Mid-Year Update: Inter Ceramics

Hey Community! I just posted my midyear update! I had to stitch together about 60 takes. But I'm happy I have a video out there to document where I am. I gave an update on the goals I set at the beginning of the year and set some new ones too. Here's where we're at:

Goal Update

1. Post more finished work on YouTube
I haven't done the best job here. I took a ton of "product pictures" to sell my pieces. But I didn't take enough or SHARE enough video showing how the pieces looked in detail. When I made the set series. I think i was more focused on showing my progress for the day. Next time, I think I want to dedicate a video just to show my final pieces and reflect on the work that I've done. For documentation's sake, I think I'm doing to post a slide show to youtube.

2. Tell better stories
When I set out to improve my story telling, I thought throwing myself in front of the camera and making The Set Series would magically equip me with the skills I needed. I enjoyed the planning and the challenge of creating a video to share with everyone. But in reflecting, I don't find that I've improved, nor have I found myself any more comfortable with storytelling than I was in January. So, there is work to do here. Yahoo!!

3. Sell my work on my website
I was super happy with my drop. Sure, there were some things I didn't excel at: marketing, product photo staging, etc... but I'll chalk that up to the learning curve I made a ton of ceramics, two of my signature shirts, and sold my valentine's day varsity sweatshirts!
Now... the drop itself wasn't wildly successful but SUPRISE! I did TWO popups! The first was a pop up at my local coffee shop. I am so grateful to them for their space and kindness. It was the perfect place to get my feet wet. I truly enjoy the vibe they have created: Great drinks and great community. The next was actually a gay market. Y'all the ladies and theydies showed OUT. All in all, I nearly sold out of my ceramics. I had good traction on my apparel. I'm mostly happy that people bought my stickers - they're sharing the message and that is what's most important to me 🧡

4. Establish a standard glaze for my black clay
This goal took the full 4/5 months to realize. I work with a black clay called Charcoal by Aardvark. Its super coarse and very BLACK. It was hard to anticipate how the different glazes would show up on it so I embarked on the task of testing the ones that piqued my interest. I am happy to report my standard line up:

• Birch by Mayco
• Champagne Quartz by Speedball
• Toasted Sage by Amaco
• Seaweed by Amaco

New Goals:

1. Tell better stories... again
As mentioned before, I wasn't... impressed with my progress in this space. So I want to do another Set Series. I also want to try a blog post for every video that I put out. It does seem like a daunting challenge. But I'm mostly excited about sharing my thoughts in more detail. I tend to cut it short on camera.

2. Take on hand building
I have a ton of ideas in my sketch book. Throwing is my favorite part of the process. But I can't throw everything on the wheel. So I need to find other ways to bring these ideas to life. Enter: hand building! I'm not the most skilled at this. Luckily my desire to make cool things out weighs my fear of failure here. So, onward we march - into the land of hand building!

3. Try another market
I really enjoyed working towards something these last few months. The set series, online drop, and impromptu markets gave me a TON of motivation to keep practicing. Most importantly for me, it gave me the motivation to FINISH something. I imagined, brought to life, and finished so many pieces. What a wonderous cycle to be in. As a creative, it's been deeply rewarding. That said, I want to set another goal post in front of me - another market. With my ideas and challenges at my back, I'm SO ready to get working again.


So those are my goals for the rest of 2024. Check back at the year's end to see how I do with them!