How to start a path toward making pottery a career? Beállítások

[beneathftr]

Hi... so I’m a 25 year old who has been slowly been struggling towards a college degree. Overall I’ve done poorly, largely due to struggles with depression(which I’m now receiving treatment for) but also due to lack passion/drive for what I’ve been studying.

However I think I’ve found something I am passionate about: pottery/wheel ceramics.

I’ve been taking weekly pottery classes at a local art center and it’s all I can think about. I spend all of my spare time reading and watching videos about ceramics. I’m also a lover of quality teas, particularly those from China and Taiwan, so my focus has been on creating Chinese/Taiwanese-inspired teawares. While I’ve been learning fairly quickly, I certainly understand that I have a lot to learn.

While I’m not fully ready to commit yet, I’ve become more and more entranced with the idea of becoming a professional potter. I understand that it will take a lot of work and is generally not the most lucrative profession, but I think I’d be fine with living a simple life if I can have a career that I’m passionate about.

My question is how best to start the path towards making a career out of pottery. Should I take ceramics classes at my local college? (Their only offering are ceramics I and II classes). Should I try to find an apprenticeship? About 45 minutes away there is a clay center that I’ve been to that rents studio space, should I ask around there?

TLDR: I’m a young amateur ceramicist considering trying to make it into a career. Theoretically, how should I go about that?

[ambiguousscourge]

great post above. I am giving up on trying pottery from boxes approach. I know GEP and Mark (and plenty of others here I'm sure) have made it work but I just don't see it for most folks in the areas I've been in (NW, South). It's not just me, it really seems like all the pottery booths I interact with do light sales at all the shows I've done. We sell pots but once you back out expenses its just no where near enough for even a meager living.

Mark said early on he struggled to find the right mix of shows and shops. He made it work but by his own account it took many many years. Average/low-end local shows just don't produce anywhere near the sales you need and high end road shows are so hard to string together and the fees are so high that the risk is huge and you need 9-10 5k+ profit shows to make a living. With $6-700 booth fees and road cost you can be into a show a fifteen hundred/two grand. First 50-60 pots are just to cover being there.

If you're established then its the cost of doing business but on the way up a couple of misses and you're screwed. Its not just the money your out but the time of doing 2 three shows like that. I know the old pros will say patience and it will gradually increase but I just think for the average Joe you are just going to resign yourself to just being a struggling hobbyist with no real chance of success.

 I think a retail location is the better approach.