Alone

[offcntr]

With the weather predicting 100% chance of rain, possibly thunderstorms, it should come as no surprise that Market was looking kinda thin on Saturday. In fact, there were only five booths on our entire stretch of block, two potters on my end, a woodworker, leather crafter, and a couple selling bath bombs down at the far end. (And the bath folks packed up early when the heavy rain hit around 1:30. They didn't have sides for their booth, and had a water-soluble product.)

I felt obliged to come out, since I'll be away next weekend. Figured if I could load in and out dry, anything in between could be managed. As it happened, it was raining when I left home, but had pretty much stopped by the time I arrived downtown. Left the wall panels rolled up at first, then dropped a side and back as windbreaks as the morning progressed. When the rain started in earnest, I brought the rest down and zipped them together. All my boxes, full and empty, were crowded into the back of the booth, but Denise stayed home--lucky girl--so there was just about room to turn around.

Didn't expect much for sales, but actually did pretty well, had my first two sales before 10 o'clock. A high school track invitational at Hayward Field brought some out-of-towners, and a bunch of college kids were out in slickers and umbrellas. For some reason, they were all noticing my platypus mug, which I'd posted to Instagram with a badly drawn fedora--Android image processing sucks for drawing--as a Perry the Platypus mug. So I learned how big a part of the current generation of college kids grew up on Phineas and Ferb.

Three girls from OSU recognized my work from Tsunami Books, and one of them bought three more mugs. A mom from Seattle sprung for a $50 cookie jar, and a college boy bought a frog bank for his mom. An old friend stopped in to replace her cracked covered casserole--they use it as a compostables container. Sold stew mugs, tall mugs, painted mugs, a couple of plates. Smaller items, but they add up. Wound up not far short of $700 by the end of the day. And the rain stopped right at 4 pm, so although the tent was totally soaked, the pottery boxes got loaded up dry.

Sometime in the morning, one of the Market staffers stopped by to share a story. Said she's a social media Influencer, and her persona is a butler, so one of her regular video events is afternoon tea. Well, last week, she featured a tea from a Market vendor, and the bull elk mug she'd bought from me last Holiday Market. Which apparently blew up her comment thread with people asking where she got the mug. I asked if she could direct them to my social account, and she said that was hard, she didn't want to doxx herself by admitting her connection with Market. I asked if there was anyway I could see the post or comments, and she was kinda evasive. Said she'd have to do some cropping or editing. Kept saying it "wasn't for work."

It was only a hour or two later that my rain-soaked brain made the connection. She meant Not Safe For Work. Which made the fact that the comments were all about the mug even more hilarious.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>I felt obliged to come out, since I'll be away next weekend. <<

I admire your dedication. When I was little, skipping an event you committed to would get you blacklisted by the ladies who knew everyone. Nowadays, nobody seems to care and the list of vendors is just vague suggestion. :/

>>For some reason, they were all noticing my platypus mug,<<

I adore the platypus and also the whale.

>>An old friend stopped in to replace her cracked covered casserole--they use it as a compostables container. <<

Good idea. I've usually seen those in a cookie-jar shape. Might be a product type to explore if you're looking for new ideas, although from your pictures it looks like you already make a ton of stuff.

>>Sold stew mugs, tall mugs, painted mugs, a couple of plates. Smaller items, but they add up. Wound up not far short of $700 by the end of the day.<<

And that's why it's helpful to have as wide a range of prices as possible. You never know if today will have a few rich shoppers or a bunch of folks with average pocket money.

>> I asked if she could direct them to my social account, and she said that was hard <<

My first instinct would be to flip the damn thing over. Most potters around here put their name and/or a maker's mark on the bottom. Type that into a search engine and it should hit your page. Posting "The bottom says X" tells nothing about one's connection with the mug.

Re: Thoughts

[offcntr]

Good idea. I've usually seen those in a cookie-jar shape. Might be a product type to explore if you're looking for new ideas, although from your pictures it looks like you already make a ton of stuff.

I actually suggested either a cookie jar or canister when they bought the first one, but they preferred the lower, wider form, guess it fit their compostable liner bags better.

My first instinct would be to flip the damn thing over. Most potters around here put their name and/or a maker's mark on the bottom. Type that into a search engine and it should hit your page. Posting "The bottom says X" tells nothing about one's connection with the mug.

Except I'm a Minnesota potter by training, and we mark our pots with a stamp. Signing our pots is way too prideful. *grin* (And I prefer to spend my painting time on top of the pot, rather than signing the bottom.)