Looking for someone to sell my pottery!

I’m looking for someone to sell my pottery for me. I’ve been potting for 50+ years, and while I still enjoy making new work, I have lost interest in marketing it. Ideally, I will find someone who is willing to take on that part of the process, in exchange for 50% of the price, leaving me free to just keep producing pottery. I’m posting this here, hoping my pottery friends and customers will pass it along to anyone you know who might be interested.

Here is how I imagine it might work. I will set retail prices on the pots, and then once the work sells, my marketing person will send me 50% of that amount. I want someone to pick up work from my studio in downtown Charlottesville, and be responsible for all the marketing from that point forward – e.g., photographing, describing, posting, selling and shipping. Since I already have a lot of time and effort sunk into my online store, my new marketing partner is welcome to start by using that site. But there are plenty of other ways to sell pots, in person and online, and as long as the pots sell, I am open to creative solutions.

I have already signed up for the Virginia Clay Festival in September, 2021 and have planned do the Artisans Studio Tour. But if I find someone to take on this job soon, I’ll skip the Tour. I’m willing to attend the Clay Festival, doing it in conjunction with whoever takes on this job, if it feels like a good way to learn about marketing my work. But I can also skip both events – whatever works best for my new marketing person.

I’m looking for someone who:
Is adept at photography and writing
Knows social media and online selling
Will come here regularly to pick up new work
Can handle selling and shipping work
Has space and resources to warehouse the pottery (this final point is negotiable)

I can see this working for an individual looking for flexible part-time work. It could become a starting place for someone who hopes eventually to represent a number of different artisans and product lines. Another possible match might be someone already engaged in marketing something that could combine well with handmade pottery – e.g., someone growing plants and flowers, or artisanal foods.

I make a range of functional stoneware pottery. Here are links to see my pots on my website and online store. To provide a sense of monetary scale for this job, as of today, there is $24,000 (retail value) of stock listed in my square online store. In addition (at a rough guess) there’s another $10,000 work here not yet online and about $4,000 in two local consignment galleries – Cville Arts and Crozet Depot.

Just to be clear — I intend to make what I want, working at my own pace, and then pass the work on to be sold. I have no interest in suggestions or pressure to produce pots that sell. Please help me by spreading word of my search to anyone you think might be interested.

Thanks!
Nan
434-263-4023
nan@nanrothwellpottery.com

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Video for the Artisans Studio Tour

Here’s a short video produced by Kai Crowe-Getty for the Artisans Studio Tour.  The Tour is going digital this year!  There will be live demos and interactive opportunities during the Tour weekend of November 14 & 15, and then the site will be up through the rest of 2020.

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Free Clinic Show ends September 30

I fired again this week and just put new work in my online store.  Here are some of my favorites from this firing (click on each image to see full view):

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My Partnering with the Charlottesville Free Clinic Show closes on September 30, which means there are twelve days left to help the Free Clinic when you purchase some pottery in my online store.  Please note that buying Gift Cards can give you a jump on Holiday shopping or future birthday gifts, while being sure your recipients get exactly what they want.

As a reminder, the Charlottesville Free Clinic provides free medical and dental care and free prescriptions for working uninsured and under-insured adults in the greater Charlottesville community. Open since 1992, the Clinic is volunteer-driven, relying on the generosity of health care professionals who give over 14,000 hours of time each year. Especially now, with unemployment on the rise, access to health insurance and health care is under threat. Many front-line workers, whose services we all depend on, lack access to health insurance and depend on care from the Free Clinic.

Until September 30, when you buy a pot or gift card through my online store, 30% of the sales price will go to the Clinic.

 

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Partnering with the Charlottesville Free Clinic

From August 20 to September 30, 30% of all pottery sales through my online store will benefit the Charlottesville Free Clinic. During a similar event in May, in support of the Food Bank, I was delighted to sell some pots – no small matter with galleries closed and shows canceled during the pandemic. And the Food Bank appreciated the extra support generated by those sales. It went so well that I’m doing it again, this time to support the Charlottesville Free Clinic.

The Charlottesville Free Clinic provides free medical and dental care and free prescriptions for working un-insured and under-insured adults in the greater Charlottesville community. Open since 1992, the Clinic is volunteer-driven, relying on the generosity of health care professionals who give over 14,000 hours of time each year. Especially now, with unemployment on the rise, access to health insurance and health care is under threat. Many front-line workers, whose services we all depend on, lack access to health insurance and depend on care from the Free Clinic.

Here’s how it works – it’s simple: Between August 20 and September 30, when you buy a pot through my online store, 30% of the sales price will go to the Clinic. Be sure you wait until August 20th for your purchase to qualify!   And if buying pottery isn’t for you right now, please consider making a straight-up donation at https://www.cvillefreeclinic.org/donate An investment in the Free Clinic provides the hardworking people in our community with a quality of care that encourages good health and healthy living!

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I Miss Teaching!

With all my classes and workshops canceled due to the COVID-19 shutdown, I’m really missing teaching.  At first, I welcomed having so much uninterrupted studio time.  But now, although I am still happy to be making pots, I long for the interaction with my students and the lively energy of the places I was scheduled to teach – at City Clay, John Campbell Folk School, and the other regional workshops on my 2020 teaching calendar.  The only ongoing teaching I’m doing right now is through TeachinArt.com.  Details on that course are at https://www.teachinart.com/take-your-throwing-to-the-next-level.html 

Right now, my TeachinArt class includes students in Virginia, Maryland, Sweden and India – a great antidote to how small our world has shrunk during the pandemic.

 

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Video: Making a Wiggle Wire Plate

Here’s a excerpt from “Wheel Throwing With Nan Rothwell,” my teaching video published by Ceramic Arts Daily.

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Video: Take pottery wheel throwing to the next level!

This short video is from my ten-week course on TeachinArt.

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Three Days to Go on the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Show

I’ve had good sales during May and am grateful to the folks whose purchases will help the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.  There are still three days for your pottery purchase to benefit the Food Bank.  Many of the pots pictured below are now in my online store.

May has been busy!  I fired the kiln three times in a row.  Here are front and back tier shots of all three firings, unloaded on May 19, May 22, and May 25

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Spring Pottery Sale coordinated with Blue Ridge Area Food Bank

In these troubling times, with food insecurity on the rise, I’ve decided to dedicate 30% of my May 2020 pottery sales to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Any pots purchased through my online store qualify. I’m still offering Free Delivery and/or No Packing Charges. There are details about the Sale at my online store

But even if buying pottery isn’t for you right now, please consider making a straight-up donation at www.brafb.org. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank distributes nearly 26.4 million pounds of food annually to 103,500 people each month through a network of 200 community partners – food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, schools, churches and other non-profit groups. With each dollar they collect, they can feed four people.

I spent most of today photographing, documenting and posting new pots to the online shop – https://nan-rothwell-pottery.square.site/ Here are a few favorites:

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Free Home Delivery, Maximum Social Distancing Pottery Sale

FREE HOME DELIVERY, MAXIMUM SOCIAL DISTANCING POTTERY SALE
April 25 & 26, 2020
10:00 AM Saturday to 5:00 PM Sunday
I’m stealing a page from my friend Mea Rhee at goodelephant.com and imitating her Free Home Delivery, Maximum Social Distancing Pottery Sale. If you order pottery from my new online store during the show, we will deliver it to your door. It will give us a chance to get out of the house, and you can score some great new pottery without leaving home or paying any shipping.
The fine print of this arrangement is that you must live within twelve miles from us and spend a minimum of $50. That includes all of Charlottesville, plus everything within the circle edged by Crozet, Free Union, Earlysville, Cismont, Lake Monticello, Woodridge, Keene, North Garden and Batesville. If you’re in doubt about whether you qualify, drop me a note or call 434-263-4023.
Outside the free delivery area, but still want to play? Order $50 of pottery during this Special Event, and I will drop my normal charge for packing pots. You will still be responsible for actual shipping charges.
Go to – https://nan-rothwell-pottery.square.site to see the work. If the pot you have been hoping for isn’t there, let me know and if I have one on hand, I’ll add it to the Sale.  Store opens at 10:00 AM on Saturday, 4/25. Here are some previews:
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