Mudslinger Pottery & Gallery
Escape your world and play with clay.


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January 2010 Newsletter

 

I offer Greetings to all that have somehow been a part of Mudslinger Pottery in the past.  I hope that you are all in good spirits and are fairing well at the start of another year.  It seems that this time of year is the best to examine the past, so that one can look forward with encouragement, excitement and hope in the future.

  

Mudslinger Pottery just had its’ 4th birthday.  I’ve been working in the studio full time now for nearly 2 ˝ years, finally having freed myself from corporate servitude.  It hasn’t been easy; in fact, I work twice as hard as I ever did before with one important difference.  I’m happy.  I have discovered, or finally realized, that I really enjoy helping people discover the creativity and Art that is inside them.  Just the other day, one of my students that has been taking classes off and on for some time, was explaining her project to another student.  I was so impressed with her confidence as she spoke that I had to stop her in the moment so that she could see for herself how much she had grown and developed as an Artist.  It made me feel good to see how proud she was of herself.  There’s too many other stories of discovery and healing to tell right now, but you know who you are!

 

Interesting 12 months.  It seemed like the whole first quarter, most everyone was in shock after the collapse of the market and the recent election.  My father-in-law, Byron, mentioned that during the last depression people would escape their world and go to the movies.  One of my slogans is “Escape your world and play with clay.”  Well, business was a little slow the first quarter and I’m sure my wife was glad we had a little room on our credit cards, as we waited for our tax returns – like most other people.  Mudslinger isn’t a movie theater, but something better.  My best product all year was the “GetAway Day in the Clay.”  It brought in 35 to 50% of the business each month and really helped to keep this little boat afloat.   My regular classes that I sometimes call “Clay therapy for over stressed professionals” accounted for an average of 35%, and retail sales came in close to about 26%. 

 

There is a wide variety of people that come into the studio for GetAways: families, couples, birthday parties, but usually “ladies day out parties.”  I jokingly say that I can’t handle any more than 8 women at a time.  The GetAways are really a lot of fun.  It seems like the same thing every time, people will walk into the studio like a “deer in the headlights,” not knowing what to expect.  Then about halfway through the lesson, they get it and have a hard time leaving the studio at the end of the party.   People usually bring in a fancy picnic with snack trays and sometimes a crock-pot full of something, and their favorite beverages of course.  I’ve noticed that some people really do need at least one glass of wine before they can slow down and relax enough to play in the clay.  I just try to make a relaxed environment as possible so that everyone can enjoy themselves, then I do all the work trimming, glazing and firing.  The nice part is that everyone gets a piece of pottery that they helped make.  Every time they use their pottery, they can remember the nice time they had with their friends.

 

I don’t do a lot of advertising, but in the last few years I have regularly attended several venues that have worked well to let people in the area know about Mudslinger Pottery and what we have to offer.  My schedule in 2010 will probably be similar to last year. 

 

We participate in the St. Paul Art Crawl in the Spring and Fall, and our location is in the lower level atrium of Park Square Court on the corner of 6th and Sibley.  I don’t get as much traffic as some of the other buildings, but it’s a really nice place to show off my work.  Pat Hanley of the Lowertown Group, a professional website development company, has been kind enough to offer the space to me and another artist for several years now.

 

I don’t know how many people out there have heard of “Stillwater Summer Tuesdays.”  It is scheduled on 9 Tuesdays throughout the months of July and August.  We have tried to attend at least half of the scheduled dates each year.  It’s really a nice thing to do in the middle of the week on a Summer day.  They have an open market by the bridge from about 5 to 8:30pm with music in the park by the river, followed by a movie after the sun goes down. 

 

This was our first year doing the Washington County Fair.  It was a bit draining being there 10 to 11 hours a day for 5 days, but it was time well spent.  I brought a wheel and demonstrated off and on.  I also had 3 people brave enough to sit down and let me make a pot with their hands.  I often felt like a broken record every time another person would walk into my little display booth, repeating my “spiel” over and over and over again.  That’s part of the game.

 

This was our 2nd year doing the Selby Ave. Jazz Fest.  It should be called a BBQ and Jazz Fest.  My goal was to just sell enough pottery to buy lots of BBQ.  They usually have about a dozen food vendors right next to each other filling the air with BBQ Ambrosia.  Sittin in the Hood watching interesting people, listening to hip jazz, and eatin some of the best summer food you can imagine.

 

Fall was better than I hoped for.  I’ve never been busier.  It seems like usually over 90% of the kiln is filled with work from the classes and GetAways.  I actually exceeded my goal for the year, and using Quick-Books has really, really helped.  Well the mad rush building up the Holidays is over and I’ve finally found time to clean off the top of my desk.  I have a canvas on a desktop easel waiting to be painted on and clay waiting to be turned into little pieces of Art. 

 

A few more words of wisdom from Capt. Mudslinger: Slow down, observe and enjoy the beauty that is all around us; and of course, “have fun and love” (enjoy the gift of today and put others first).

 

Happy Everything,

Capt. Mudslinger 

 

 

 

Mudslinger Pottery & Gallery
 
mudslingerpottery@comcast.net  
Kevin P. O'Hara
3032 St. Croix Trail South
Afton, MN  55001
651-270-3330