Art-A-Whirl at Up Cafe in Northeast Minneapolis

Next weekend marks my premier showing at Art-A-Whirl in NE Minneapolis! I’m very excited to join this thriving art community, as this is the “largest open studio tour in the country.” While my studio is not in the area, I will be at Up Cafe for 3 days with my pottery wheel, performing pottery throwing demonstrations and showing my newest body of work. Check out the Art-A-Whirl website for an artist directory and map:

http://nemaa.org/art-a-whirl/artist-directory-guide

Also check out my NEMAA profile here:

https://nemaa.org/directory/10915

I also want to thank all the folks at Up Cafe for such an awesome grand opening party last Friday. Despite the weather, we had a great turnout and I hope the good energy will continue into the Art-A-Whirl event next weekend! Check out this article on “Twin Cities Daily Planet” about the opening last week:

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/amy-doeun/grand-opening-cafe

p.s. today is my Birthday!! My b-day wish: everyone head to Up Cafe next weekend for Art-A-Whirl!

Joel Cherrico Stoneware Hump Throwing, Grand Opening Party at Up Cafe2

Joel Cherrico Stoneware Hump Throwing, Grand Opening Party at Up Cafe3

Joel Cherrico Stoneware Hump Throwing, Grand Opening Party at Up Cafe1

Photos from the Grand Opening Party, by Michael Applen

Grand Opening Party at Up Cafe, NE Minneapolis

Friday, May 3rd marks the Grand Opening Party of Up Cafe, a new gourmet coffee shop in northeast Minneapolis. Check out their website for the official invite to the party, or RSVP on their facebook page:

http://upcafe.us/posts/grand-opening-party/

https://www.facebook.com/events/226473267495589/

I’ll be there with my pottery wheel performing throwing demos, and you can order a cup of coffee from one of my mugs!

Up Cafe, 2 Mugs and Menus, Photo by Michael Applen   Joel Cherrico, Hump Throwing Pottery, Photo by Amy Braig-Lindstrom

 

Working Towards a Standard Through Production Pottery

“…a good design in pottery is the product of tension or ‘dialectic’ between the demands of pure utility and those of pure beauty, and only a long experience and continual struggle enables you to achieve a successful fusion of the two.”
– Michael Cardew, quoted in “Michael Cardew, a portrait” by Garth Clark, pg. 46

In recent years, I’ve been drawn to a type of pottery known as “standard ware.” Warren Mackenzie is a renowned Minnesota potter at 89 years young, still making pots in Stillwater, MN. He descries standard ware as repeated forms with the same shapes, as opposed to individual pots with varying forms, shapes, colors, etc. Warren studied under English potter Bernard Leach, who was a pioneer in the resurgence of folk pottery traditions just after World War II.

After studying the Leach Pottery, I was amazed by 2 things: 1.) Bernard Leach mostly created pots as individual art objects, and 2.) The Leach Pottery Studio, largely operated by a crew and led by his sons, found great success through high production standard ware:

Mark Hewitt is a contemporary potter living in North Carolina, who studied similar folk pottery traditions for high production. I snagged this photo from his facebook page recently. The caption was, “180 Sunday, handled today, decorate tomorrow, start loading Thursday. The making cycles seem to get shorter…”

Mark Hewitt, Pottery Production, Coffee Mugs

Holy cow that’s a lotta mugs. Isaac Button, a British potter from the mid 20th Century, is another skilled dude that could bust out a ridiculous number of pots each day. He was renowned for throwing a TON of clay in a day…literally, 2,000 lbs. Check out this youtube clip for just a small taste of his skills: (video link)

What place does standardware have in contemporary ceramics? I’ve been drawn to these pottery production techniques because of the pottery I make for the Local Blend and Up Cafe. Restaurant pottery requires:

  • consistent sizes (for correct food and drink portions)
  • thick, rounded edges (or they’ll chip and break)
  • durability (good ole’ Stoneware clay seems to do the trick)
  • stackability (to fit dish racks)
  • high quantity (at least 100 for use each day, a LOT more for restocking)
  • consistent, glossy glazes (for easy cleaning- a coffee mug at the Blend could be washed up to 5 times each day!)

Up Cafe, Handmade Ceramic Pottery stockThese 2 little cafes require hundreds of finished pots so people can eat and drink their whole meal from pottery everyday. Plus, the pots sell pretty consistently and break every so often…so the ability to restock with new pottery is crucial. Standardware is a tradition that seems to fit perfectly with these 2 restaurants, as long as I can keep up on the high production as an individual artist….

Electric Kiln, Apartment Pottery, Joel Cherrico Pottery, Electric Fired StoneareMy new project for more consistent standardware…electric firing? We’ll see! I was gifted this kiln from an aspiring potter and friend Sue. She said, “You just figure out how we can get better, more consistent glazes and let me put them on my pots!” Even at 40+ years old, these puppies aren’t cheap- what a great gift! That’s the excitement that drives me to work towards a standard!

An Emerging Artist’s Experiences with Art Festivals and Individual Sales: Are They Worth It?

During a time when soaring gas prices and economic hardships are commonly discussed across national media, what role do artists play by selling their handmade works? How much value do local, handmade objects hold in comparison to machine made, globally shipped goods? Should artists participate in art festivals and single day sales? Are these shows meant for crafts, fine art, or both? Are they profitable for the artists? I constantly ask these questions in regard to my own career.

It’s also important to note that my experiences reflect only shows that I am able to attend as an emerging artist, early in my career. While I have not been accepted to more prestigious art festivals and nationwide craft shows, my hope is that this post gives a bit of useful information to young artists who want to begin showing and selling their work publicly.

My short answer is yes! Absolutely these shows are worth it. Depending on the show, these events can provide low cost, low risk opportunities to generate short term cash and connect with new art lovers.

But when do they become too much work for the money generated? At what point do the comments like, “I like this, but $30 is too expensive” and “Well, do you have any in blue?” cause artists to stop attending shows?

In 3 different conversations with 50+ year old potters, they all said the same: “About 5-10 years ago, it was common for me to have a $1,000 day at an art festival, but not anymore!” Over the past 5 years (since my sophomore year in college) I’ve done over 50 different shows. I’ve never had a $1,000 day at an Art Festival.

My Experiences with Art Festivals and Individual Shows:

Most shows involve bringing my pottery, shelving and sometimes a wheel and clay to demonstrate and show/sell work for 1-3 days. The average space is 10′ x 10′ with booth fees ranging from free up to $425. Here are the types of shows that I’ve done, in no particular order:

  • 1-2 day Art Festivals, locally and across Minnesota and Iowa
  • Art crawls, gallery events, studio tours
  • Outdoor music festivals
  • Indoor theater productions, conventions, showcases and expos
  • Local farmers markets
  • Individual shows at site specific venues, like college campuses, wine shops, wedding reception halls, and home shows

Some shows are better than others, and it takes time and hard work to figure out which shows to pursue and which to avoid. Here is a selection of 10 different shows that have shaped my career. I’ve included helpful notes and sales figures:

  1. Market Monday: Sartell, MN farmer’s market. 19 individual shows since summer of 2012, alongside food vendors, often demonstrating with my pottery wheel. Cost: about $20 per day. Sales: low of $0, high of $550.
  2. Bo Diddley’s Show/Sale: St. Cloud, MN, indoors in a small restaurant, December of 2012, throwing demo, no other vendors. Cost: 4 free bowls for the owners. Sales: $35.
  3. Women’s Showcase: St. Cloud, MN, 1 day, large setup of my best pottery, next to other local businesses, no other individual artists. Cost: $80 (if I remember correctly) Sales: $61.50.
  4. Celebration of the Arts: Avon, MN, 2 days, large setup of my best pottery, with $5-10 cups and mugs, about 30 artists, 5-7 potters. Cost: $50. Sales: $677 in 2011, $652 in 2012.
  5. Millstream Arts Festival: St. Joseph, MN, 1 day, large setup of my best pottery, about 30-40 artists and musicians, 3-5 potters. Cost: $80. Sales: $794.36 in 2011, $241 in 2012.
  6. Backroads Pottery Tour: St. Joseph area, MN, 2 days, large setup of my best pottery, throwing demos, all potters, 2-3 at each venue, 5 venues. Cost: $50. Sales: $639.10 in 2011, $1,040 in 2012.
  7. Duluth Art in Bayfront Park: 2 days, large setup of my best pottery, about 30-40 artists and musicians, 3-5 potters, consider 3 days time and travel expenses to Duluth. Cost: $325 in 2011, $425 in 2012 (double booth, throwing demos). Sales: $1,648.24 in 2011, $1,163.25 in 2012.
  8. Pottery at First Avenue Wine House, 2012: 2 days in July, Cedar Rapids, IA, outdoors (HOT!) large setup of my best pottery, no other artists. Cost: no cost from the generous owners and family friends. Sales: $4,330.32
  9. Iowa Holiday Show/Sale, 2010: 1 day, late November, large setup of my best pottery, premier showing of my work right out of college, event hall for music shows and wedding receptions in Cedar Rapids, IA, called Gatherings, no other artists. Cost: $300. Sales: $4,339
  10. Iowa Holiday Show/Sale, 2011 & 2012: 2 days, large setup of my best pottery, in Marion, IA at a small coffee shop called Mr. Beans, in their small conference room, no other artists. Cost: 2 large serving bowls for the owners. Sales: $2,725.51 in 2011, $1,678.60 in 2012.

Important Takeaways: 

  • Sales can decrease in consecutive years, even if your artwork improves.
  • Sales around Christmas are not necessarily higher.
  • Throwing demonstrations do not seem to help or hurt sales.
  • Always consider your time, even if you don’t give it a dollar amount. If I sell less than $300 in a day then I probably won’t sign up for a show the next year.
  • I recommend experimenting with prices. Since January 2013, I’ve reduced my prices from $25 per mug and $85 per serving bowl to $10 per mug and $25 per serving bowl only at the Sartell Farmer’s Market. Sales have been over $500 at 4 monthly farmers markets so far, compared to a $309 high previously. I keep high prices at galleries, coffee shops, and my online store, and reserve these venues for my strongest pots. At the market, I bring my 2nds, 3rds and 4ths…I think that even if a pot has qualities that I don’t like, it has the potential to enrich someone else’s life. Customers seem to understand the “what you see is what you get” model of discounted prices only at certain shows and certain times in my career. 

There are lots of other ways to sell: online, through galleries, retail stores, whole sale, commission based, and creating innovative business models. It’s important to note that sales through my innovative business model developed for the Local Blend coffee shop have been higher than all art festivals and galleries combined, and equal to my individual shows and sales. I expect sales at Up Cafe in northeast Minneapolis to be equal or higher than the Local Blend sales in the coming months.

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My hope is that this post gives a bit of useful information for emerging artists that are one the fence about selling their work to the general public. Be open to all opportunities for showing your work, but I encourage all artists to develop innovative ways to show and sell. I’m convinced innovation brings the highest level of success.

New Pots at Up Cafe: Customers Using Handmade Pottery Everyday

Over the month of December I busted out about 550 new pieces of pottery for use as serving vessels in Up Cafe– a new coffee shop in northeast Minneapolis! This new coffee shop is attached to Upper Midwest Gourmet and Flamenco Organic Coffee Roastry. They’re open for business, so you can stop by anytime and sip an artfully mixed coffee drink from one of my mugs. Check out this spread in Minnesota Monthly about their “soft opening”

http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Blogs/Twin-Cities-Taste/February-2013/Shhh-Its-a-Quiet-Opening-at-Up-Cafe/index.php

Below are a few images of my pottery in their space. Watch for future posts of higher quality images and information about their grand opening. Also, special thanks goes out to my cousin Michael Applen for his Entrepreneurial mindset. He always pushed me to come up with new ways to get my pottery out into the world. He was an important part of getting pottery into Up Cafe, as well as getting this coffee shop open for business. Thanks for your help cous!

Also thanks to Central Minnesota Arts Board for awarding me a $3,000 grant that helped make this possible!

www.centralmnartsboard.org

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