suecsuecsue Posted November 23, 2011 Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 I am new here. Any discussion about this subject is welcome .. I'm just pondering and wonder "Does offering studio time ever work?" I inherited an inconsistent kiln from a teacher friend. I am a certified K-12 art teacher and I substitute teach. I've done a few firings at home and YES the kiln needed replaced, the piece could be fine, singed or dust, I wonder the best approach to make the most of it as I maybe only fire 2ce a year. Friends want to make things, use my clay, glazes and electricity to fire; but,I don't like to feel taken advantage of, though I wouldn't mind opening my home up to offer studio time. I like to fire a full kiln. Am I being reasonable? If the firing fails do I offer a full refund? Has anyone else allowed studio time out of their home? Should I not even mention my kiln is temperamental 35% of the time Should I scrap the whole idea and either be generous or not play at all? so... Business plan ideas are to offer studio time for 2-7 people at a time. Make a dog, Make a dish, Make a ... Hey ... just toss me a bone Why do some people assume an artist will just share what they've invested in, because they've received what I've made as a gift? Is asking $25.00 for approx. 3 hours of my time, using my supplies over 2 or 3 sessions to make a 15" total dimension piece reasonable? too much?? too little? I don't want to do the community ed. route and transport. Should I start designing the literature? Any advise or stories you have to share would be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benhim Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 One thing I've seen work is an energy share where potters share their kilns with the local potters in their area. This way they can conserve energy/fire more frequently. Apparently this works really well, and is an interesting way of doing business. If you know your kiln, you'll know exactly how much it costs to fire. It can then be divided into cubic feet of stackable space. This space can be assigned a monetary value and then a price can be charged to other potters for the space they use. I don't think renting the studio space is the way to go, but a kiln/energy sharing thing can work well. If you're more interested in trades a cubic foot trade could be done fairly easily as well which would avoid actually charging potters who have a kiln in which they could share as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Get your kiln repaired, make it consistent then do the math for shared firings. Their payments will cover repairing the kiln and you have a dependable kiln as a bonus. Sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 I am new here. Any discussion about this subject is welcome .. I'm just pondering and wonder "Does offering studio time ever work?" I inherited an inconsistent kiln from a teacher friend. I am a certified K-12 art teacher and I substitute teach. I've done a few firings at home and YES the kiln needed replaced, the piece could be fine, singed or dust, I wonder the best approach to make the most of it as I maybe only fire 2ce a year. Friends want to make things, use my clay, glazes and electricity to fire; but,I don't like to feel taken advantage of, though I wouldn't mind opening my home up to offer studio time. I like to fire a full kiln. Am I being reasonable? If the firing fails do I offer a full refund? Has anyone else allowed studio time out of their home? Should I not even mention my kiln is temperamental 35% of the time Should I scrap the whole idea and either be generous or not play at all? so... Business plan ideas are to offer studio time for 2-7 people at a time. Make a dog, Make a dish, Make a ... Hey ... just toss me a bone Why do some people assume an artist will just share what they've invested in, because they've received what I've made as a gift? Is asking $25.00 for approx. 3 hours of my time, using my supplies over 2 or 3 sessions to make a 15" total dimension piece reasonable? too much?? too little? I don't want to do the community ed. route and transport. Should I start designing the literature? Any advise or stories you have to share would be awesome. I understand where you are at to some degree. Here in Central Pa availability of clay and materials, equipment and expertise is more limited to the State College area. Even then the nearest supplier is in Pittsburgh. So local folks don't get clay and such easily. When I was working with the HS I did open studio with my assistance on Saturdays in Jan and Feb. People liked it. I charged $60 plus a price for fired ware that included the clay price. In the end it worked out well, and made money for the HS program that allowed me to build up a good studio, and keep things repaired at a time when money was very tight for such a fluff as Ceramics! My best choice in your situation would be to do the shared firing, and if you are purchasing clay do a shared purchase since that would allow more bulk, and more in the way of savings on price and shipping. Glaze materials-iffy, if you buy premade, then have them do the same. Have them store their clay at home with other materials and you do the firing. I have often thought of doing a class/studio situation on my own, but know that it will take a larger studio and equipment investment than I am willing to do at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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