Creative Entrepreneurship or Suzu Loves My Pottery

Day; 10, scattered clouds, cold, no wind. Temperature on outside kiln; 30 degrees

I’m going crazy, I can’t help it. I’m over 50 and was not raised on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram.  In an attempt to join the 21st century however, I am trying to catch up. Really I am. But it’s hard for us creatives, all that computer time  rubs against my very being and not in a good way. As I shoot, post, share and follow, I keep thinking about all the noodle bowls I could actually be making in the studio….Isn’t all this linking, blogging and tweeting counter-productive?  Shouldn’t I be throwing some plates instead?

As I ponder how the web is reshaping the role of the artist and how we consequently live and work, a very interesting article in The Atlantic Magazine caught my eye recently. In The Death of the Artist-and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur,  writer William Deresiewicz notes a very interesting trend in creative entrepreneurship- that is artists, as sole agents for their work, now create “experiences rather than just products”. The creators’ lifestyle or process is sold to the customer along with the art itself through, “a vicarious experience of production.”

As an artist this fascinates me, do my customers really want to get down and dirty with me? Apparently so. Every year hundreds show up for the Eldorado Studio Tour and troop through my house straining to see what I make, and  where and  how  I make it. They stand in line to meet the studio dogs, view the kilns, check out my potters wheel. Not only do customers want to see where their platter was made, they want to see it in use, getting an idea of how it might look in their own home environment.

So I’m starting to wonder if I should personally capitalize on this trend  more than once a year? My good friend, and incredible artist in her own right, Christine Drumright definitely thinks so. In fact, so much so she offered up her own home  and collection of Magpie Pottery for the ensuing photo shoot.  While  Suzu the Shiba Inu was also a willing participant, she eventually decided a nap was a far better idea….