the price I sell these locally- $35.00, knowing it would be a little high for a bulk order, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Too high.  I came down to $30.00.  Silence.  Dead Air. In her response after my first quote, she suggested a simpler design for a lesser price.  My reply, along with the $30.00 offer, was the factor that dictated the price was the time spent fitting and measuring while throwing these.  If you are not familiar with a french butter crock, the part that holds the butter also functions as a lid.  So you have to fit a pot, which is also a lid, inside another pot.  A lot of stop and measure time.  Plus, basically, you are getting two pots in one.  Maybe it's just me.  If I made more of these maybe I'd be able to churn them out like a machine and instinctively know when I achieved the right height and width. Or, maybe I could be less fussy about the fit.  Not going to happen.
After a few days went by I emailed her again and suggested that a local potter might agree to make these at a cheaper price in exchange for the publicity plus there would be no added shipping cost.  I guess if someone lived within 30 or so miles of this dairy they could pick up a little business that way.  With me in southeast Ohio and her in upstate New York, I don't see that working out.

Freshly thrown french butter crock parts. Lid (left) holds butter.  Crock (right) holds water.

Once both parts dry to leather-hard they can be trimmed. 

Working on these honey jars too.  Same kind of lid as the french butter crocks, but a lot easier to fit.

Also threw a lot of knobs and some small nesting bowls.  The bowls are meant to be used as prep containers.  I'm looking forward to having fun with glazes on these.

Some mugs for a commission and more honey jars. Once pieces are well on their way to being dry and no longer need covering to make sure they dry evenly I take them out to the shelves by the kiln. 

just be quiet

Sometimes you just have to drop something.  I was rushing to get glazing done so I'd get a firing in last week in anticipation of Mother's Day sales and to fulfill a couple of commissions while painting the living room and trying to figure out how I'd get ready for a show in June and where to find a good upholsterer for a busted chair, then dealing with the wreckage in the rest of the house that results from non-stop painting and glazing. Was that an impressive run-on sentence, or what?  A few days ago I made the decision to drop the show and immediately started sleeping better.  All that head noise just went away.  This show will be outdoors.  So far, I've dodged the outdoor shows and I wasn't looking forward to having to buy a canopy tent, having to set it up, and having to store it.  And what if it rains?  So what if you have a tent- who's going to show up?

Enough ranting. The berry bowls are here!

 I didn't get all of them fired because of the commission work I wanted to get in the kiln, so there will be more coming.

More knobs for the driftwood hangers (previous post) and a couple of new cookie presses.  There will be a special breakfast at the farmer's market for our customers this Sat. so I may try out the new cookie presses in time for it.  I know, cookies for breakfast. Bad.  But you can come by and get a berry bowl for those healthy strawberries you'll be buying at the market.

 This is what I use to make the holes in the berry bowls and the knobs.  The screw is just for size reference.  The brass tubing (I'm not sure that's what it's called) is from the hardware store.  I cut it at an angle and sharpened/beveled the angled end a little.  My son gave me some accessories for my Dremmel tool last Christmas that were just right for this little job.  The only thing it needs is a dowel rod stuck in the other end to make it more comfortable to hold. 

 Pleased with the way the glaze worked on this hanging.  Chartreuse with gunmetal around the edge. 

Here's a neat little benefit from having an Etsy shop I wasn't expecting- I was contacted about selling some honey jars wholesale to The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio.  It seems the buyer was looking for made-in-Ohio honey jars to go with some honey they are selling in the museum shop.  I've never been there, but now that I know it exists I'll have to check it out if I'm in the area. 

ideas

I took this driftwood knob hanger to the farmer's market Sat.  These are knobs I had leftover from a few years ago when I made some for furniture.   
I enjoy finding driftwood treasures at the levee in Marietta and had collected a few worn boards with no particular plans for them.  (My husband, I'm sure, wonders about this.)  You never know when and idea will decide to jump out-  The boards in one part of my work space suddenly came together with the bag of mismatched knobs sitting in another part.  I don't think anyone is going to hang a parka on this, but pendants, hats, small wall hangings or sconces, candles joined by the wick, potholders...

Speaking of ideas- This is the idea pile.  Last week I decided to go through all these scraps of paper that I sketch or write inspirations on.  If something comes to mind I best write it down before it disappears on whatever scrap of paper is handy.
Sometimes I get bogged down with commissions or with keeping up with some of the standard things I know will sell, like the berry bowls I made recently.  Meanwhile, I've got this ever-increasing pile of things to try, glazes to test,..etc.  It's a little frustrating to see what I want to do and not be able to get to it.  I decided I needed to pick out a couple of these every now and then and make it happen.