Marketing Milestone

I've been in Richmond Virginia for 4 years now. And have been renting studio space in a coop for the same time. And today I upped my marketing game. I feel like a professional now. I got a professionally installed sign for the window in my door!

The area that I worked in in LA was tiny, then I moved into two small studios when I first came to RVA (that stands for Richmond Virginia). One to work in and the other for storage and the kilns. Then I condensed those two rooms into one, so I could downsize again. I do dream of a large, airy, light filled studio - maybe even one with a window to the outside. And maybe that window would actually have a view! I know some of you have wonderful spaces like that and I'm kind of jealous, if I'm going to tell the truth. But it's probably not gonna happen for me. And I do like my little cubby hole. It's compact and quiet and has no studio beasts to shed all over my clay and distract me from the task at hand.

All of this is to explain why I'm calling it The Studiolo. That's what I've been calling my space since I lived in LA. The Small Studio, but Studiolo sounds more romantic. A long ago Flickr friend called his studio in Italy - Studiolo, so I appropirated the sobriquet. Ok - I stole it. I figure there can be more than one Studiolo in the world.

The sign is made of vinyl. The 'etched glass' is on the inside of the door, and the lettering is on the outside. Made and applied by Cut Cut in Richmond. I highly recommend them. Nice people.

So now, hopefully, people will be able to find my studio a little easier in this maze of cubicles. C'mon by and take a look sometime.

Revisiting

This past weekend I taught "Forever Blowing Bubbles" at the inaugural Metal Clay Artist Symposium (MCAS). I had a great time, and I think my students did too. They learned how to turn a tube into a closed canister to be used as a vessel, and how to make a friction fit lid. Unfortunately we didn't have time to design and create the paper/sheet clay decoration (I was afraid that would happen), but they promise me they'll take photos when they finish their work at home. (insert pouty face here)

The Symposium was held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The hotel was right down the street, and many fantastic restaurants were within walking distance. I can hardly wait until the next one. I live in Richmond Virginia, so it was super easy to get to, and in fact a number of my local students also made the 3 hour trek. All in all, I think there were about 90 artists there. Which seems like a low count - but it *was* the first one.

Being able to take classes from instructors you might not otherwise have access to is a wonderful thing! At this particular conference, a super talented artist came from Russia, and I'm so sad I didn't have the time to drop in on her class!

Understandably, going to Symposiums and conferences and other types of learning venues is expensive. In addition to the class and materials fees one may have to travel, pay for a hotel, and you always seem to spend more on food that you would if you were home (did I mention how yummy all my dinners were?) - and you can learn online, from books, ask friends in cyber/social groups you may belong to... there are many excuses why a person wouldn't want to go to one of these things. But the benefits far outweigh the potential costs.

I've already mentioned being able to learn with top notch instructors, but just meeting your fellow metal clay artists, spending time, being able to concentrate fully on your work for days in a row, listening to entertaining and enlightening discussions, and having a good reason to go to a part of the country that you would have no other reason to visit are just a few of the reasons why you should try to keep an eye out, and try to attend national conferences. I wish I had scheduled an additional day to visit the colonial town of Old Salem while I was there.

I was able to visit with a friend from England and many from all across the US that I hadn't seen in over 4 years! And that was all the excuse I needed. Back in the day the national PMC Guild had a bi-yearly conference that attracted between 300-400 attendees from all over the world. It's a shame that that opportunity has faded, but we can all try to keep the small regional get togethers happening if we plan and save our pennies. The very next conference I know of is Metal Clay Mojo next summer, and I really hope I hear that MCAS will be back in 2018. In between there is the fabulous Bead and Button show, a variety of BeadFest's around the country, Art and Soul retreats, and more. Some people try to get to a few of these every year - but even if you only go to one a year, or even every other year - You horizons will be expanded in unimaginable ways.