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
