Sunday, May 5, 2013

Blind Hogs and Acorns

Yesterday was "Opening Day" in Cincinnati. No, not baseball, pottery. The Cincinnati Clay Alliance has SPRING POTTERY FAIR on the first Saturday of May every year and it kicks off my summer show season. It is a pottery only street fair with 60 club members showing their wares. It is always fun to show with all your friends and with pottery, there are so many different styles and approaches that I never feel that we are competing with each other.Your friends may stop in your booth and "give you the business" but later they will actually send you some business if a customer is looking for something that you make.  There is an old saying in the antiques business that the best location for an antiques store is right next to a bunch of other antique stores. I think it holds true for potters too.

We had gorgeous weather and a big crowd pretty much all day. It started about 11am and the next time I looked up it was 2pm. My friend Judy stopped in to give me a quick break and even went up the street to get me some coffee. Little things like that are a big help and really appreciated.Then it hit again and the next time it slowed was 4 o'clock. One of the best things about this business is the customers that come back year after year telling me about how much they love the pots they bought last year and asking for more. I had plenty of them. What a day. It's good for our fragile egos to get boosted every now and then. I was juggling cash and burning up the square. I ended up with 17 credit card sales. Before the square I usually had 4 or 5. The new black pots with the red wheat pattern on them nearly sold out! The new "pop up" dishes sold well too. I'm going to have to make more stuff before the next show! In the end not only did I hit a new personal best but nearly doubled my old one. I know you all want to know so here it is.. I was squarely between OMG and Holy Shit!!! What a day. Love,  respect, and money all at once. Some years and pounds ago I used to do long distance bicycle rides. By the end of the show I felt like I had ridden a century. I was totally exhausted but very happy. Many many thanks to all the volunteers who helped put the show together and of course to my wonderful customers. Here are a few pictures from the show. The first 4 are my booth with the new banner and base unit. The others I will try to identify if I can remember who's who.




 Karen Herbert
 Linda LeGendre
Rachael Wells

Teri Kern

Pat Holm ???

Sarah Horn

Josh and Marie Hamaker

 Anne Courtnry
Peggy Mahoney

Nick Perino



Penni Lowery



Marcia Fanthorp's scraffito plates looked great in person

6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on a GREAT sale! Let us all hope that this is a sign of a good year for all of us potters doing shows.
    I agree with you that a show of all potters is a GOOD thing. You know that everyone there loves pottery and is there to buy pottery. You aren't competing with the jewelers and food vendors.

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  2. It was so good to get up and read your post this morning! So happy for you, your booth looked great, and think of all the folks that are getting up this morning and looking forward to using a handmade piece of pottery. Shows like this one keep you coming back for more don't they!?

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  3. Thanks ladies. I suspect this will be my high for the year but hope springs eternal.

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  4. That's a good looking set up with signage.....and just potters! That sounds like a rarity and fun!

    How encouraging to have your first sale of the season be so successful. Toes crossed that the momentum keeps growing.

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  5. Oh what a great show of all potters, so glad about the sales results, yes hope springs eternal.

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  6. Congratulations on a successful show and no snow.

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