 I love pottery and well picked knick-knacks for my house. When I tried - not very successfully - my hand at pottery, I made myself a berry bowl. PennyLanePottery does it much better with this bowl and plate. 3TealDragonflies has a whimsical teapot and foxglovefolkart a folksy candle holder so you can sit back with a cup of tea and great scented candle one relaxing May afternoon.
As a part of a May project to give Etsy Saskatchewan teamies a little promotion, I've put together a series of picks from a variety of team shops. Team leaders will share these on the team Facebook and Instagram accounts and we'd love if you share them, too! Have some cute picks you think would make a great post? Pass them along to [email protected]
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 Hand-painted Teapot (4 cups) - Birds and Cat in Cage Introduce Yourself: Fusing my love of clay and painting, I create hand glazed artwork on pottery and ceramics that is both functional and eye-catching. My name is Isabelle Rowell, I am a potter-ceramist and painter and I use only food safe glazes as I believe it is best when art can actually be used every day. I also create more traditional artworks by painting acrylic on canvas and wood. The challenge of creating artworks on pottery and ceramic is that you never know exactly how it will turn out until the kilning is finished. Misfire occasionally happen and when they do, I upcycle the remnants into jewellery pendants or home decor items like blind tassels. All my pieces are one-of-a-kind and each is made with details and a touch of humour. What is the name of your shop? The current name for my shop is 3 Teal Dragonflies Creations. The business name exists since 2008 (registered). How long has your Etsy shop been open? In this iteration, my shop has been opened in February 2012. Since end of 2015, 3 teal Dragonflies is now dedicated to Ceramic, Pottery and everything home and kitchen. I am slowly working on two others shop in order to get my other products out. I design all my branding myself (banners, business cards, logo etc.) It practices my graphic artist talents. The two other shops (empty at the moment) are named : Freed Dragonflies and Dragonflies Song. Freed Dragonflies will contain all my paintings and some template or package to help people create their own branding as well. I am well advanced with this one. I will have a lot of little things that I hope will help my fellow artists, not just art. I am at developing a product that I keep for myself at the moment. It is planned to be release in 2016, all being well. Dragonflies Song will contain my jewellery and purely decorative for the body. I am developing some tattoo drawing that people could potentially print out and bring to their preferred parlour. I am at testing all I have already made because I found out some of my necklace could potentially contain less solid material and fall apart when wear. Not a good idea, so I pull everything off. I’d be really glad some real jewellery people will want my bead and pendant instead of me having to work in an area I am not comfortable with.  Deep Sea Coral Reef Diving Hand-painted Salt and Pepper Shakers How long have you been doing your craft? Since birth? Seriously, I don’t know where I can put the line that say before I was not an artisan/artist? In painting, I earn my first reward when I was 7. I guess they really liked my painting because it never came back. So I have an original somewhere in France, whether it is still on display, I don’t know. I began doing pottery around the age of 10 or 11. It was a hobby most of my youth, even though through their great wisdom, mom and dad kept me busy in sport and music activities, even theater. If it comes with my first sales and customers base? It was 22 years ago. I still only was able to work on my art only a couple of days a week, but it was the first year I actually have to declare revenue coming from art and since then to keep track of expense and revenue. And then I moved to Saskatchewan 10 years ago, life became busy and my art fell somewhat by the wayside. For about five of those years, I just wanted to *fit in* . I still created, though. Only, when I made something, it was to give it away. I have been back at art on a fuller time since 2010. Although I still have butterflies calling myself an “artist”, I have to admit it is who I am.  Digital Art - Koi Fish and Hermit Crab How did you get started? All my career choices had been made to accommodate my art talent or used them, so there is no clear cut of when I started. My life is balancing act between fulfilling my artistic ambitions and “working for a living”. Everything I ever learned outside the studio helps me with my art business, not just the studio time! I am thankful for all these office positions I held. They allowed me to learn keeping my own book, market; draw my own logo and business cards, research for new products and shipping. From my first diploma (that was as a drafting person) through years as webmaster, support and computer graphic or multimedia down to communication and radio journalism, I accumulate enough skills to be a one woman show. I made it to university, still hobbying on painting, earning awards and I built (at the time) solid community participation with other artists. I also had enough customers to not need usual night shift to cover my education expenses. Where can people find you online? For the moment, I am having a Facebook page under my first shop name: 3 Teal Dragonflies. What do you like about selling on Etsy? Exposure: It provides me an affordable international exposure and facilitated sales outside my locality. Time management: Such a blessing that I can update my products at 2 am in the morning or while on a trip to Edmonton for other purposes, or during my lunch hours IF and WHEN I have a contract that is not art. Community: Although I would prefer face to face local involvement, being able to encourage other artists is really important for me. Etsy allows me to do that in spite of being geographically distant. At least with Etsy, I can distribute hearts around, encourage on forum, help other artists, do treasuries, leave comments with the one we since connected on Facebook and instagram. I just love to see people doing what they are the best to do and Etsy empower me to do something for other people that might otherwise feel isolated. Inclusivity: On Etsy, we have one color, one culture, one language: we are artists and artisans. Period. Using my skills: There is no better way to show a potential customer that you can do what you are ask for than showing it to them rather than telling them.
What brought you to Etsy? I tried a few time prior to open a shop and dabbed in different platforms. Originally, I wanted to find an indirect way to show up that I work well and build a portfolio. My first shop was in 2008; I deleted it. I tried different venues. I mostly wanted to have a place that will not financially drain me by the month but rather at usage. It took me 4 years to get back to Etsy after I left the first time. It more comes from the fact that it is a way for the customer to get to know me for what I do.  Pastel Ladybug & Flowers Mug and Saucer What's been your best Etsy experience? So far? It ought to be the skull. Long story short, I created an Acadian French thematic skull... It was sold in a matter of hours! And that is when I realised how Etsy and social media can be powerful. The key to selling is not a one size fit all 1-2-3 big kept secret recipe you can buy from me (or anyone else) at $19.99 a month: the key to selling is being seen. Acquire your skills, have something you are passionate and competent at, put it out there and have as many people possible to see it and you will find a niche and sell. No other magic hocus pocus. It takes just one person, the right person to see your pieces. This would have taken years in conventional setting! For the skull: I had not even had the time to translate the description yet, in French nor in Spanish. From the minute it went online, I had 6 offers in convo, 8 on Facebook. Not all 15 of them ended up in other products sold because many people wanted that specific original or a copy of it. I do not do copy and of course I had only one original. The momentum it created gave me enough revenue to pay myself a retreat I was contemplating for a while and that in turn made me better at doing art. I mean, I am thankful for every single interaction I have on Etsy, even if it does not result in a sale: people are so supportive. They challenge you to be at your best too! Numerous times, I sold when I least expected it, items I was told will never sell. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? Since moving out here, I have not really had the freedom to create exactly what I wanted. I am now looking forward moving back into doing more of my own clay and ceramic works to paint on. It has been on my mind a lot and I have space now. I have my own molds and kiln (out of storage). That will allow me more flexibility to customize the products I offer and to cater to a wider range of people in a more timely fashion.  Red-Winged Black Bird Vase  Ceramic Pottery Mugs Introduce Yourself: I am Vicki Gauthier of Prince Albert, SK and I make functional pottery for people to use in their home. I use handmade pottery myself at home as often as I can and I want others to know how great a handmade piece of art can be in everyday use. What's Your Shop's Name? Penny Lane Pottery What do you make/sell? How do you make it? I make functional pottery like bowls, mugs, plates, honey pots, wine cups and wine goblets. I make all of my pottery on a pottery wheel and fire the dried pots in a kiln in my home studio. I also mix my own glazes and decorate each pot before the final firing.
How long has your Etsy shop been open? I opened my shop in December 2012. How long have you been doing your craft? I have been making pottery since 1997 when I moved to Prince Albert, SK. How did you get started? I got started in pottery by taking classes at the Prince Albert Arts Centre. The three hours of my first class went by in an instant and I was hooked by the new skill I was learning. I was fascinated by the entire process of preparing the clay for throwing, learning to centre the clay on the wheel, making a pot, drying and firing the pot in a kiln. The decorating and glazing process was so creative and artistic and something that I had never been exposed to before. I was thrilled at what a magical transformation a glazed pot goes through in the final firing in the kiln...spectacular results!!!  Red Wine Goblets Where can people find you online? Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyLanePottery Twitter: https://twitter.com/vixbug @vixbug Instagram: @penny_lane_pottery Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/vgaut/ What do you like about selling on Etsy? I love selling on Etsy because my pottery has been shipped across Canada, the U.S. and even to Singapore! Selling pottery in person at art sales is also a great experience since I'm able to interact directly with my customers. But selling on Etsy exposes my pottery to so many more potential customers and people are really excited when they've made a purchase, they can't wait for their purchase to arrive. What brought you to Etsy? Someone I met at an art sale introduced me to Etsy as an online platform for selling. When I investigated what it would take to get my shop up and running...I knew it was a good fit as another selling venue for my business.  Honey Pot What's been your best Etsy experience? Etsy has been a fantastic addition to my business. Every selling experience has been great. My most challenging and most fun sale was to a woman living in South Africa who was travelling in France and shipping 2 bowls to the neighbour of the bride - her niece (living in Boston). Thankfully the bowls arrived just before the wedding, all in one piece, and the bride loved the gift! Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? My Etsy shop is a great venue for selling my pottery outside of Saskatchewan. I sell in person at the Evergreen Artisan Market in Prince Albert every year and I will be selling at Sundog Arts and Entertainment Faire in Saskatoon this year too. While these are great venues and my local customers come to see me at these sales, Etsy provides a great platform for expanding my customer base.  Butter Dish |
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