Look out world, she’s blogging again!

Okay, I’ll admit it, I forgot about my website! For almost a full year! Maybe “forgot” isn’t the right word, it was more of a “purposeful decision to not think about my website because it stresses me out” situation. Because, let’s be honest, this shit is really stressful! Every time I got a message from someone requesting the password for my shop it sent a chill down my spine. Little do they know I don’t actually know how to remove the password from my shop, or what it is!

I’ve learned over the last few months that I’m really not all that good at this whole small business owner thing. There are so many things that I have to think about all the time, and I’m not sure how I’m even supposed to do that given how much of my brain space is taken up by thinking about what I’m going to eat for dinner. And don’t get me started on the whole social media part of this whole thing. You’d think having grown up in the golden age of social media I’d be better at using Instagram.

So, I’m pivoting. Pottery started as a hobby, and somewhere along the way it somehow morphed into a business, which was never really my intention. I spent a good year hustling and working myself to the bone. I’m talking 16 hour days 7 days a week, and no days off for months at a time. On top of ceramics, I work 2 other jobs, which became almost too much to handle. I’m very proud of how hard I worked, but recognize it’s not something I can maintain long term. Naturally, I burnt out. I kept describing my situation as “burning the candle at every conceivable end.” After the ridiculous amount of burnout I felt upon finishing my last holiday commission, I decided I needed to take a break. A really long break. And during this break, I realized that pottery needs to stay a hobby for me. I need to have a creative outlet, one in which I am able to make the pieces that I want to make, not just the pieces that I think will sell well at a market. I’m an artist, I’m not a business. I only started selling my work initially because I was making a lot and ran out of shelf space at my house, but couldn’t keep pawning pieces off to my friends (who also ran out of shelf space). I need to get back to that.

My game plan moving forward is for pottery to be my hobby again. I don’t want to do markets, at least not for a while. I don’t want to make pieces for the sole purpose of selling them, I want to make them because doing so would be fulfilling to me. I want to experiment and create without the fear of not having enough inventory for my next sale. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the process of making pieces that already exist. I’m just saying that sometimes making 3 dozen bow mugs makes a girl really hate making bow mugs. I really just want to just exist as an artist for a while! Sue me!

Enter: my website. This thing I’ve completely neglected for a year, whoopsies!

My website will now be the place to go if you’re looking for a Texas Red Ceramics original piece (unless you live in the Burbank area, in which case you can also shop some of my work IRL at Tansy)! Which means that finally, after a year, I’ll be opening my shop! Once I figure out the whole password situation. I’ll continue to make pieces in my little pottery barn, the only difference now is that they will be things that I WANT to make! How exciting is that!

I am very grateful for the support that all of my friends, family, and followers have shown me over the last few years, and I feel so lucky to be in a position that allows me to take the time to focus on what I need as an artist.

You deserve a gold star for reading this far!

Cheers!
Mackenzie

Hi there! I have a blog again!

I can’t figure out how to change the date on the top of this page, I’m not a woman in STEM. Today is March 6th, 2024!

I had a blog when I was in high school, and the only feedback I really got was about how hilarious I am and that I NEEDED to keep writing. Let me tell you, hearing nothing but how funny and great you are really starts to get to you. My ego was the biggest ever observed in recorded human history. In the 7ish years since I last updated that blog, I still hear roughly once a month (mostly from my grandma) that I have GOT to start writing again. The world needs to hear what I’ve got to say! Which, honestly, doesn’t feel like much right now! I’m taking the opportunity of having my very own website (that I pay for, so I can post whatever I want) to start my blog back up again. 

Most of my musings these days are about what it’s like to be a small artist in a world dominated by mass production and consumerism. Artists, especially ceramicists, are in a tough spot right now. We want to stay true to ourselves as both people and artists, and make a living while doing so, but are routinely met with customers who would rather have something mass produced by Amazon or Target than a handmade, one-of-a-kind piece of art; and they aren’t afraid to let you know! Maybe I’m alone in this experience, but I highly doubt it. A couple of months ago I was vending at an art market and was approached by a woman who told me multiple times that my work was not “good,” not worth the price point, and that she could get something similar for much cheaper on Amazon. Listen, I get it. I’m the kind of person who wants to save $2 by buying the store brand paper towels rather than the name brand. The difference between these two situations is that when I skip buying Bounty paper towels, I’m not directly affecting their bottom line, or hurting their feelings for that matter! If you don’t want to support me by buying one of my pieces, that’s totally fine! I’m not in the business of persuasion, you either like my stuff or you don’t. But you don’t have to be mean about it! I pour my heart and soul into every piece I make, and comments like that really hurt my feelings! What this woman couldn’t see from the finished mug alone was the 4 hours of work and 3 weeks drying and firing that went into making it. She wasn’t good enough for one of my mugs anyways, they’re too pretty to go home to someone with an ugly heart. 

I know this kind of stuff comes with the territory, I am as vulnerable to negative opinions as I am to positive ones. Truthfully, I thought this was more funny than hurtful. Genuinely why would you tell an artist their stuff is “not good” then walk away? I should’ve told her that her denim capri and sandal combo was not good. That really would’ve hit her where it hurts. 

Anyways, I have a blog again now. Maybe it’ll be funny. Maybe it won’t be. Maybe it’ll be about ceramics, or maybe it won’t be. Maybe it’ll become a diary of sorts since I’m sure no one will actually read this. I could put the nuclear launch codes in an entry and they could go completely undetected (up, down, up, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start; by the way). 

Okay TTYL!

BTW my first blog was called Chicken Friend Feelings. I’m mentally referring to this as my Blah Blah Blog