In the late 60's early 70's my aunt owned a ceramic shop in Albany, Oregon (sorry that's not her in the picture, but she has a lot of resemblances). Her shop was opened on Tues, Wed and Thursday, morning noon and night for classes. She was also opened on Saturdays until mid afternoon. This was mostly for people to pick up or drop off firing. But Fridays were very special days, that was her supply days. And so on Saturday mornings my mom and I would travel the 26 miles to her shop from our house to see what treasures she had brought back from her supply adventure. It was like Christmas morning on a weekly basis.
Sometimes her supply runs would take her well over a 100 miles one way just to get a load of greenware. Selling bisque was actually taboo in those days, and not well looked at. She had four routes, one north, one south, one west and one east each month. She drove a monstrous Chevy sedan, with a ton of trunk and back seat space. She would head out early in the morning on any given Friday, traveling to a set destination of shops where she had ordered greenware when she was there the month before. In addition to her order she would peruse the shop and add more chalky treasures to bring back to her shop. She received a 30-40% discount buying as a reseller to the students in her shop. The good thing, gas was about 27 cents a gallon in those days. When she returned she would unload her boxes of shredded newspapers filled with fragile pieces of air dried clay. Each week her students would be able to find something new on the shelves to entice them.
The ceramic industry was very much like a web in those days. You learned where most of the shops were. Some had thousands of molds, while others only had a few hundred. You knew who cast quality greenware, and you knew who didn't. The foundation of this industry has always been cottage based. Today nothing much has really changed, other than it is usually bisque that is picked up and transported or shipped. Now that gas is 15 times as expensive as it was, it is sometimes cheaper to let a commercial delivery service bring it to you, than to drive there yourself. But delivery versus personal pick up cuts out the, added items concept.
In 2010 the industry is redefining itself once again. The web is often times made of virtual fibers, that lead one to another. In a town in the southeast recently ten ceramic shops (not storefronts) discovered that each other existed. Some were in basements, some in outbuildings, some in extra bedrooms of peoples homes. They had different molds they cast, and were excited to share. How odd that we went underground when the industry ebbed in the 90's. Take a look around, listen for clues, explore the Internet (facebook, Yahoo groups, DAC on NING, ebay). You may find your neighbor down the street has a small shop in their home too.
Find and share with other shops, investing with them, is investing in the industry. Go to shows, buy products and most importantly enter in the competitions. Expand the web, expand the industry. Good luck!
