A trend observed

[CactusPots]

A while ago I visited my brother in Vermont.  He took me on a whirlwind tour of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  We stayed the night in a BnB in Maine.  Very picturesque type farmhouse.  In the morning we had some conversation with the people who owned and lived on the property.  Turns out they are both professional artists represented in galleries in the major East Coast cities.  I commented that I lived in Southern California and considered it an art desert.  Their reply was that they lived in art hell because every East Coast doctor retired to Maine and took up watercolor (or whatever).

I think this is the growing trend especially in crafts, maybe art as well.  An arts and crafts hobby is the perfect foil for today's stress jobs.  As you build a retirement, you invest and improve to the point where you can have a functional engaged creative  life when the regular working life is over.  Conversely, starting out without a serious amount of backing, say from a trust fund is extremely difficult.  I realize anytime you're talking about people there will be exceptions.  Some artists are creative and dedicated enough  to make it work right out of the box.  I'm thinking is will increasingly be the exception rather than the rule.  As a working model, I think its' much more in line with our times.

[Min]

Apparently "bro-ramics" is a thing. 

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ceramics-celebrity-trend-1770717

[liambesaw]

26 minutes ago, Min said:

Apparently "bro-ramics" is a thing. 

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ceramics-celebrity-trend-1770717

I hate this so much... Like it's so weird that actors have creative hobbies?

I saw that yesterday and went eww, especially that abomination of a portmanteau.  

I think the trend of retired people actually doing what they want in retirement is probably a good thing, but the best thing would be them doing it all along.

[glazenerd]

I started in 2007, after I saw a crystalline piece- most know the story. I knew when I started, it would be part time until I retired.

[GEP]

I like to say that I "retired" at age 40 to do pottery full-time. I put "retired" in quotes because I work a lot harder now than I did before. But just like a retired person, I had set myself up with a long-term plan for financial stability, before giving myself the gift of walking away from my previous career. There is no inheritance, trust fund, or sugar daddy involved. I earned it! And even though I was expecting to earn a lot less as a potter, it turns out I am earning about the same as I did before. Don't worry, the financial situation is not going to be wasted. It means I can retire for real when I want to, and much younger than 65. 

So I guess I am agreeing with @CactusPots. But you don't have to be 65 or older to "retire." 

[Stephen]

I think it all depends on motive.

A hobby that pays for it's supplies might better describe the retired Dentist that paints watercolors and sells them at a local art fair from time to time, or maybe described as a side gig that adds a few bucks to low retirement income for someone who would rather toil over a potters wheel or painters canvas than flip burgers or check receipts at Walmart.

But if the company is being started with the goal to survive and thrive then I think an art business fits into the overall small startup landscape if that's the point. If you stream and have Amazon prime I think the series 'Where Small Business Grows' is just fantastic. Only one season but they go through a dozen plus small businesses started by regular people.

[Mark C.]

I almost hate to dip my finger in this discussion as a professional potter-but

Many decades ago, long ago really for most ,when I was doing fairs /art shows whatever a lot-most of the artists and makers where doing it as a full time gig or profession. That was the 70's and into the 80's .In the late 80,s early 90s we saw a influx of retirees coming from a life long career of something else and entering the crafts world as a second gig in life. for fun pocket change.

It hit me once back then talking to my neighbor doing a show in the Pacific Northwest . He said wow lots of customers in your booth whats the catch ( I think he made walking sticks or something that involved a hot glue gun?)I said that I had been making pots for a few decades  and had lots of return customers and he told me he just retired form Boeing and was doing this as fun in the summer thing. Thats when it really hit me and since then I have seen a huge influx of real part timers-now its a large proportion of many shows.Many of us old timers compare notes on this subject as well as current trends.

Now its no longer mold slip- paint your own shops but hobby studios that popped up nation wide in the past 20 years replacing most slip shops. You pay and join and have fun. After a few years you enter the art show fair circuit .Its just another trend really.

I'm thinking now that I'm in my 60s of retiring from a life with clay and getting a part time job with Boeing. 

I can see it now while riveting a wing and my fellow worker says how long you been working here-I say I retired from being a clay artist/Potter and took this job as a summer fun thing.

True story except my working at Boeing

[liambesaw]

Boeing doesn't need any more retirees!!!

[glazenerd]

Mark:

I retired from home building last spring. I tried retirement back in 1017: taking most of Dec. until late March off- until boredom sat in.I work because I want to, not because I have to.  I had the same thoughts when I read the post- a trend. I also realized that sitting at a wheel making cups and bowl is not working for me either. If I had any creative ability; I would do sculptural pieces; but I do good to paint by number. So, I will go back to making geometric tile: requires less thought. 

[shawnhar]

I don't know what Georgia O'Keeffe had to be stressed out about, but apparently she took up pottery at 85.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/sothebys-georgia-okeeffe-rarely-seen-pottery

 

[Stephen]

It makes you wonder though if these trends are really just the new normal. Mark mentioned he noticed in late 80's and that's 35-40 years ago and about the time that unions and working a lifetime for a company started changing as well. The gig economy opens up a lot of possibilities and lack of great pensions exposes a lot of need/wants. With folks living well into their 80's on the average now I think that second chapter is a more serious and thoughtful decision.

Used to be you retired early, late 60s and died in your early 70s now it's spending 25+ years just hanging out and that is just not that appealing to a lot of folks. When you are old your needs are different and you have the ability to choose a second act business if that's what you want, based on passion rather than need to pay off mortgages, buy trucks and send kids to college. The retired dentist may well be just doing his thing for kicks but the old guy next to him that is a year into starting his art business is building a business with as much seriousness as any other pro in the show and he may well have thousands of hours of experience to leverage.  

[JohnnyK]

I decided a long time ago that I would get into ceramics when I retired since I didn't have time to do it while I was working...Well, that changed about 10 years ago and I started taking pottery classes which evolved into taking Ceramics classes at a local community college which evolved into setting up my own studio where I am able to make pretty much whatever I want, and now it has become a somewhat lucrative hobby in so much as I can pay for my habit with the proceeds from the sales of my pottery. At best it will be a part time business with everything else I've got going since I'm almost fully retired from my remodeling business for 2+ years now...

[Mark C.]

Wonder if I can work that Boeing job only on weekends?? Since they closed down the surplus yard I have little reason to stop by there anymore.That yard was super when it was open.

[liambesaw]

13 minutes ago, Mark C. said:

Wonder if I can work that Boeing job only on weekends?? Since they closed down the surplus yard I have little reason to stop by there anymore.That yard was super when it was open.

Yeah that used to be such a cool store to visit.  Now they just try to sell junk online, NO THANKS! Browsing all of the bins was the fun part, not buying a pallet of miscellaneous parts sight unseen on a website.

[oldlady]

i started working with clay in 1972 but had to work until retirement in 1986 as handicapped.  so my benefits are based on my 1985 salary.  today, $54,000 doesn't sound like much when i read salary figures for office workers.  so i am one of those who might work fewer hours than many of you but each sale is important to the bottom line.  

it is getting harder to sustain the kind of activity i did only a few years ago so i am not sure how much longer i will be able to work at what i am doing now.   getting help at an outdoor event will become necessary this year.  one day only shows that bring in $900 are not so bad.  weekends, not anymore.

if i retire,  maybe i will make only what i REALLY want to and price it very high.    yeah, right................

[CactusPots]

The part I'd like to emphasize is the restorative nature of the craft for someone who really doesn't like their job that much.  I think people  who go "postal" probably don't have anything like a craft in their life.  It's really hard to work 8 hours with nothing to come home to but TV and the next day.  A lot of time is occupied by creative thinking rather than how much your life sucks.  I have a wonderful wife who encouraged my hobby and it made a big difference to me.  I've always thought of ceramics as more a performance art than a production line.  The best pot to me is the next one, the one I haven't made yet.  It's just a naturally positive outlook.

I'm still not what would be considered a good potter by good potters, but since my retirement will consist of SS and insufficient savings, having a market for my work is great.

[liambesaw]

16 minutes ago, CactusPots said:

The part I'd like to emphasize is the restorative nature of the craft for someone who really doesn't like their job that much.  I think people  who go "postal" probably don't have anything like a craft in their life.  It's really hard to work 8 hours with nothing to come home to but TV and the next day.  A lot of time is occupied by creative thinking rather than how much your life sucks.  I have a wonderful wife who encouraged my hobby and it made a big difference to me.  I've always thought of ceramics as more a performance art than a production line.  The best pot to me is the next one, the one I haven't made yet.  It's just a naturally positive outlook.

I'm still not what would be considered a good potter by good potters, but since my retirement will consist of SS and insufficient savings, having a market for my work is great.

It's the perfect hobby for people who prefer to stay busy.  Always something to do, or learn, or clean.

[CactusPots]

I honestly don't know what to think or say about people who prefer to be idle.  And neither do or learn.

[liambesaw]

39 minutes ago, CactusPots said:

I honestly don't know what to think or say about people who prefer to be idle.  And neither do or learn.

Maybe they get enough excitement during their day without it.  

Sitting on a beach for a week sounds like torture to me, but it seems like most people would enjoy it, and pay a pretty penny to do it every year

[CactusPots]

Henry David Thoreau famously stated in Walden that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” 

Sad lives observed

Not to say solitude and quietness are not skills acquired  in our age, that like all things: but

Moderation in all things, including moderation.

.quote, me

 

[Marcia Selsor]

I retired from teaching University level ceramics 20 years ago when I was 50. And Old Lady, my salary was $50K in 2000 after 25 years and my benefits are based on that.I had bilateral carpal tunnel surgery in 1980 from bricking up kiln doors and unbricking them; 1600 pounds per load 4 loads per week.. I built a car kiln and a hinged door kiln when we moved to a hew building in 1980.  My body was failing by 2000. My sleep was interrupted by pain 23 times per minute (results from a sleep test and wired body) and was getting shots of ladacane monthly on hips , shoulders and back..  I was told if I took disability I would be not be allowed to make pots. I had zero assistants and tuition rising meant students were working 1 to 2 part time jobs and we weren't able to help much with loading and firing kilns for a ceramics program of 60+ students. So, at 25 years I quit. I never competed with full -time potters when I was teaching and still don't. I worked as a full -time potter before I got my teaching job and I know how demanding it is. When I retired I wanted to do a residency every few years to keep in touch with others in the field. I have enjoyed my studio time since retirement and continue exploring this amazing medium we work with. My sales are strictly with galleries. In Montana my sales are better than in Texas and they help supplement my income by 20%. I am enjoying my time and still learning. I have written technical articles in journals from Studio Potter (1973) to British Archeological Reports, to Ceramics Technical, Pottery Making Illustrated, and Ceramics Monthly.I like being able to contribute what I can.

Marcia

[Marcia Selsor]

13 hours ago, CactusPots said:

Henry David Thoreau famously stated in Walden that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” 

Sad lives observed

Not to say solitude and quietness are not skills acquired  in our age, that like all things: but

Moderation in all things, including moderation.

.quote, me

 

My HS English Teacher quoted that often . We read a lot of Thoreau.

Marcia

 

 

 

Marcia

 

  

 

[Mark C.]

Marcia-sound like the car kiln and swinging door kiln came a but late for you at work. One thing for sure is Pottery is heck on the body-at times I feel it keeps me fit other times I swear it's killing me.

[GEP]

I think it’s great when I hear that someone is retiring from another career, and becoming a potter on a hobby level or a semi-pro level. It works the brain and it works the body. When you do it full-time for a real income, it’s very different. It overworks the body, and often underworks the brain, due to the repetitious nature (couldn’t do it without audiobooks). I don’t regret doing it for the last almost ten years. I’d do it again! But there is a limit. So you can retire TO pottery, or you can retire FROM pottery. These are two very different paths, though both valid. Either way, I know that being retired and having nothing to do can be a catastrophic mistake. I also know that when your occupation is the sole basis of your identity, you’re in big trouble when you get old. There’s more to me than being a potter, but I’ve had to table everything else. When I retire from pottery, I still plan on being a maker, on a hobby or semi-pro level. And doing something that does not require so much physical work, and does not require so much space. 

[Roberta12]

5 hours ago, GEP said:

I think it’s great when I hear that someone is retiring from another career, and becoming a potter on a hobby level or a semi-pro level. It works the brain and it works the body. When you do it full-time for a real income, it’s very different. It overworks the body, and often underworks the brain, due to the repetitious nature (couldn’t do it without audiobooks). I don’t regret doing it for the last almost ten years. I’d do it again! But there is a limit. So you can retire TO pottery, or you can retire FROM pottery. These are two very different paths, though both valid. Either way, I know that being retired and having nothing to do can be a catastrophic mistake. I also know that when your occupation is the sole basis of your identity, you’re in big trouble when you get old. There’s more to me than being a potter, but I’ve had to table everything else. When I retire from pottery, I still plan on being a maker, on a hobby or semi-pro level. And doing something that does not require so much physical work, and does not require so much space. 

Yep, that is me.  Before I retired from one field, I found clay.  It really has been fun.  I have found it is very engaging and the best part is the wonderful committed people I have met! So I am a demographic, a trend, call it whatever you want.  I bow to the people I know that make a living with pottery because I know how physically demanding it is, but I just love this path!!  

Roberta