The Maker's Playbook

Thinking about becoming a full time artist is a dream that lingers in the back of many people’s minds. And my assumption is, whenever any of us are dreaming about a change, we mostly think that if we took this leap, if we didn’t have to be bothered with showing up to an office for someone else Monday through Friday, we’d have more time to do the thing we love - to make. But is that what the change is really like? Is selling your work after you do take that leap to be a full time a...

So what does it mean if the work we’re making isn’t as impermanent as we think? Does it have to be in order to have value? Is there still value when it breaks? 

Today, I’m thrilled to partner with the one and only Metropolitan Museum of Art to feature an episode from their own podcast - Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time. Each episode examines a material of art - like clay, stone, or even trash and what they can reveal about history and humanity. On today's episode, you're about to hear th...

As I reflected on what we're doing differently for this market season compared to last year's, I realized a trend that I've also seen after teaching over 200 makers inside our MPSS photography course and journeying along side nearly 100 makers inside of The Community for the past 3 years. And while I don't really believe in magic silver bullets to assured success, this one trait just might be the determining factor from those that do continue to find success vs. those that, understandably, give up.

The Launch is our near real-time series that takes you behind-the-scenes on Francesco and...

What does it even mean to “be an artist?” Does it mean you are making work you like to make? Is that art? Does it mean someone else considers you to be whatever their definition of “artist” is? Does it mean not having another job? Or can you be an artist and do something else? Does doing something else actually better allow you to be an artist? Putting it more succinctly, how do you become an artist?

On today’s episode I virtually sit down with Isaac Scott, one of NCECA’s 2024 Emerging Artists, to discuss his own journey...

If you’re side-hustling your ceramics, are you anxiously awaiting the day you can quit the day job? But what if the day job was actually providing you with the chance to learn to be better at your craft? And no, I’m not talking about a job associated with what you make. I mean a day job totally different than what you dream about making, a job in an office, in a “traditional” employment structure, absolutely not at all associated with the art world. What if that job was actually helping inform how you might be able to dream ev...

Do you ever think about completely changing your life? Like literally, everything - Your job, where you live, what your day to day looks like, maybe even your identity in a way… Or maybe you have done that already, and you are living the dream you had 5 or 10 years ago, but now, as it turns out, it’s not actually the dream? Just even thinking about saying that out loud feels crazy because you worked so hard to get where you are right now. How could you ever change that? Why would you? Should you? Well first off, I just...

I thought John & I were going to talk mostly about burnout. How it “happened” to him, how he got through it, and perhaps, what he’s doing differently now. But (perhaps rather obviously) it can’t really be broken down that simply. Instead, John and I wound up not only talking about burnout, but also the pursuit of the impossible perfect cylinder, the responsibility we all have to educate others on what we do while also hopefully exciting them, and particularly the realities of the economics of making - whether that be other jobs that help support that reality, but also...

In an internet world where there are seemingly endless “educators” available to learn from, what actually qualifies someone to teach a skill? Is it a traditional piece of paper, or diploma, saying that some institution has decided you can? Is it the number of years you’ve been doing the thing? Frankly, there’s really not a fixed formula we can say where x+ y = qualified educator! However, during this chat with Ian Childers, a potter who, as often happens, fell into education by necessity and yet has found a passion for it, I’ve found a few thru lines and...

There’s a new social media app in the virtual neighborhood. Will it solve all the frustrations we artists have? Maybe. Maybe not… In this week’s solo episode, I dive into all things social media marketing, why a new app probably won’t solve your problems (but it could!), and why maybe it’s a good thing that it’s hard to get attention on the internet. Plus how everything is changing and yet, nothing is changing. Always. I swear it makes sense once you give a listen.

Need help telling your own story online? Come join us insi...

A rare non-potter conversation today on the podcast with Dave Conrey, graphic designer turned email newsletter educator. We talk about the realities of making art and trying to sell that art, approaches to marketing our work without needing to be a part of the hustle-bro culture, and eventually get around to the notion that really piqued my interest when I first met Dave online - committing to one project and one project only for a set period of time in order to focus. It’s a rare conversation without mention of kiln gods or reclaim, but enlightening to see th...