When I kicked off my goal to make 500 pieces in 2022, I shared that I started pottery in 2015, but 2022 would be my first year of intentionally taking my pottery to the next “level” of improving my skill and growing the business side of my hobby turned to side hustle.
I ended the year with 403 pieces:
making:
If I counted *every* single thing I made in 2022, then I might have hit 500 pieces, but I didn’t count really tiny things, like ceramic magnets, that I made near the end of the year when I had to limit my time on the wheel.
A few more details on how I got to the 403 pieces this year:
- 88 vases for Bowman Ceramics
- 315 pieces for Rachel Om Pottery
Beth from Bowman Ceramics reached out to me on Instagram early this year with a proposal to work together. This was super new to me (and turns out, also new to Beth), but we decided to meet up and chat about what working together could look like. I really appreciated that Beth was transparent, flexible, and genuinely interested in supporting my growth.
Here’s a photo of me throwing in Beth’s studio. I wish we had taken a photo together!
Here’s an example of tall vases I made during one of our sessions.
I only got a chance to work with Beth for several months during the Summer because I injured my elbow the end of July and focused on recovery and making my own work for the remainder of the year. Although I was unable to work with Beth after July, we stayed in touch, which I really appreciated because working alone in a home studio can get lonely.
One of the key lessons learned while working with Beth was how to throw faster with more consistency. I think Beth throws somewhere between 2-3 times faster than me! In my first 3-hour session, I made 12 five-inch vases and eventually worked my way up to be able to make 16 five-inch vases or 10 seven-inch vases in a 3-hour session.
So yes, I sustained an injury (tennis elbow) because I was putting a lot of stress on my elbow without doing the proper stretching and strengthening. In addition to increasing my pottery output, I was playing tennis 2-3 times a week and spending 8-9 hours each weekday on the computer for my full-time job. I went to physical therapy for almost two months and learned a lot of seemingly small but very meaningful exercises to strengthen my back and core muscles to better support all my activities.
I found that wedging and trying to work with hard clay were the two aspects of pottery that placed the most strain on my elbow. Making sure my clay was soft was an easy fix, but wedging can’t really be avoided so my ability to make much was limited until I could wedge more. I tried slam wedging instead of the usual ram’s head wedging technique I like to use, but it kicked up too much clay dust for me.
One silver lining of my injury is that I spent more time exploring handbuilding than I would have otherwise. Through experimentation, I made this propagation/mini-arrangement vase that got a lot of people excited, which I didn’t expect!
Here’s a general breakdown of the pieces I made (does not include the vases I made with Beth):
I would have guessed that planters were my #1 item but they were fourth! I made quite a variety of cups, but I think these are my favorite and have been very popular:
selling & meeting you:
When I set my 500 pieces goal, I was hoping that by having many pieces ready to sell, then I would be ready to participate in a market. I did not expect to be participating in a market so quickly (in February!), and I am so grateful for the maum market reaching out to join their second market in Koreatown, Los Angeles. That really gave me the confidence and push I needed to try selling in person. I ended up participating in six markets this year:
- February: maum market in Los Angeles (Koreatown)
- March: co-mrkt in Los Angeles (Koreatown)
- May: maum market in Los Angeles (Chinatown)
- June: kabataan culture in Bellflower
- December: good time in Long Beach (Zaferia) and luv collective in Huntington Beach (Surfside)
It was so wonderful to meet and talk with so many people and fellow makers. I really appreciated the many kind words people had to share with me about my work. It really means a lot!
In addition to participating in markets, I had the honor of joining the launch of plantiitas market where I’ve been renting a shelf to sell my work next to 25+ local & underrepresented small business brands.
I know it’s obvious, but I really learned how selling in a shop is so different from selling online (and in person). I really had to think about how to convey to people how each piece could be used without an item description accompanying each piece (like online) or explaining things myself (like at pop up markets). I even tried making a promotional video with a voice over, which I never imagined doing before:
In addition to sharing my work at markets & in store, I had the opportunity to start developing relationships with local shops and sell a few of my pieces as small batch wholesale. Here are some of my pieces on display at Good Time:
my support system:
I’ve been a member of Kara Leigh Ford‘s pottery club (patreon) for the past year, and she gave me the opportunity to have a coaching session with her in September to discuss how to think about growing my business. It was quite surreal to have a conversation with someone I look up to, and Kara had a lot of practical and approachable suggestions during our call. We also talked about how important it is to take care of our bodies given the very physical nature of pottery.
This year, I got more comfortable reaching out to other potters in person at the studio where I get my pieces fired and on Instagram. Creating my little creative/pottery community has been so helpful in this journey that can feel really overwhelming and lonely at times.
Finally, thanks to my very supportive husband, I was able to reduce my non-pottery work schedule to 4 days a week in order to have more time for pottery. In addition to having more time for pottery, the intention behind reducing my schedule was to try to have a better work/life balance and address the burn out I had been feeling for the past 1.5 – 2 years. I didn’t automatically convert those additional 8 hours to pottery as I initially thought (it’s never that simple…) but having a reduced schedule really helped me feel like I had a little more breathing room to do more of the things I enjoy (pottery, tennis) and to do a better job at taking care of “life admin” (dishes, laundry…). I’m planning to continue my reduced schedule for 2023 and am so appreciative that my work allows me the option to have a reduced schedule.
I haven’t finalized my goals for 2023 yet, but I hope to share them soon. Here’s a final summary to wrap up the year:
rachel om pottery 
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