Soft Launch -Open Shop - Market Research - Thank You

1st December - Now the opening of a kiln is very 'nervciting' and there are highs and lows. I was so pleased that:

• All pieces that had survived to enter the glaze firing came out in one piece, at 1220 Celsius, there can be explosions! I have learnt, never to fall in love with a piece until it has survived the whole journey...bone dry clay, the last stage before bisque firing is so fragile, you drive with your carefully wrapped work around every pothole with everything crossed, quite a challenge on our roads!
• The clear glazing that Rebecca recommended obviously liked my underglaze, good chemistry & heat work happened in the kiln.

I wasn't pleased, always the self critical parrot on my shoulder:

• 'pink' underglaze burned out in the kiln, this totally changed the appearance of two significant pieces. It transpires I was miss sold the underglaze, we are still working to come up with the solution.
• 'mid brown' underglaze also did not perform as expected, yet to investigate this but potentially contains some of the same base pigments as pink...Note to self, double check what you order against what the glaze bottle says. The bottles specify kiln temperature. Even though the product on the website had the specific kiln temperature on the bottle, the bottle I received had a maximum temperature of 1111 Celsius.

Decision time, the last Xmas fair was only a day away, postal strikes meant, table coverings and labels needed to present my work had not arrived, nor would I have had time to seep & pour test any vessels, catalogue and photograph (ready to put onto a website -yet to be built:), price, label, and display. Also, still lacked the confidence to go out there. I decided on a soft launch, invite friends to an 'open shop' at my house. Dress the dining table as I would imagine I would at a fair, hoping all deliveries would turn up, I sent an invite out for the following week. Little did I know the plasterer we had been waiting on for a month would be free the exact same two days! In for a penny in for a pound!
I asked my friends to help me carry out some 'market research', being able to give their honest opinions about colours, pricing, and popular items, and suggestions all to go in a jar. There was absolutely no pressure to buy but they could if they wanted to, with the only request that I can keep the pieces until the 'shop 'closes, so that everyone could see the variety in my work.
It was the coldest week of the year so far, I was blown away by the support I was given and the response to my work. It was the huge confidence boost that I needed. I took orders for repeat items, with the proviso as it is 'handmade it will be similar but not the same', lots of suggestions were made. Note to self - just because I may not love something, or the colours don't work for me, didn't mean someone else loved it. I need to remember this.
Writing this a month later still fills me with the same buzzy feeling. I am punishing myself, not allowing myself to open a fresh bag of clay until I have this website up and running...not where my forte lies:) Hopefully when you're reading this, I will be in my 'happy space'.