"EMPOWER" The catch-word in 2010 for YOU

"EMPOWER"

YOU are the true solution to the total success of your ceramic business. YOU are the only one who can absorb the information and make it work in your ceramic business

YOU are the key to your ceramic business success.

All that the CAG, and other valuable resources can do is EMPOWER YOU, give YOU the ability, to make it happen. We can provide the tools, YOU must make use of them. We can show YOU ways to make money in the ceramic business, but YOU must engage these ways. We can talk about stepping out of the box to be successful, but it is YOU who must make the first real step out of the box. All ideas require action, that is where YOU come in. YOU see, when YOU take the action and try some of the concepts we provide to improve your ceramic business, it works for YOU. The ideas we provide, when YOU put them into action, can EMPOWER YOU to be successful.

The first thing YOU should do for 2010 is develop a business plan with clearly defined goals and objectives to reach those goals. This should be laid out in a day by day, week by week, and month by month format. Even going an additional step and have a 1, 5 and 10 year goal for your business is also beneficial.

Do not expect your business to be any more active, than YOU are active in stepping out and building it. Learn to do things that are sustainable in your business. Our economy has never been tighter or in worse shape, but the outlook for a solid business may have never been better.

If YOU say by the end of 2010 I want to have a well defined and sustainable ceramic business underway that will last easily through the decade, YOU are beginning to understand what empowerment means. If YOU still just want to whine about how bad the industry is . . . go buy yourself some cheese and keep right on not listening. We are sure someone will be watching as YOU sell your 5,000 molds in a warehouse for $50 and say, "Nobody wants to do ceramics anymore." Guess what? WE have 50,000+ people who will tell you different. Go ahead create something in ceramics today! Then get back to your business plan.

Don't know where to start with a business plan? Check out BLUEPRINT next month for some good foundational ideas.

The JOURNEY continues . . .

"2,010 in 2010" will become more than a slogan for the Ceramic Artist Guild, it will become a wave of excitement just waiting to happen, over and over again!

Our first phase of "2,010 in 2010" will be to bring the active registered members in the CAG to 2,010 members. Considering we have nearly 50,000 readers accessing CERAKANVAS, this should not be a difficult task to accomplish. If you are not already a member of the CAG, not just from facebook, go to http://www.ceramicartistguild.com now and join!

The next phase involves kicking off the "Iam the CAG" campaign. In this exciting adventure we will be highlighting the myriad of careers and lifestyles that our members have. Everyone does ceramics. We have doctors and firemen, nurses and police officers, brokers and bankers, athletes and actors, young and old, men and women, and that's just a beginning. We will have more on this in January 2010.

There is an exciting wave of action about to hit the ceramic industry in 2010, and we hope you are riding the big Kahuna wave with us. So wax up your board, grab your shorts and let's hang ten together!

2nd door on the left . . .

The final weekend of bazaars and fairies has passed. The last day to be assured of postal delivery before the holiday has arrived and is about to be history. And while Marley's counting house may stay open until the 11th hour on Christmas eve, ceramic shops throughout the village and around the globe are shutting down for a few days of family time and rest from the busy holiday season. I love the way this village scene was photographed. I have no idea who took the picture, but it is inviting and the warm glow created by the luminous character of the porcelain buildings is very captivating. I can just imagine the second door from the left being the guild office. Somehow walking down the shiny streets, making my way home, seems like a reality. There is a serene peacefulness that permeates this scene. Something I wish we could all experience more of.

Today at the Dragonfly, we finished the last of the Santa's and snowmen. The next few days will be filled with gallons of HOT chocolate, shaken not stirred (Santa's secret recipe) ton's of heavenly creme wafers and almond crescents. And most importantly being surrounded by family and friends.

As we are a world wide group, with a huge diversity, I want to extend a warm and bountiful greeting to you and your family how ever it is that you celebrate during the winter season. As for me and my house we celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ!

The alure and profit of "FARMVILLE" for ceramicists

Our next issue of CERAKANVAS is themed "Down on the Farm".

If you go to gamezebo.com and check out FARMVILLE you may be surprised at what you see. Then again, you may say "Really, I thought it would be more than that." Can you believe that as of Oct, 2009 there were over 56 million people playing FARMVILLE on facebook worldwide! And FARMVILLE is only one of almost a dozen apps. that are based from a farm theme. Some of the other more popular ones include titles like; MY FARM, FARM BUDDIES, FARM TOWN and FARM LIFE. While these are created as "free" games for social networking sites, there is an aspect that lures people into spending money. But this BLOG is about the extreme popularity of living "down on the farm" in a virtual and often surreal world.

The rural country life has been an attraction for a very long time in America. From farm scene toille fabric prints to roosters in the kitchen. Even TV shows like Green Acres where city life crosses into country life, have become cultural icons. We took the concept of this popularity, and gave some advice to people who asked us how they might improve sales this holiday season. We gave them ideas on how to set up a FARMVILLE booth, offering ceramic pieces that directly would be loved my FARMVILLE addicts, I mean players. Here's what we heard back:

" I dug out my old Duncan animal dolls in the small sizes. I haven't cast these in years. I found some cute farm dresses and overhauls at the local craft store to dress them in. The outfits only cost me $2.99 each. Altogether I had less than six dollars in each one. I made a hundred total. I called them "farmies" and said they were to help you prosper on your farms, and have great harvests. My whole booth took on a farm theme with bales of hay and I wore overhauls and pigtails. It was a 2 day craft bazaar. I sold out before the end of the first day. I was smart and kept 1 of every style., I ran the second day on prepaid orders. I sold another 118! At $19.95 each I made $4,300+ of which almost $3,000 was profit for me. When I went back to the craft store to order a gross (144) of the costumes they offered me a nice discount too. I will admit I would have never thought of this on my own, Thanks CAG!" Lynae H.

" A couple of years ago I acquired the mold inventory of another ceramic shop that had gone out of business. There was almost a complete set of Byron Village molds. When you suggested turning some of the farm buildings like the barn and silo, the grist mill, and the farm home into banks it paid off for me. I made little signs to go above the coin slot on each bank that said "Save Here to Expand Your Farm", "COINS & CASH Welcome!" I made the booth real inviting. Lot's of yellow gingham and a kids John Deere green tractor ride-on toy for a prop. Just about everybody who stopped by complimented me on my fun looking booth. But more importantly I still can't believe how many of these banks I sold. They were the most popular thing I think at the whole fair, except of course the cedar door swags. I made more profit from my booth than I ever have in the last 12 years of doing this country fair." Chalice & Roy

The good news, FARMVILLE won't be going away anytime soon. So you might want to start planning for upcoming fairs and shows in 2010. Be creative, be attention calling, be exciting and you will sell stuff you thought was no longer marketable. Think outside the box!

The "Down on the Farm" issue of CERAKANVAS premiers February 1, 2010 at a farm, or computer terminal, near you! Won't you join us?

The SHAPE of 2010 for ceramics . . .

I wish I could hear all my reader's thoughts. I am sure when they first see many of the graphics I post in this BLOG they say, "what is he up to now?" But I am actually glad I can't . . .I mean that would be just wrong. LOL

So how does a dress form have anything to do with slipcast ceramics? Well it's the thought process, not the product. Do you see all the white circles in the dress form? Well each of these circles allow you to dial up or dial down the various measurements of the form. What we do with various aspects of the ceramic art/craft will determine it's SHAPE in the ensuing year. This form will take you from a petite to a full figured form. However it is not done in ONE ADJUSTMENT. It will take many adjustments from the dozen or so dials.

Your business or relationship to the ceramic industry is handled the same way. There are many dials to adjust to get a balanced sustainable feeling to your craft. And one size does not fit all. Each person has their own "things" they would like to see happen. So instead of adjusting the hips, waist and chest dimensions as you would on this form, try thinking of the adjustments as; promotion, creativity, competition, visibility, sharing and so forth.

How will we bring this concept home to you in 2010? Well this thought has been in our plans since the beginning. If you look at our main logo shown to the right; It's not just designed to look pretty. The center "flower looking" design actually represents eight over eight over one business principles that will help you shape the "form" of your ceramic art/craft. We will begin sharing these concepts in the January issue of "BLUEPRINT".

So until then start thinking about how you would like the SHAPE of your ceramic art/craft to be.

"Please raise your hand if you enjoy ceramics"

OK, so the ceramic hands is a little campy, but I like it.

I was just thinking this morning. We have probably 50,000 people connecting with ceramics through the CAG. This is rough math based on 40,000+ homes reading CERAKANVAS and figuring there are probably more than 1 person in many of the households reading the mag. This being the case, what if all of those people who enjoy ceramics, raised their hands so to speak.

What if Michael's Crafts Stores received 25,000 requests for bisque, small casting molds, slip in a box, cleaning tools, etc. I think they would see the waving hands and respond. Supply and demand, it's the oldest concept in marketing. If we showed stockists that there was demand for product, they would supply it. Please understand I would rather see new ceramic shops opening. But as a marketer I have to be a realist. It would be easier to convince a store like Michael's or JoAnn's to stock something, than to get people to open a business. But if the sales were being generated at these stores it might inspire people to open shops in cities that are not being served anymore. Then this will allow a rebuilding of the distributor/dealer network that once existed.

If we don't speak up! Then all we do is complain. If we aren't being creative on ways to get supplies back into accessibility, we are not really trying to grow the industry.

So raise your hand, and let the shops know in your area that you want ceramics, you want greenware, you want glazes, you want kilns, you want molds, you want bisque, you want brushes and supplies. But then if they oblige you, SPEND YOUR CERAMIC DOLLARS IN YOUR COMMUNITY!

Christmas "wish-book" page 46

A long standing tradition in my family has always been awaiting the arrival of the JC Penney Christmas catalog. It was our "wish-book" for the entire family. From this we would make our Santa list. For me it was what was the newest and coolest GI Joe accessories. Penney's was always good at having an exclusive item that only they carried. Now mind you GI Joe's were 12" figures, not the little 3" figures of today. So when I got a submarine, it was HUGE! Now how do I bring all this around to ceramics, easy.

By the 70's I was rapidly expanding my interests in ceramics. I could walk into a ceramic shop (The "Patio Shop" in Salem,OR owned by Charlie and Wilda Green was my favorite) and spend literally hours looking at greenware. I could really care less about the finished samples. For me, I saw the greenware finished in my mind, how I would do it. My first ceramic "wish-book" was the Arnel's catalog. It's pages were heavy weight paper with crisp black and white photography of all the items they had. It was not huge by any means. But again, as I looked through each page I could see the pieces finished. My creative imagination was vast, and sometimes I would even see a variety of ways to finish one piece.

I was working on some research for my history of ceramics book and was looking through some old catalogs and issues of ceramic magazines of the early 70's. And there before me was a pristine copy of the Arnel's catalog. As I flipped through, I stopped at this spot(the page pictured above), page 46. I love every piece on this page. Today I would finish them differently then I would have in the 70's . . .I think. That train is awesome, and the tumbling snowmen and Santa's, would make great game pieces for a table top tic-tac-toe!

It's true, today I am the publisher of a ceramics magazine that offers painting techniques and prides itself as being full of color and ideas! But somehow "I" still long for a mold catalog of images done the way Arnel's did with their early editions. They were "the top dog" of all the catalogs. The page was matte black with high resolution shiny grey scale images of the pieces. Now back to reality. Don't worry, CERAKANVAS will always explode with bright vibrant color on every page! Now if only I can find the bisque for some of these pieces, I would get lost in the moment!

Go create something!

Bridges . . .

Bridges can be an incredible feat of engineering genius, or a simple board stretched across a rift. But no matter what the design, the purpose is always the same; to help connect two points for the betterment of both. In the business world people often burn the very bridge that helped them gain prosperity in the first place. Then when things change you suddenly realize you need that bridge again, but the other side still can't understand why you destroyed the last one that you both labored so hard on in the first place. Some of you about now are probably saying, "How does all this have anything to do with ceramics?" In more ways than you might imagine it has everything to do with the industry as a whole.

A bridge allows us to share our uniqueness with other people. Ceramics is, and always has been, a cottage industry. During the last "explosion of the ceramic biz" people got zealous. Money and immediate profitability consumed the scene. In the cottage industry it is sustainability that must remain at the forefront. A classic example would be mold companies that had existed for decades selling their line, while enjoying subtle increases in sales. Then BOOM, the demand explodes, as ceramic shops opened on nearly every street corner. Founders of the companies saw it as a golden time to retire and pass it on to family or sell the business. But the new owners only knew that heightened level of demand, not the consistent flow of the stable times. The industry began to change (as happens over and over in all the craft industry) The intricate and important manufacturer - distributor - dealer connections became blurred. Sales began to return to a normal status quoe.

Today the industry is without question stabilizing nicely. It is returning to the cottage industry it was intended to be. This is a good thing. Those of you who are looking for the opportunity to build new bridges , they exist. A fair amount of "nastiness" existed the last 10-15 years in the ceramic industry. Because of it many treasured parts of the industry became lost. But all of that is history, and we can not change history. Let us each be a part in connecting this wonderful industry and open up the land with many new bridges.

What bridge are you working on to help connect the ceramic industry?

Meet Red-Clay Akers, our guest host for V2 Issue 1

The creative TEAM at CAG would like to introduce you to Red-Clay Akers (aka Red) as the official guest host of the "Down on the Farm" edition of CERAKANVAS for February 2010.

When Red saw how awesome our magazine was (yes he is looking at a rare print copy - they do exist and not just in Kansas anymore Toto) he agreed to be our host.

We are not for sure just how much he knows about ceramics yet, but he says he knows about dirt. And well clay is dirt . . . and you get the idea, it works for the TEAM.

We will be spending the next month and a half or so visiting Akers acres as he calls his farm. He reminded us that while he is an excellent singer, please do not confuse him with the guy from American Idol Clay Aiken. He laughed and said "My farm would be called Aiken Acres, That's pretty funny!"

We are looking for lots of fun farm stuff for this issue. More square miles of the world are covered by farms than cities. Today one of the fastest growing ways of connecting in social media sites is through farm related apps in facebook. It was things like "MY FARM" , "FARM TOWN" , "FARMVILLE" , and "FARM BUDDIES" that inspired this FUN and FANTASTIC issue.

Only the way we make it happen has changed . . .

Anyone who visits my office will recognize the old Underwood typewriter to the left. Mine is a little more worn than this one but it sits on a bookcase as a reminder of a time gone by. The actual one in my office was my wife's grandfathers that he used to type up labels for prescriptions at the drug store where he was a pharmacist. I've used it a time or two, it still works (but the ribbon is dried up). Today I live off a laptop. I remember typing articles for Scott Publications on a Brother electric typewriter. I also remember when the editor finally said one day they needed it on a floppy, in ASCI format. That was a new era for me.

The latest issue of CERAKANVAS proved to be very consuming in time. It was not the editing of articles, it was not choosing the graphic designs. It was getting updated software to handle our requests. But in the end a beautiful 64 page magazine was created. We had always been locked into a 5o page max platform before. Now we can go to 500 max page platform. Wow! Now trust me I have no plans on CERAKANVAS becoming a 500 page issue (well not right now anyway, LOL).

What the future does hold for CERAKANVAS is a even more interactive platform. In other words we will now have visual clips explaining difficult technique steps and other cool techno stuff. I wonder how we would have ever done that on the old Underwood?

In 2010 we will have an issue out every other month, Feb, Apr, Jun. Aug, Oct and Dec, plus 2 additional special issues. Then in Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov we will have a online issue of BLUEPRINT our newsletter. Over the next 8 days I will BLOG about 1 of the upcoming issues to give you some ideas on what's coming. In fact I hope you will submit your projects you would like to see, so we can put them into consideration for the issues. We do receive many great projects, but we have to pick and choose the ones we use for a variety of reasons.

In an odd sort of way slipcast ceramics has moved along a similar progression from the Underwood typewriter to the laptop computer. The results, are the same. Just as in ceramics, a technique from 50 years ago, is just as beautiful today, we may just go about creating it in a different fashion.

Have a wondrous holiday season! And create something delightful this Christmas season.

"FAMILY" Meet Linda Guynn in CERAKANVAS V1 I5

We recently met a wonderfully creative new ceramic artist/craftsman, Linda Guynn. She will be featured with her family portrait ornaments in the upcoming issue of CERAKANVAS - Holiday Edition on December 1st. Linda also does a series of sculptures/figurines that are based on Bible stories/passages. Her work reminds me of the world famous artist Susan Lordi and her Willow Tree sculptures. We are sure you will love her work.

The portrait ornaments are such a wonderful way to create a family memory, one that can be placed on your tree at Christmas, and then kept out all year long.

A sense of family is so important. A new show by the makers of Extreme Makeover previewed last night on ABC. Imagine the possibilities for your studio in adding personalized image reliefs.

Check out Linda's work and many other talented artists/craftsmen in the Holiday Edition of CERAKANVAS.

Goodbye Noah, you will be missed.

Somehow I feel the need to share something very sad with all of you. Last week I asked through facebook and other avenues to help grant a special Christmas wish for a very sick little boy, his name is Noah. He loved to recieve Christmas cards. Many of you responded, and along with other people who also were led to help in a small way to make his Christmas better, Noah recieved over 1 million cards and gifts from these requests. This morning at 8:02am Noah went to be with God. Noah had stage IV Neruorblastoma cancer. Now he is in the hands of angels. I never met Noah, I do not know his family, but I do know God and I do know how he will care for Noah in the finest fashion until that time that his family is all together again.

His family has asked that you not send cards or flowers, just prayers (you may send donations to the address at the end). The prayers we need now is for his family to be able to deal with the loss. No matter how much we believe that heaven is for eternity, the flesh cries out in pain over the loss of a loved one.

If some of you do not understand how Noah and ceramics have anything to do with each other. I am sorry I wasted your time. But you see, God created his first creation, Adam out of the clay of the earth. We are all in a way ceramic (clay) by God's ultimate design.

If you would like you may send donations to:
Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan
230 Huron View Blvd
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Place in the memo section - Noah Biorkman

As an idea . . . what if your family sat down together, and prayed for a clamness and healing of heart for Noah's family. Perhaps you could actually make a special ornament and hang it on your tree as a way to remember to continue to pray for this family and other families who are suffering this Holiday season. Somehow I feel confident that as Noah looks down upon us and the whole world this Christmas he will smile at the thought we are trying to care for his family.

(The picture is really Noah with Santa this Christmas)

CERAKANVAS - Green from the beginning . . .

What you are looking at are 2 different ways that information is sent to readers. The one on the left is the new Apple iReader (new) and the one on the right is the Amazon Kindle (In it's 2nd Gen). Essentially these are devices that you can get books and magazines on. Very shortly CERAKANVAS will be available on one of these 2 formats, and eventually both of them. Our e-publishing house is in the process of adding this as a new option.

While as CERAKANVAS will always remain FREE at www.cerakanvas.com those who want to access the magazine through this format may have to pay a usage fee directly to the publisher. It is a small fee, but we wanted to make sure you understood we are generating it, and the primary way to view will still be at the CERAKANVAS site.

One very exciting aspect to all of this is that this process as well as our e-zine site is very "GREEN" . No paper is used to generate the magazine.

1. Submissions are electronically transmitted as documents over the web.

2. Pieces are photographed by the artists and jpegs are sent via Internet, this also saves in gas consumption and the size of our carbon footprint as we do not have to transport pieces back and forth for photographing.

3. Our magazine does not end up in landfills (of course we doubt that it would anyway)

4. Our staff all work out of their homes thus eliminating millions of miles of automobile travel which creates a huge impact on the environment.

We hope you get the picture. CERAKANVAS is very green.

We have no control over the format first picked by our e-publisher, but if you have a preference please post it in a comment.

Keeping and Making Tradition.

Do you create new traditions? As a family grows and changes, it is equally important to hold onto treasured family traditions from years gone by as it is to create new ones that will hopefully last for years . . .even generations to come.

So what are some of your traditions at Christmas? I personally love the ones that focus on the creation of a craft project. With ceramics being tops on that list. Some of the traditions we do or have close friends who do are as follows:

1. Create a themed ornament (each person) that will hang on the tree or a wreath.

2. Create a new village house (or several) to add to the family village.

3. Add a new person or animal to the family Creche (Nativity)

These are just a few ideas, that can remain rock solid and go on endlessly. If you have a special ceramic Holiday tradition let us know in the comments section. have a great HOLIDAY!

Martha does ceramics . . .

So first of all, let's get past whether or not we love Martha. The truth of the matter, friend or foe, if Martha endorses something it sells! In the last week on both her show and the Rachel Ray show Martha talked about making a Creche (Nativity). Not only did she talk about it, she showed it. Original air date of Nativity was 12-25-2007. Her story of digging through a room of hundreds of molds (for most shops it would be thousands of molds) and finding here there and everywhere all of the pieces to this great Duncan (she did not identify the mold company) large nativity. She did exaggerate the piece sizes, but it is still a large set. Martha poured her own set, cleaned her own greenware, glazed them and fired them. She didn't have it done for her, she did it herself. Many media outlets tried to to elude she sculpted them, but Martha did not make that statement.

So here's the crust of the matter. Martha Stewart got tickled by scrapbooking - now she has one of the most extensive scrapbooking lines in stores. Several gondolas in Micheal's are filled with all sorts of Martha scrapbooking tools and supplies. Imagine Martha Stewart bisque, Martha Stewart molds, Martha Stewart tools, Martha Stewart paints. . . I think you get the idea.
The fact is getting ceramics to be more visible in major market arenas.

"Artist Discovery Tour" - reaching out for hidden talent!

So let's think outside the box for a moment. I understand what I am proposing here is a little to extreme for many, in fact most of you, but the results could be insanely positive.

Pack up a table, a couple folding chairs, an odd assortment of paints (you should only take non-firing product for this experiment, as immediate results is an integral part of it) an assortment of brushes, and an assortment of enhancers like Sharpie markers, colored pencils, chalks, and stuff to be creative with. Then take an assortment of bisque. Perhaps that's a bunch of tiles, discs or plates. It could be a grouping of plain ornaments or small containers. You want the items to have plain surfaces, as opposed to heavily detailed surfaces.

Make sure to take a digital camera with extra batteries with you when you go.

Then simply set up "shop" somewhere there are a lot of people. Make sure to ask for permission so as not to draw the "wrong" kind of attention. Good places might be a busy downtown sidewalk, a transit mall, a youth sporting event, outside a Gospel Mission. DO NOT SELL ANYTHING. Invite people to come and create a piece of art. Ask before they start if it's OK for you to take some pictures as they work and then of their finished product. Give limited instruction, as to allow them to freely explore their creativity. Then when you begin to see amazing works of art come from things you would have never thought of, invite them to your studio. If you happen to draw positive attention from the media they may do a story about your "Artist Discovery Tour". You can't buy that kind of advertising.

If you can see yourself doing this, and it will have amazing effect, share your stories and pictures with us, we may publish them in an upcoming issue of CERAKANVAS.

GO CREATE SOMETHING!

Family Fun

Ceramics grew from a old ladies hobby (The Mud Hen's Days) to an activity that the whole family could enjoy together. With the successful introduction of easy to use non-fired acrylics in the late 70's, more and more families began to take part in family ceramic nights. Much like the Family Game Nights, where older siblings or relatives took the younger ones in under their wings and helped tutor them in understanding what they were doing.

In today's culture it is even more difficult to find times to connect as a family. Ceramics can add a new dimension to this, and help bring families "back to the table" so to speak. In fact games can be a ceramic focal point. Why not create a family chess game, or special variant like 3 player chess, Stratego or some other games all made by the hands of the family. What fun . . .what connection. An almost limitless variety of bisque exists between local retailers and on line merchants.

Webinars - 1, 2, 3 blast off!

Today people from 5 to 75 (and others too) love to learn and interact with their computers. On an ever increasing basis people around the globe are turning to their computers and the Internet as their primary resource for information. News, sports, entertainment, finance, it's all right there with the most recent updates available.

But not only information and news have become common commodities on the Internet, so has a format for learning. Did you know that one of the fastest growing schools for grades K-12 is not a private school, it's not homeschooling, it's not a theater based alternative school. No it's a public school without walls and desks. It's called "Connections Academy" and is available in most states. There is no tuition, it sis a public school, you get a free computer and textbooks. So now lets bring this blog post around to ceramics.

Webinars are a fantastic way to teach a technique, promote a product, and to make ceramics accessible in places where there are no teaching studios available. At the CAG we see webinars coming in evolutions. The specifics on some of these evolutions is vague still. It is certain we will be revisiting this topic over and over again. Watch our web site for a "guide" sort of like a TV GUIDE concept of when and what is out there in webinars.

A visit from Santa . . . more than tradition

When I was a kid growing up I remember going to the giant department store or the humongous toy store (everything seemed bigger as a kid) and having my annual visit with Santa. Today it is getting harder and harder to even find the places where Santa will be frequenting. Why not have Santa a Saturday or two at your shop? Ceramic people are very creative. . . you can make a Winter Wonderland for very little cost, Styrofoam, sprayed branches, lots of ceramic ornaments. Have an area for people to make ornaments or Santa plates while they wait. IF WE DON"T INVITE PEOPLE IN, they wont come. By the way the bisque you see in this picture is by Dept 56 and is porcelain. It works beautifully with fashenhues oil based paints.

Intimidated?

I found this picture somewhere on the web of this giant phone. I realized as I looked at it, it reminded me of a major issue of our success in the ceramic industry. Making the contact, asking for the connect, and creating a new student base for your studio.

Ceramics is really not about a bunch of "one hit wonders". It's about getting absorbed into the art and craft of the industry. But we have to reach out and let people know what we have to offer. But be prepared to fascinate your intended audience. No matter what, ceramics can be made sound exciting, because it is. But do you believe it enough to buy into it. Call a retirement center and ask if you can come and do a "show and tell." Take EXCITING pieces with you, the invite them to get involved, all over again, and make some of these beautiful exciting things for yourself, or as gifts for family and friends. Call the private schools, ask to offer an art education class based from slipcast ceramics. Make sure they invest in brushes and paints when they come. You can be "nice" and let them use yours, or you can be "smart" and create a reason for them to want to do project after project. We lay out a lot of ideas for you to use, but if you don't give them a try, you will never know if they work for you or not. So pick up the phone and begin inviting people to re-discover the magic of ceramics. You really can't lose.

Trade Shows - Then . . . and . . . now . . . and beyond

No the picture at the left is NOT a ceramic trade show . . . but it actually could be. this afternoon I had the delightful opportunity to meet one of our newer Ambassadors on the phone. One of the myriad of topics we rambled about was the old trade shows, like the one held in the spring and the fall each year at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Bohler shows were so big, there were times you needed 2 days to see and take in everything. Sure there were people even then who were in and out in a matter of hours. But there are people who go to Disneyland in 1 day also. Do you really see what names are painted in the upper windows on Main street in 1 day? Of course not. Some people would say well there's not enough manufacturers left to fill a a 100 sq' hall let alone a 100,000 sq' hall. Point well taken. But if you live in the corner of the box, the box is all you know. It is great to have regional shows, many people can not afford to travel long distances. But 1, spectacular, show annually for the industry at all levels, in and out of the box, could be awesome. The CAG is NOT a show promoter, but we have a vast amount of creative, professional resources that we could lend to someone willing to take this venture on. I would love to walk through an exhibit hall, with exciting reps standing in stunning booths sharing their wares and concepts. This kind of show would also draw literally thousands of pieces of competition, if done right. Do you know that for every piece of competition you can be assured their will 2 people visiting the show. Is this a dream, or is it a vision for the future?

Equipping yourself with the right tools.

As a master ceramic arts judge, I am asked from time to time if someone who is entering a piece in competition is using bought bisque, should they still be penalized for imperfections in cleaning and or casting. The answer is an absolute "YES".

There was a time not to long ago where bisque was entered into competition under a separate category, or it was judged in a craft section along with plastercraft. Today we know that this is not a feasible or appropriate resolution.

Today if you are serious about competition and still want to use a bisque kanvas to start on you should invest in a good quality Dremel or Dremel style hand held grinder/cutter. It takes a lot of practice using a Dremel on bisque, and bisque is totally non-forgiving in your clean up work.

Quality of workmanship is the first component in judging. Also always remember that there are some things you can do in the leather state of greenware (i.e. clay lifting) that you can not do in any other stage or with any kind of tool. Always make sure you have all the right tools before you start any project.

You should do every project like you intend to enter it and win the TOP AWARD!

Sell out this Holiday Season

We have talked on several occasions about pricing your wares at selling venues and also how to present your wares for maximum appeal. Check through past issues of CERAKANVAS, BLUEPRINT and MATRIX for these articles. But this is about what's HOT.

One of today's hottest artist's is Jim Shore. His style is very imitable for ceramicists. Of course it will work best if you cast your own greenware. Shore uses a country quilt approach to all of his pieces. i would suggest going to your local giftware shop or department store, and spending some time examining and fondling his pieces. THEY ARE NOT CERAMIC. They are made of cast resin, but don't let that concept sway you. His work is non-fired finish final look. You could use matte with underglazes, but I believe you will have far better results with acrylics. If you are working with greenware it is most easy to adapt a carved quilt look to the piece. If you are not familiar with quilt block patterns just go to a used book store and pick up a book for a little of nothing that will usually have thousands of patterns. You can also just look on line.

Finally I would recommend putting your piece on a base and adding the quilting to the base. You might say now I wont do this because everyone else will. A lot will think about it, a lot less will explore the possibility and only a very few will implement it. Good Luck. If you do try this report back, with pictures of your pieces of how it did.

Comfort Food for ceramicists. . .

I have had the privilege to write for most of the major ceramic magazines over the years. I have contributed a plethora (don't you just love that word) of articles both on techniques as well as sound business management principles. I was even a staff writer for Scott Publications and Ceramic Digest. But of all of these magazines it was that little Readers Digest sized magazine known as Ceramic Arts & Crafts that was the one I most looked forward to receiving every month. It became my "comfort food". Long before the days when every mold company had a technique sheet published for every item in their catalogue, you turned to the pages looking for something to inspire you for a project. With an average of over 2 dozen projects every issue, it would not be hard to find several projects that would do just that. There were many regular contributors as well. Bill Thompson could be counted on for a china painting pattern and Vivian Haussle would always have elegant lace draped figurines or porcelain flowers. there were countless others over the years who were regular faces to the pages of the magazine as well. It was a powerhouse of information in a pint sized package. I like to believe that CERAKANVAS is working it's way to becoming today's comfort food and not nu voe cuisine. We are trying to showcase new talent as well as bring you some of the masters of today. The upcoming Holiday edition is so full of exciting things. It will be the perfect close to Volume 1 and the perfect sagway to Volume 2.

How do we connect them?

There are 2 major groups of ceramicists - The traditional studio/shop and the contemporary studio. The contemporary studios are pretty much on-line and use to the social media aspect of the internet. However it appears (nothing really scientific in this observation) that only about 10% of the traditional studios use computers in mass connecting. It's not to say that they are computer illiterate, they just prefer snail mail and phone or face to face over the internet. Our challenge is to let all these other ceramicists that are not "connected" on the web to understand what huge resources that they are missing out on. The question is "HOW" do we connect them.

CROSSOVER FX - Trains for villages

Well we visited the Model Train Show at the Convention Center yesterday. It was great. Most would never think of all the materials that they sell for model railroading , and that a lot of it works well for ceramic applications. They have miniature people and animals, building accessories, light poles that actually work and so forth. There are also lots of unusual types of media. Moss for buildings, leaves for trees - fall, summer and spring style. Fabulous ground covers and gravels that bring a new dimension to your finished pieces. But most importantly we enjoyed the trains. There is a magic about model trains on HUGE layouts. The intricacy of the little scenes. There was even one of a drug bust. It was hilarious. About 5 police cars and a sports car. We'll be discussing model trains and ceramic Holiday villages in depth in the upcoming Holiday issue of CERAKANVAS. See you there!

CAG to create training webinars in 2010 (biz oriented)

As we look into 2010, so many new venues will be opening up to the CAG. After much prodding we have been asked to create some educational webinars about being successful in the ceramic business. Just recently Liz Goobie who has been associated with webinars and on line teaching since its onset, has joined our team as a special Ambassador. Anyone with concepts or ideas should send us a message or add a post to this blog entry. It will be yet another EXCITING route for the CAG to participate in. We will also be on some radio talk shows in 2010 too.

Making choices on the Village front

Well back to the building project with the EXTREME MAKEOVER - VILLAGE EDITION. The yarn Shop we are redoing has some classic finales and a fair amount of metal roofing. I decided to do it in a copper roofing. The neat thing about copper roofs is that they get a great green patina after a decade or so of being exposed to the elements. One of the most beautiful examples of this I have ever seen is on the Parliament buildings and the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Colombia, Canada. But for the meantime back to the Yarn Shop. In order to get a shiny copper look I will be using copper leaf on top of a copper metallic stain. If I was doing this piece from the ground up I would apply fired copper to these areas but that is not possible on this remodel project. If you have never used metal leafing, this is a fun time to learn this great technique. You will paint the copper stain in the beginning stage. But the copper leaf will be one of the last items you do.

We have MANY new Ambassadors stepping up!

We have spent the better part of this week talking with potential Ambassadors from around the globe. Some we have talked to on facebook, others in chat or via e-mail and still others in person or on the phone. At this point we are IMPRESSED. I would like to see any of the negative talking people about ceramics stand up for 30 seconds with this crowd. They know ceramics is alive and strong. And as Ambassadors are as eager to learn as they are to share their knowledge and the resources of the CAG. In case we don't say it enough, THANK YOU! We will still be meeting with people for the next several days. It's EXCITING!

A sneak peak through the looking glass - and your name isn't even Alice

2010 - Wow, what a year it will be for the ceramic industry. The cover to the left is for our April 2010 issue "Coffee and Clay" Robert Nicol, Graphic Artist graciously created this great cover. We love the design of the cup she is holding. Naturally it will be full of project articles and business training tips. We will be going to a bimonthly calender in 2010 (that's every other month) plus an occasional special edition like DRAGONOLOGY was last year. The guild will officialy be visiting several conventions/shows/seminars in 2010 as well. Our Volume 2 Issue 1 will be out in Feb 2010 and it's all about down on the farm - sort of a "FARM TOWN" kind of feeling. It will be a really fun issue no doubt! We will also have a great fall issue focused at Halloween, fall colors and even Thanksgiving ideas. That will be the Oct 2010 issue. The special edition "CERAMIC INKED" will be probably be our most far out there issue. It will be focused oo tattoo art with ceramic figurines. Design concepts, like what is known as tribal art as well as street art or taging will also be included. Even though very non-traditional sounding, there will be some really fun "NEW" techniques for young and old alike to try out. Don't miss an issue. But more importantly don't let your frinds who don't know about the CAG yet miss an issue! Share the FUN!

EXTREME MAKEOVER - VILLAGE EDITION part 2

"Well the thousands of little marching elves came up to the workbench with their matching CAG t-shirts on and suddenly I hear a loud bellowing voice from a megaphone." Could it be . . . no actually I had just dozed off, but it was a fun dream while it lasted.

Well we have acquired the village shop, began dismantling everything that was a add-on, and even removed the large glass display window from the front of the store. This being done, we then transformed the finished commercially produced village shop into more of what looks like a solid white ceramic bisque village shop . . .WAY COOL!

Luckily there has only been one workers comp claim so far. One of the store ladies . . .sort of lost her head, literally. But no harm, one of the talented docs at Mercy Mostofthetime Hospital quickly slathered (that's a Martha Stewart - favorite word) the neck with Bond 527, compressed, applied a tournequet and she was as good as new. We hope . . . really I mean it was an accident.

EXTREME MAKOVER - Village Edition pt 1

OK, the village shop is dismantled, the window casing masked and the inner components gutted. Hmm, sounds kinda like a pumpkin. Now it's outside where I have plenty of ventilation to completely erase the painting scheme of someone in some little Chinese factory somewhere. I guess you could say I should feel like someone who is going to spray paint the Mona Lisa. . . actually i feel more like someone who is about to spray paint over a off margin printed Pokemon poster.
Now if I can only find where I put Ty Pennington's phone number, I know it's around here somewhere. I really want to borrow his megaphone. I think Kathy and the others will probably kill me. Oh here's the number . . . (to be continued)

It's Time to take out the trash!

I get a lot of e-mails telling me they get so frustrated because they try to follow a search link for a ceramic company from Google or yahoo or whoever, and they end up with a site that has been deserted for years, perhaps even over a decade. HOW SAD! Most of these sites say things like, "due to health reasons I'm forced to sell." Sadly I checked up on a couple of these and it was the "health" of their business that made them want to sell. Somehow we must find a way to systematically locate and remove these sites from the web. It's like a giant bone yard of grounded planes. I remember being in Pima, AZ once at this place that had tons of planes all decommissioned. It was cool. But if I was at an airport and saw these things along the runway I may not want to fly. I think you see my comparison. If you know of a dead site and personally know the creator, help him to hit the "kill" switch on the site. If there are good info packets in the sites we should save these and build them into a central repository of info. Anyone got any ideas?

YOUNG ARTIST'S INSTITUTE

We hope to let people know about what's coming around the corner with the CAG through the BLOG. Another component of our Education Department and the KID KONNEXION has just entered it's pre-release state. It's called the "Young Artist's Institute" and is designed for 13-17 year old ceramicists. There are several really exciting components to this new program. One of them is a FREE on-line academic study program (2 years) that will end up with the participant's earning a Certificate of Advanced Mastery in Ceramic hheory/history/technique. There will be a lot more on all of this later. There are many other fun and exciting elements to the Young Artist's Institute as well. You heard it first at the CAG Blog.

The Craftsman's Workbench

One of the greatest things about creating something new is that you get to keep adding and refining the process as you go along. This weekend we were inspired to bring a new "feature article" area to CERAKANVAS. We are calling it the "The Craftsman's Workbench". We often play back and forth with titles as ceramicists from craftsmen to artists. Join us in the inaugural issue of this column and learn the subtle differences between a craftsman and an artist.

Also in this feature you will get a chance to meet Linda Guynn and learn about her portrait carving techniques. Her article "PORTRAIT ORNAMENTS" is a fun and very personal way to create great Holiday gifts that will be treasured by generations to come. Hope you like the new feature.

Creating the first Holiday Issue of CERAKANVAS

The Holiday Season, Winter Solstice, and especially for me, Christmas is without question my favorite time of year. There was a time when my wife and I had 8 fully decorated - themed trees in our home. It was beautiful. At one point in my life I had nearly the entire Hallmark ornament collection and spoke to groups about collecting ornaments of all kinds. I guess you could say I was an "ornamentologist" LOL. This edition is stirring so much passion in me for the Holiday traditions we all have. We have articles from around the globe with techniques on Kwanzaa, St Lucia, Kings Cake and Mardi-Gras, Santa Claus, Christmas Villages with trains and home decorating tips from the best. We have loaded this issue with a few surprises, but then would you expect anything less from the guild? Well back to work, write, paint, discuss. . . It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Bringing the CAG Blog into action. . .

As the CAG approaches it's 6 month anniversary, many parts of the outreach connectivity are finally solidifying. One of those was to get a Blog up and running. We opened this Blog in May when we began, but the bulk of our resources of time have gone into CERAKANVAS our fabulous ceramic magazine. Over the next couple of weeks (by the end of October) we will have our Ambassadors in place. These skilled and dedicated people will not only be serving the georgraphic world by regions but also the virtual world by concepts. This Blog as well as our Yahoo Group, MYSpace page, Various Facebook pages, Flickr and and over a dozen other social media and internet based center points will have new Amabssadors. Thanks for joining the CAG Blog.

BLUEPRINT goes full digital format

With this issue (Volume 1 Issue 4) BLUEPRINT the official newsletter of the Ceramic Artist Guild goes digital format. Prior issues were a singular web page, often running on in length making it very difficult to print on the computer. The format is 4 full pages long. It is being distributed off site. Hope you enjoy the posting.