It has been a month since a big project I was working on happened! Within the past month, I have been trying to wrap it up and get working on the next throwing project. Something that always happens after a big project is that my body and mind crash. And that is what happened...I crashed physically and emotionally...but I do think it was well worth it.
The project was in conjunction with the Wynyard Composite High School where my two daughters go to school. They found out the end of August that they needed to raise $50,000 to buy a new van on top of all the fundraising they normally have to do. I offered to make bear logoed bowls for a chili cook off. The bowl was the ticket into the event and you got to keep your handmade WCHS bear bowl. Now one would think maybe 100 bowls, but the number kept climbing and in total I have made over 390 bowls for the fundraiser. There were about 150-175 people that attended the chili cook off and honestly the high from watching people walk around with my handcrafted pottery was beyond anything I can put into words.
When you produce on large scale it takes time, perseverance and creativity in making sure you don't get bored. Also your body takes a beating as you sit on the wheel and throw and throw and throw. For the chili event I had about 240 bowls done and those were completed within a two week window. Now if it was just bowls that would still be a lot of work, but I offered to put the bear logo on! Sometimes I shake my head at myself on my ideas. That required me to cut out the bear logo with my cricut and then place on the bisqued bowl, glaze the bowl and then pick it off. I think I could do it in my sleep now. So this past month I have been finishing up all the orders and dreaming of glazing pottery without any vinyl or specifically bear logos. It has been fun though!
A few bowls came out wonky and we sold them as seconds for $10 a bowl and the "good" bowls we sold for $25. I do look forward to the second annual chili cookoff with the next piece of the BEAR collection. The SRC advisor, Jana Fisher, spent a lot of time organizing, counting and marketing the bowls with her leadership class. Moving forward I will have stock in my highway store that the locals can pick up for their WCHS bear students.
Now what am I working on now? I am busy working on throwing inventory for the highway store as it is open all year and if someone is going to stop in the winter I best have lots in there. I will be at a few markets in November and the beginning of December in Saskatoon and Regina, which I will make sure everyone knows about soon. I am also trying to find a work/life balance...does that ever happen? A balance? Well I am trying to be more consistent with my blog, my email newsletter, my office hours and my studio hours. SO that being said this blog entry is the first accountability piece with my WESK(Women Entrepreneurs of SK) small group. Faith from www.stressedoutmamas.ca was talking about getting her first blog up and I said to her; JUST post it! and as a cheerleader for her I said I would get a post up on my blog today! So here it is...let the world who follows Freba Pottery know I am still around, but just coming off a big project slow down. The seasons are changing and I am working hard to change with the season and be more present in what I do daily!
Here is the set up in the highway store with the poster they gifted me that they used to promote the project. It does seem weird to have a life size picture of myself in the store, but I think better than having it stare at me in my studio. Have a great week and check out Faith's blog at www.stressedoutmamas.ca
Marea Olafson
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