October 2024

As many of you know, I’ve been passionate about creating one-of-a-kind, hand-carved pottery for some time now. Each piece is crafted with care and attention, blending my love for texture with the beauty of ceramics. While I’ve enjoyed selling directly to customers at local markets and through online orders, I’ve recently embarked on a new adventure—expanding into wholesale.

Moving into wholesale is an exciting challenge for me, allowing me to share my work with more people, reaching stores and boutiques that appreciate handmade art. It’s about more than just scaling up production; it’s about finding the right partnerships. I’ve been carefully considering stores that align with my brand, those that value the craftsmanship behind every carved line and detail.

One of the first steps I needed to do was creating a system for understanding my costs. I created a spreadsheet with the cost of my materials, but then I needed to get very detailed about things like the amount of clay I was using to make things, the amount of glaze, the cost of commercial glazes versus the ones I made myself, and most importantly, how much of my time was used to make each piece.

In addition to refining my costs, I have also been researching what makes a good wholesale pitch. I’ve been working on curating a catalog of my best-sellers, setting competitive pricing, and learning about minimum order quantities (MOQs). Navigating this space is new for me, but I’m excited about the opportunity to grow and see my pottery on more store shelves.

As I step into wholesale, I’ve realized how crucial good photography is in this process. Beautiful photos are the key to making a great first impression, especially when introducing my work to potential retail customers online. Pottery is so tactile, and I want my photos to communicate not only the look of each piece but the feeling of holding something hand-carved and unique.

This past summer, I took a class with Rebecca Ickes Carra of the Maker’s Playbook. Rebecca is both a photographer and a potter, making her distinctively qualified to help me improve not just my pictures, but my workflows as well. Taking pictures went from a time-consuming day long effort to a few hours. I distinguish between simple photographs for posting my work online and artfully developing a story with props carefully placed along specific lines to engage my audience.

Rebecca has taught me that a simple window and backdrop will give me the diffused natural light I need to bring out the texture of my work. Additionally, there are distinct algorithms to placing pieces and props in the picture frame, and I am using these techniques to ensure the intricate details of my carved pottery stand out. It’s been a learning curve, but each new photo shoot feels like a step forward in presenting my work in the best possible light—literally!

This new chapter is about more than just expanding—it’s about refinement, both in pottery and photography, and sharing it with the world in an even bigger way. I’m grateful for the continued support from my customers, and I can’t wait to share more updates as my wholesale journey unfolds.

Thank you for being part of this exciting growth!

Janet