Wheel Talk

On this episode, Ryan & Becca chat with Curt Hammerly from Hammerly Ceramics, located in Westminster, Colorado. Curt works full-time in his storefront/studio with multiple employees to support his production cycle. He primarily makes functional wares with expertise in 3D modeling, 3D printing, slip casting, and vast array of eye-catching glazes.

We appreciate his insights on running a growing small business, his making process, and managing his growth these past few years. Look out for Curt's next shop update in late August, including his new smaller mug design we discussed on this episode.

Find more about Curt's work here:
Instagram - @hammerlyceramics
Website - https://www.hammerlyceramics.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HammerlyCeramics/
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/hammerlyceramics/
YouTube - Hammerly Ceramics (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmkHNnCRyjGCxp8MrAjR66w)

We hope to bring you more of these interview style episodes in the future as we hang out with other makers inside and outside of the clay medium. Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback or who we should interview next!

Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

Warning: Nerd Alert!!

Ryan & Becca chat today about how they diversify their income in their pottery business and a little bit outside of that as well. There are lots of ways to spread your income around within the pottery business, from selling at shows, teaching, galleries, etc. Having multiple streams of income during these past few months has saved many of us small business owners as we weather this COVID storm. This one gets into some deep financial talk near the end that we thoroughly enjoyed. Let us know what you think and whether you have some future money topics you'd like to know about.

Listener Questions
On this episode:
- What was the biggest surprise you had when learning about how to run your businesses? One of those "holy crap, I didn't realize I needed to do THAT"  kind of thing.

Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback on future topics to discuss and help us improve!

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

Ryan & Becca answer a listener question at length on today's episode. Justin Patterson (@justcooperson) asks about studio essentials when moving from a community studio to a home studio. Some clay studios have limitations on the clays, glazes, tools, or open hours that can make you consider whether a home studio set-up is for you.

While community studios eliminate a lot of the complexity on your part because nearly everything is provided for you (equipment, clay, firing, glazes, etc), you are paying for it all in your monthly fees to be there. On the flip-side, you have to handle this entire load yourself if you start your own home studio, which could be out of the question based on your needs, space, & many other factors to consider.

What are some essentials in your own studio (home or community)?

Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback on future topics to discuss and help us improve!

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

On this episode, Ryan & Becca chat with Aaron Kleinhelter, a recreational clay artist from Louisville, Kentucky. He's recently moved to Washington state and currently focuses on creating figurative mugs, which he calls "muglyz." They are very odd and unique pieces that people either seem to love or hate, as with most art.  Aaron's background in ceramics is very basic, only a few classes in high school and two intro classes in college.

Aaron currently works full time as a Head Distiller in Spokane, Washington and makes ceramics on the side, typically selling every piece that's made. He also enjoys doing collaborations with many other potters (@jakefordceramics, @youngy_3, @beeskneesartbyamanda) that have unique surface techniques as he continues to develop in these areas of his process.

Find more of Aaron's work on Instagram - @kleintimeceramics

Listener note: We're sorry for the audio issues during this episode. We worked through it, laughed it off, and we hope it didn't negatively affect the listening experience too much.

We hope to bring you more of these interview style episodes in the future as we hang out with other makers inside and outside of the clay medium. Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback or who we should interview next!

Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

Ryan runs solo on this episode to speak to his new normal these past few months. Adapting to the current reality of very few in-person shows, online sales increasing, and ramping up the social media marketing has given many small businesses like ours new challenges to face. I've decided to keep moving forward, catching up on some studio projects, and experiment with new forms/clay in the 'down-time' so I don't become static.

It's up to you where your business goes in times like these and shifting time away for a little break can be beneficial too if you don't rely on that income for your monthly budget. I see this as a positive for me personally (could be my optimism), but it's different for each person's circumstances. I hope everyone is staying safe and growing (mentally and professionally) during this time.

Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback on future topics to discuss and help us improve!

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

Ryan & Becca briefly address the happenings around the United States these past few weeks before jumping into the topic for today. Afterwards, we discuss Ryan's first in-person art show in Cincinnati, OH during the COVID pandemic at the Westside Market on June 6th. The feasibility of outdoor events are still up in the air for the coming months, but protocols are going to be different for the foreseeable future if/when they happen.

With brick and mortars around the country allowed to open back up to customers, small businesses vendors are left in this state of limbo where main revenue streams are no longer available due to shows like these being canceled. It's a tough spot to be in these last few months and for the future, but we'll adapt and shift however we can to keep progressing as makers and small business owners.

Listener Questions
On this episode:
- How did you get into teaching classes? At what point did you feel competent enough to start teaching?

Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback on future topics to discuss and help us improve!

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

Ryan & Becca break down some ways they are willing to delegate parts of their process or spend money so they aren't the sole person responsible for every part of the making process. Just because you can do everything from start to finish, doesn't mean we all should or want to (and all power to you if you want to do everything yourself).

As artists, we sometimes undervalue our efforts for tasks that are seen as 'part of the process,' like weighing & wedging clay, mixing glazes, loading/unloading kilns, or packing/shipping orders. We hope you can relate to some of these in your own process to see where you may need to assess whether you are working too hard on tasks that can be outsourced or factor them into your final cost of products. Let us know some tasks that you outsource that we didn't share.

Listener Questions
On this episode:
- Are there any tricks to the trade when ordering clay when you may not live near a clay supplier?

Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback on future topics to discuss and help us improve!

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

On this episode, Becca sits down for a chat with Joshua Heim, owner of JH Pottery Works and Gebharts Floral Barn & Greenhouse in Warren, Indiana. We get a glimpse into Joshua's business lately during quarantine before jumping into answering common glaze & kiln issues, while getting into some glaze chemistry. We hope potters from amateur to expert can learn something new from our conversation or have a few laughs along the way.

Some of the topics covered include: pinholes, crazing, witness cones, what is a flux, frits, benefits of bentonite, why purple glazes are so hard to get, decal firing, kiln loading, kiln cool downs, element replacement

Find more about Joshua here:
Instagram - @jhpotteryworks    @Gebhartsflowers23
Facebook - JH Pottery Works    Gebharts Floral Barn and Greenhouse
Website - www.jhpotteryworks.com    www.gebhartsfloralbarn.com
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk1Gg2xtZ5oJimDJIJ3XlSQ

We hope to bring you more of these interview style episodes in the future as we hang out with other makers inside and outside of the clay medium. Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback or who we should interview next!

Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

Ryan & Becca talk about some tips and tricks they wish they knew when they started in clay. Some of these seem very minuscule, but they can save you lots of time and money in the long run. Being alone in your own studio can make it tough to know what steps of your studio are inefficient or aware of how other clay artists work in their studios. Let us know your studio tips and tricks we haven't mentioned.

Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback on future topics to discuss and help us improve!

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel

Ryan & Becca discuss how social media positively and negatively affects our creative process. Not letting your worth be tied up into how many likes or the engagement you get when sharing items you make can be tough. You put it out for the world to see, leaving you vulnerable and open to feedback (positive or negative). Figuring out a way to be okay with your creative process and sharing what's meaningful to you is the goal with social media for both of us at this point. Getting there can be challenging, especially if you are still finding your style and creative voice.

Listener Questions
Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those through Instagram @wheeltalkpodcast or email us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us and we would love to hear your feedback on future topics to discuss and help us improve!

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespotterystudio

Email us any questions or topics you'd love discussed:
[email protected]

Support the show on Patreon for as little as $3 per month: https://patreon.com/Wheeltalkpodcast

Follow us on Instagram:
@wheeltalkpodcast
@rdceramics
@5linespottery

Visit our website:
www.wheeltalkpotcast.com
Wheel Talk YouTube Channel