ACGA National

Just a reminder that the entry deadline for ACGA's first national juried competition is only two months away, with an October 30th postmark. This competition is open to all US artists who create handmade clay and glass artwork. You do not need to join ACGA to enter. The show will take place January 22 through March 4, 2011, at the City of Brea Art Gallery in southern California near Los Angeles.

ACGA members and City of Brea residents are entitled to a discounted entry fee. They can enter three pieces for the entry price of two ($25), or enter two pieces for the price of one ($15). An entry of just one piece will not be discounted.

It is a good idea to have your artwork professionally photographed. Entries must be submitted on a CD, at 300 dpi, no longer that 6 inches, and jpg format. In the San Francisco area I can recommend J. Jones as a photographer, 415-773-8784. In Los Angeles I like K&M Photography, 310-306-7574, www.kmdigitalphoto.com, ask for Tim. Most photographers will resize your images and put them on a CD for a small extra fee.

Go to www.acga.net for a link to the prospectus. Email questions to 2011ACGAnational@gmail.com

Letter From the President

I hope everyone who showed their work at the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival had a good show and even better sales, though I know some people did not. As I'm sure many already guessed, our sales were down this year. It is easy to explain it by saying it's the economy or maybe even World Cup! But I happen to think there are any factors at work when it comes to whether or not people buy at any given show, and the economy is just one factor.

Two weeks after Palo Alto, I did another show at Fort Mason called the Renegade Craft Fair. The Renegade Fair is a very different show from Palo Alto in that it highlights "indie craft and design," a term that is partially a code word for the next generation of young, emerging craftspeople and artists. Despite the differences between Palo Alto and Renegade, I couldn't help but compare certain aspects of the two shows. While Palo Alto caters to a sophisticated and educated buyer/collector, the Renegade largely brings in the 20 and 30-somethings, younger people who are just starting to establish homes and families, and are very interested in buying handmade and local.

The Renegade crowd doesn't have the big bucks that we see in Palo Alto, but what the two audiences have in common are a serious dedication to connecting to artists and learning to appreciate handcrafted items. It made me think about how many of our audience members at Palo Alto are getting older, and not as interested in collecting anymore as they retire and move into smaller homes and a different phase of life. Even many of our exhibiting members are getting older and to be frank, I do not see the next generation of clay and glass artists replacing them in our exhibiting membership. Where will that leave the ACGA in another 15 years?

As your "next generation" president, one of my interests is bringing in the next group of emerging artists and buyers to our association. But I can't do it by myself. Paying dues and showing up once at year at Palo Alto isn't enough to keep the ACGA relevant and interesting. I need members with ideas, energy, and a dedication to being active within our community. Come to a board meeting to pitch an idea, mentor a younger artist through the jury process, write an article for the newsletter. These are just a couple of things any member can do to keep the juices flowing, both for ourselves and our future. What do you think?

Letter from the President

The Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival is almost here, and I hope you are feeling the anticipation and excitement. I'm a little jaded when it comes to "craft shows", but I think the Palo Alto show is special and I look forward to it every year. I love Palo Alto for two reasons: I get to hang out with my favorite clay and glass pals and sell side by side with them, and the audience at Palo Alto are just as high quality as the work you see there. If only every show had customers like the Palo Alto show: people who love clay and glass, who are interested and educated about the medium, and are willing to spend the money supporting the artists whose work they love.

"Educating the customer" is a common theme when artists are learning how to sell and market their work, and thinking of clever ways to do that without feeling like a used car salesman can be a challenge to artists. I used to be a big fan of the "mellow sell" which comes down to, "You like it? Then buy it. You don't like it? Don't buy it." Not a lot of room there to tell the story of my work and get people interested in what I do. But educating the audience is key to creating a smart and appreciative customer, people who will not only buy from you, but buy from other artists. Creating a culture of buying handmade, locally crafted art is essential for our future as makers and artists.

As I've become more comfortable selling my work, I've gotten better at engaging the potential customers who walk in to my booth, and educating them about the what and how of my work. I have my own style and way of doing it which is still reflects my mellow approach, but my goal is to make sure that if the person can manage to resist buying a piece of my work, they are going to walk out of my booth with a shred of new knowledge about ceramics. This year, I'm going to create fresh postcards that have more than just a pretty picture on them, but also some words about my story as an artist, part of my education campaign. A high quality audience takes maintenance, so take some time to think about your own ways of educating your customers before Palo Alto, or any show you may be doing this summer.

See you in Palo Alto!

J. Jones Photography at the Palo Alto Festival

As you may or may not have heard, Hap Sakwa will no longer be available to photograph artist's work at the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival this year. We will miss Hap and his photography skills. We will have available a new photographer on hand this year, J. Jones. J. has many years of experience photographing artist's work, including clay and glass. He is already the go-to man for many ACGA members already! Please take a look at some of the images below to get the flavor of J.'s style. If you wish to have your work photographed at the Festival, please call J. at 415-773-8784 for an appointment. He will be on hand in the Palo Alto Art Center Friday afternoon through Sunday.

J.'s rates are $22 per view, digital only. He will give you a CD of your work or put your work on your own flash drive when you pick up your pieces. CD's are an extra $5, but you can avoid this charge if you bring your own CD.

Exciting Juror for the ACGA Clay and Glass National Juried Competition

The juror for the upcoming ACGA Clay & Glass National is independent curator, historian and author Jo Lauria. Ms. Lauria is the recent author of Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects. This book accompanies Craft in America, the PBS television series, as well as the traveling exhibition of the same name, which is also curated by Ms. Lauria. She is the author of Color and Fire: Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950 – 2000; and is a former curator of decorative arts with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

ACGA is excited to have Ms. Lauria as the juror of our first national competition. Her knowledge and expertise should combine to create a stimulating survey of current American glass and ceramics. This is an excellent opportunity for artists to have their work seen by a nationally known curator, so now is the time to think about the type of work you would like to submit. Go to www.acga.net and scroll to the right side of the homepage for the prospectus, and remember, entries are due October 30th.

Letter from the President

Hello all ACGA members,

Spring is always a busy time of year for me and for any artist gearing up for summer shows and the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival. In the best case scenario, us artist types are inspired by the upcoming shows and are working hard creating our best work. But being an artist is an extremely challenging job, and finding inspiration can often be the most difficult aspect of our work.

I realized a long time ago that I am at my very happiest when my work is going well, and I'm at my lowest when my work is not going well, which usually translates into a lack of inspiration. Earlier this year I went through a few months of absolutely hating my work, and resisting the work that needs to be done on my production pieces, which pay the bills. While I was wallowing in my dark little place, I kept returning again and again to thoughts about what it means to be inspired, how you get inspired, and why inspiration is so elusive. I believe that one simply cannot be inspired to create all the time. In fact, it is essential to go through unproductive periods so your creative "well" can be replenished and you can fight your way back to that happy, inspired, productive place.

Still, knowing all of these things doesn't make the dry, uninspired periods any easier to suffer through. And there is no cure, other than to just get through it. Finally, after weeks of dragging around, I lit on an idea that made me excited to get into the studio, and I've been happily cooking along since. Here are a couple of things I came away with from this experience:

• It's okay and normal to be uninspired at times, and being angry at yourself about it is a waste of energy.
• Taking time away from the studio when things are not going well in there is a good thing.
• Complaining to yourself and others about how uninspired you are is not helpful; doing something completely different with your creative energy is. (I took an 8-week writing class and a paper cutting workshop.)

I would love to hear from some of you how you deal with your own uninspired times and how you regained your creative flow. You can post your thoughts about this letter on the ACGA blog and share some of your ideas with other ACGA members. There's no sense in suffering if you can't gain a bit of wisdom from it and pass it along to others!

Letter from the President

Hello ACGA members,

Don't let the weather fool you, summer is on its way, and with it the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival! It's not too early to start making plans to make this a successful show for yourself. Now is the time to start thinking about the exciting new work you would like to make, any changes you need to make to your booth set-up to make it more enticing and inviting, ordering business and post cards promoting your work, and planning your marketing campaign. And by marketing campaign, I mean sending out your postcards and emails to your customers and fans.

I've been known to send out postcards just a week ahead of time, which is probably not very effective in giving my customers time to clear the date and make a plan to go to the Palo Alto Festival. I've learned that planning is the best way to get myself to do things in a timely way, and yes, I learned that all by myself. Nowadays, I mark the dates on the calendar when the postcards and the email needs to go out. I add to my calendar any other thing that I need to do to prepare for Palo Alto, like repainting my display shelves, making special signage, ordering extra bags and tissue, and making sure my drape and curtains are not covered with spots and stains from whatever last event I dragged them to.

Next to making your best work, a beautiful booth design is probably one of the most effective ways to bring in new customers. A great booth with well-displayed work takes time and effort to create. If you aren't 100% comfortable with the way your booth is functioning, spend some time using your creativity to solve some of the issues, and don't be satisfied with the same old same old. Think about what you like to see in a booth, what draws you in, and apply some of that magic to your own space. The creativity that you apply to your clay or your glass can definitely be utilized in a 10' x 10' space. It's your space, you paid for it... make the most of it!

Whitney