GEP

As @Pres and @kswan mentioned, clay seems to keep me always thinking of a better way to make something, a way to stretch mentally that I haven't had with other mediums.  But...if my hands and health  or cost of electricity or whatever wouldn't allow me to continue, I would probably spend more time with textiles.  I love to sew.  Another art that has always fascinated me is printing.  Lino cutting, all that.    And Thank you to @Jeanetta for the exercises.   I will try to incorporate those!!  
Roberta

I quit rock climbing because of repeated injuries to my shoulders and tendons in my forearms, so I am careful not to overdo it when I work with clay.  @Jeanetta some of those stretches are warms ups we'd do for climbing too.  I don't work at this totally full time which helps, and I vary what I do in the course of a day to give my body a break. Climbing was much harder on my body than clay could ever be, except for hurting my back!
Sometimes I feel like I ought  to switch to woodturning instead of making ceramics! I could still create utilitarian pieces with creative touches, but I could gather my materials from my own surroundings and it would eventually biodegrade. In terms of "shortages", we have a finite amount of natural materials that are mined from the earth to create our pottery.  I feel guilty about the waste that happens when something goes wrong and a fired piece needs to be thrown away.  I also don't like the electricity use and toxic gases that are produced. I can dream about a solar powered kiln someday when I live somewhere that gets more than an hour of sun. But I am like @Pres in that I feel a mental uplift from working with clay and get excited by new ideas and good results. I try to compensate for my carbon footprint by doing what I can in other ways in my life, and I tell myself that giant factories around the world are doing much more in terms of pollution, energy and resource consumption than I am.  Is it okay to rationalize like that?  
I want to add that ceramics challenges me in many ways, with its physical construction, the chemistry involved, the myriad ways to create, decorate, and finish. There doesn't seem to be anything else like it.

I’m having issues with my wrists and elbows. I will choose to retire before I cause any permanent injury. I think I can be happy doing other things that aren’t as physically demanding. Same thing goes with materials like clay. If these supply issues start to look permanent, I think I’d rather pivot to something else. There’s only so much hassle I’m willing to deal with. I want to spend my older years relaxing!

I’m having issues with my wrists and elbows. I will choose to retire before I cause any permanent injury. I think I can be happy doing other things that aren’t as physically demanding. Same thing goes with materials like clay. If these supply issues start to look permanent, I think I’d rather pivot to something else. There’s only so much hassle I’m willing to deal with. I want to spend my older years relaxing!

I’m having issues with my wrists and elbows. I will choose to retire before I cause any permanent injury. I think I can be happy doing other things that aren’t as physically demanding. Same thing goes with materials like clay. If these supply issues start to look permanent, I think I’d rather pivot to something else. There’s only so much hassle I’m willing to deal with. I want to spend my older years relaxing!

Hi folks, I have been thinking about a few strands here on the forum that concern shortages. Most of the shortages are due to the Covid situation which has made some major changes in the supply chain. Thinking about this made me wonder. . . what would it take for a potter, either a full timer or a hobbyist, to give up on pottery? 
In my own situation, I usually make pots when I feel like it, which is not in the cold, but otherwise whenever I can get the time in the studio. I love to throw, and at times handbuild. Working with the clay is therapeutic and satisfying, just as opening a kiln for me is like Christmas still. I imagine that if things stayed cold all year round, I would probably find a better way to heat the shop, and keep on keeping on. If for some reason I became disabled, I believe I would still deal with things to some degree working with the clay as so many others on the forum have. Shortage of electric, I would probably change clays and go to pit firing, and bring the kick wheel out of the basement to work that way, or buy a treadle wheel.  I know that I am getting older, and that I take longer to throw a bat of mugs, but they are better mugs and more creative than the ones before, so time is not an issue. The only thing I can think of stopping me from making pots is the shortage of clay. . . Heaven forbid! I could probably turn Pioneer Potter, and dig/process the clay on my own, but then by the time I was done, too much time and energy has been exhausted leaving me the same!
QotW: What sort of shortage would make you "give up the ghost" ?  
 
best,
Pres

Lately I’ve really been into hakeme.
 

Thanks everybody! I went looking for more information about my current clay, and there it was right in the description “granular manganese.” I also found some good tips about adding it to clay on DigitalFire. Time to buy some and do some tests. 
Sometimes the speckles in my current clay are unreasonably huge. I’ve even put some pots in the seconds pile because of weirdly large speckle splotches. So it might be nice improvement to have some control over the particle size now. 

Lately I’ve really been into hakeme.
 

Lately I’ve really been into hakeme.
 

I accidently came upon a technique that buyers seem to love; I love it too. I was a real novice and just playing around on one piece in which I scraped off some glaze on a bisqued and dipped piece resulting in texture and a view of speckled clay. I tried avoiding the dust of dried glaze by using wax as a resist for slip instead, but the look isnt nearly as beautiful. For now, I'm wearing a respirator and performing the task outside, changing my clothes after. I am not a mass producer, so I am ok with this til I find a new aesthetic; not always easy to do!

Honestly, some days my favourite technique would be to get someone else to do it. 

Lately I’ve really been into hakeme.
 

Yup, I’m considering this possibility too. I’m taking a couple of months off after the holidays, and will spend this time testing several options. Or, if my current clay supplier recovers from its current issues, I may end up sticking with the current clay. Just need to have a plan in case they don’t. 

Thanks everybody! I went looking for more information about my current clay, and there it was right in the description “granular manganese.” I also found some good tips about adding it to clay on DigitalFire. Time to buy some and do some tests. 
Sometimes the speckles in my current clay are unreasonably huge. I’ve even put some pots in the seconds pile because of weirdly large speckle splotches. So it might be nice improvement to have some control over the particle size now. 

Thanks everybody! I went looking for more information about my current clay, and there it was right in the description “granular manganese.” I also found some good tips about adding it to clay on DigitalFire. Time to buy some and do some tests. 
Sometimes the speckles in my current clay are unreasonably huge. I’ve even put some pots in the seconds pile because of weirdly large speckle splotches. So it might be nice improvement to have some control over the particle size now. 

Specifically for pottery, yes.  I have had people work with me to improve, I have taken a few private lessons, and as soon as my schedule and bank account would allow, I started taking workshops.  Like most others have responded, I study, read, watch, rinse and repeat.  More recently I have taken online classes and rented teaching videos @GEP being a person I have watched in order to learn specific skills.  
I love the classroom format and have taken classes over the years for anything that I really wanted to know more about.  
Roberta

Found myself coming back to this thread, as ideas were/are resonating, particularly, comparing/contrasting the times in my life when a) I've learned under the direct and focused tutelage of others vs. b) being in a situation where there's opportunity to observe and practice, but no direct teaching going on with me.
A few points float up from the gurgling goop o' my recollectin':
  There are many many more instances o' the latter than the former, first off.
   Second, of the cases where I was getting focused individualized instruction - whether straight one on one, or one of many where I got slices of "me" time - a subset o' those cases were actually worth a da... uhm, any good (hence, some o' were not good).
  Back to the latter, that's how my two semesters of wheel was, mostly - short demonstration, now you all try it - with one on one for those asking for help and/or obviously struggling, otherwise, left to practice and learn. I'm not complaining (in case the teacher reads this!); no, really - time at the wheel, that's what it takes. Being right there in among'm vs. being alone, though, big huge difference! I could see and hear what was working and what fails, also see and hear variation in effective technique. There's also the opportunity to examine hundreds of other people's work and progression throughout the semester. There's also the social aspect, which I miss so very much. The dust, mess, smells (I can't be around some perfumes, body sprays, hair products, and such), the time required to get back and forth, the vindictive secretly breaking stuff, the grating musical choices (I did change the channel some...), heh, don' miss that.
Well, finding a teacher whose a gonna teach ya, and teach effectively what you want to learn (and/or what you need to learn, mind, especially where want and need aren't same), that doesn't happen often in life, in my experience.
Well II, finding a situation where one may effectively learn, oh, aye, good chance o' finding that, also good chance on making that happen. The big bang explosion o' e media can be part of that. A common/group/social situation can be huge difference maker.
Any road, enjoy the ride an' please post back on what you find.

Best sellers are the Enormous Coffee Mug (I do make a smaller mug too but the enormous ones sell better), and the Bowl with Chopsticks.
Edit to add: my whole line of work contains about 40 different items, ranging from $10 to $225. These two items are roughly 20% (dollar-wise) of what I bring to each show. I don't recommend making only mugs and eating bowls, that wouldn't add up to a good sale. I'm just saying that mugs and small bowls are an essential and substantial component to a functional potter's line of work. 


 

Best sellers are the Enormous Coffee Mug (I do make a smaller mug too but the enormous ones sell better), and the Bowl with Chopsticks.
Edit to add: my whole line of work contains about 40 different items, ranging from $10 to $225. These two items are roughly 20% (dollar-wise) of what I bring to each show. I don't recommend making only mugs and eating bowls, that wouldn't add up to a good sale. I'm just saying that mugs and small bowls are an essential and substantial component to a functional potter's line of work. 


 

Best sellers are the Enormous Coffee Mug (I do make a smaller mug too but the enormous ones sell better), and the Bowl with Chopsticks.
Edit to add: my whole line of work contains about 40 different items, ranging from $10 to $225. These two items are roughly 20% (dollar-wise) of what I bring to each show. I don't recommend making only mugs and eating bowls, that wouldn't add up to a good sale. I'm just saying that mugs and small bowls are an essential and substantial component to a functional potter's line of work. 


 

Best sellers are the Enormous Coffee Mug (I do make a smaller mug too but the enormous ones sell better), and the Bowl with Chopsticks.
Edit to add: my whole line of work contains about 40 different items, ranging from $10 to $225. These two items are roughly 20% (dollar-wise) of what I bring to each show. I don't recommend making only mugs and eating bowls, that wouldn't add up to a good sale. I'm just saying that mugs and small bowls are an essential and substantial component to a functional potter's line of work. 


 

Just finished the books for this past weekend's show. For all three of my shows this month:
Cash 5.9%
Check 2.1%
Credit card 92%

A few people still do, but this month I’ve done three shows and barely taken any cash sales. Everyone is using credit cards instead. I can understand why, I used to pay for things with cash a lot in the before times, but now I have gotten used to charging everything because it’s touchless. 
I used to pack $100 of ones and fives to every show for making change. Maybe I can dial back on that now, because I hardly needed it. I’ll probably see what happens through the end of the year to make a decision about that. 
Also, everybody now has credit cards that can be dipped or tapped. I still carry a magnetic stripe swiper just in case, but didn’t need it once this month. I’ve also noticed that Square processes the dipped and tapped transactions really quickly, as in under a second. 
The whole world of POS payments changed during the pandemic, both in terms of technology, and everyone’s behavior. Overall I find it much easier. 

Haha I remember using a knuckle buster for imprinting credit cards with a clack-clack. How cringy that seems now, with everyone’s account number in plain view for the world to see! And I remember those years when the credit card industry tried to train us to handle customer credit card numbers more securely (PCR compliance) and how so many artists thought that was a hassle and a waste of time. We’ve definitely come a long way.  
Bookkeeping is definitely faster now. Though I still do inventory with a pen and notebook. This is still faster than entering it into an app. And most of my inventory turns over at every show, so using the app for that doesn’t make sense for me.