Two Potter’s are better than one
One pair from my (failed) Plant Shelfie Bookend production experiment.
One of my goals when we moved to Portugal was to find a way to offer my designs in the US, even when I wasn’t in Portland to make them. You may remember I invested about a year, and thousands of dollars having molds of my Plant Shelfie Bookends made, only to discover that the design is truly much better when I construct them myself. To say this was disheartening would be a massive understatement, and troubleshooting all the issues in the production of them from Portugal, would have been impossible without the help of my studio assistant Anna, and my good friend Wil LaBelle.
Wil LaBelle and I with one of his Travel Mug’s that I glazed and decorated.
Over the course of trying to work through all of the challenges with the slip cast bookends, Wil and I got to talking about working together. We’ve been friends for about 12 years, and were roommates/studio mates for about 3 years, so Wil is someone I know and trust implicitly. And he’s an insanely talented ceramic artist! So when I went back to Portland in March, Wil helped me in the studio by throwing some of the forms I use to make my bookends, Monstera planters, and a few other designs. Because of his help, I was able to make over 100 pieces in just four weeks, and we even collaborated a bit on one of his designs.
Wil working in his studio.
While I was in Portland, I had planned to make enough Pole Dancing Planters to have a pre-order ready to post. Then Anna would just have to glaze them to order and ship them out after I returned to Portugal. But I got sick on the trip and lost a few precious days, so I was only able to make 6 Pole Dancing Planters. Wil and I spent a little time in the studio together, talking through the design: how much clay I used, the dimensions of each pot and the pole, how I trimmed the bottoms, and the fit of the saucer. Dare I say, he can make them better and faster than I can?!
Wil throwing a Pole Dancing Planter in my Portland studio.
So we decided to test out this idea of Wil throwing and trimming these pots for me. He makes them in his Portland studio (Studio LAB- where you can rent studio space or take classes from Wil), and delivers them to Anna in my Portland studio, where she dries them very slowly, bisque fires them, and ultimately will glaze and ship them. It’s all very exciting, as it is helping each of us learn new things, generate some income we would not have had otherwise, and we get to work as a small team and collaborate even though I’m on the other side of the world!
This upcoming Pole Dancing Planter Pre-order on July 19, will be our proof of concept for this new collaboration, and if it works, we plan to do more. I may even be able to return to Portland this fall to make a batch of work for the holidays, with Wil and Anna’s help. That is really exciting to me! Be sure to take a peek at Wil’s creations. His Travel Mug is one of my favorite designs; it’s clean lines, and high function are so appealing to this coffee lover who loves to walk and sip.
I’m curious- what do you think of this new production team? Are you less interested in purchasing my designs, if it’s not my hands making each one from start to finish? Or do you love the designs and supporting the arts enough that you’re happy to have something made by human hands?