The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 48 No 3 November 2009

Tech nical: Selling Ceramics
For Love or Money?
Samantha Robinson talks about how she pursues her love of ceramics and
makes money at the same time
lett: Samantha at the wheel
right Porcelain decal tea cups
In life we follow our interests, passions and
obsessions. We do this to fulfill ourselves, satisfy our
souls and to keep getting out of bed everyday. But
there has to be more to life than just work, doesn't
there?
In 1994, whilst working full time as a waitress
at the Bathers Pavilion, I was taking a break middouble
shift and rubbing my feet whilst calling my
mum to check that my 18-month-old baby girl,
Fauve, was doing fine. Hearing her giggling in the
background made the next six hours seem okay. I
was a young single mum dreaming of what I wanted
to be when I grew up. Leafing my way through the
TAFE handbook during that break, I came across
the Studio Potters Certificate course where it stated
that I could learn the skills to become a fully fledged
studio potter. I could make work and run a studio.
Brilliant! It sounded so simple!
Now, fifteen years later - one TAFE course, one apprenticeship, two degrees, many classes teaching
pottery, many disasters, many commissions, good and bad and many pots and, auspiciously, another 18-
month-old baby girl called Willow - I now have a great studio and, yes, I make a living from what I love
doing everyday. Thank you to the TAFE handbook and, yes, it is possible to do what we love for both
love and money.
I have found the love or money debate to be a common topic of conversation amongst fellow
potters. I have thrown pots, wedged clay, scrubbed floors and fired kilns with many different local and
international potters. The topics of money and selling work somehow always manage to creep into the
conversation and all have the underlying theme: how do you make enough money to continue on your
pursuit of making the perfect pot that sings and feeds your kids at the same time? The most obvious
solution is to sell the pots that we love to make and with this realisation we must step outside the safety
of our beloved studios and deal with the world of capitalism.
Whilst studying I was continually reminded by my teachers that to become a really good potter you
must be able to make many, many, pots. I am suq; Bill Samuels, former Head of Ceramics, National Art
School, had it set at around a hundred thousand. ¥\fter leaving the warm kiln rooms (with free access to
firing) and the safe accustomed world of art school, I set out on my quest. However, making a hundred
thousand pots costs money! How could I continue on my path towards the singing pots that I dreamed
of at night? All I needed now was a studio, a kiln, a wheel and materials and an ever-expanding list of
very expensive 'everythings'!
56 THE 10URNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2009