offcntr | Jumping in (Reply)

Okay, after last week, there was no denying that Fall had arrived; figured I may as well jump in (hence today's theme photo). So I brought my flannel shirt, denim jacket, wool hat. Wore long pants and three pairs of stockings (compression, cotton tube and wool). Wound up ditching the coat while unloading the van, but the flannel stayed on until after lunch, and I didn't shed the wool socks until nearly take-down.

As I backed in to my space to unload, I spotted something pink in the shrubbery behind my space. Closer examination revealed what looked like a pill bottle, complete with prescription-style label. Turns out it was from a drugstore, just not that kind. Yeah, it was from a marijuana dispensary, variety "Soursop," and there was still about an inch-and-a-half stick inside. Further examination turned up two empty airline bottles from Fireball, an empty cigarette pack and a three-color paint stick, presumably used for graffiti. I kept the paint stick, turned the rest over to the Info Booth for disposal.

A lot of the Market regulars, including many of the potters, were gone for the day, presumably up to Corvallis for Fall Festival. It's a very good show, I've done well there in the past, but I just can't sustain it anymore. Between Anacortes in August and Clay Fest in October, I just can't make enough work to do a September show. Heck, Market keeps me plenty busy without having to leave town.

UO students were back in force, many accompanied by parents, and no few parents had installed their kids in the dorms and came down to Market solo. My first two customers were from Anchorage, Alaska and Ashland, Oregon; I gave the latter a Clayfolk bookmark lurking in the bottom of my show bag. Had a couple of parents comment that their kid had bought them something from me, and one pair of folks wound up buying over $100 of work for themselves. Lots of students also were looking for a mug or bowl to take into the dorm with them, and two or three bought watercolor cards with the intent to hang them as art on their walls.

Had two different young women ask about my process; I always enjoy talking shop. One asked if I was using underglaze pencils; I've tried them, didn't like them. Decorating bisque felt like drawing on the sidewalk with a rock. Give me a brush and a fluid medium any day! The second one said she actually came from a family of potters. I told them both about the EMU Craft Center; turns out they'd both discovered it already.

Got a nice visit from Erin, another college student. For several years, she and her housemate Nathan would stop regularly to look at the work and talk about pots. (They even took one of my workshops at the Craft Center last spring.) Nathan has graduated and moved to California, but Erin has another year to go. She came in with family, introduced me to her Dad and her aunt and uncle Dean. Who i recognized, after a double-take, as Dean Lamoureaux, one the wood shop supervisors at the Craft Center back when I was a resident potter. Cue up It's a small world, after all...

Despite an early start, and lots of traffic, sales were pretty slow until about two o'clock, when everybody who'd been looking in the morning came back at once--five sales in quick succession. Throw in the parents I already mentioned above and we made over $800 for the day.