Favorite tools 2-ounce squeeze bottles with removable tips
Studio Wishlist Walls to provide a defined separation from the home
Studio
I have a studio tucked into the garage of the home we built in 2017. We live on a little less than two acres in a quiet neighborhood of the small urban city of West Fargo, North Dakota. It is 15 Å~ 25 feet (4.5 Å~ 7.6 m), a generous one-stall garage basically. It is small but efficiently organized to maximize workflow. Within the space, I have a couple electric kilns: an older Paragon and a Skutt 1227. One of my favorite things about the space is the access to a sink and hose hookup along with a floor drain. I use an electric pressure washer to spray down my floors throughout the year so dust and grime aren’t carried into our home. I’ve sectioned off the space with shelving units lined with pegboard to make walls used to hang tools and test tiles. My wheel is set up at the end of a shelving unit with a pegboard above to hold throwing tools. I also have a slab roller and a couple of worktables with storage below. In addition, I recently added a slip-mixing tank and have molds for slip casting some of my forms. The space is heated with geothermal floor heat throughout the garage to battle the -50ÅãF (-46ÅãC) wind chills in the long winter months.
Many of the layout and studio design decisions were influenced by my previous studio experiences. Before moving into our home, we rented a townhome with a garage studio equipped with one light bulb, a space heater, and water access from the third level of our house. I knew if I invested in shelving, tables, and equipment, they could move along with me. Moving into my current space with equipment and the basics of light, heat, and water allowed me to hit the ground running. The organization and cleanliness of the space are a product of my type-A personality in combination with my residency experience at Belger Crane Yard Studios in Kansas City, an immaculately clean and organized community ceramic center.
In addition, I also have a small office inside our home where I keep the finished pieces, take photos, make listings, and ship orders. It is full of shelving for inventory, boxes, and photo equipment.
Having control and access to my own kiln is my favorite part. Toting work back and forth for kiln access is doable, but having my own kilns has increased the frequency and amount of work I make.
Paying Dues (and Bills)
I went to Minnesota State University Moorhead and earned a BS in art education and a BFA in ceramics. Though I never worked in a traditional classroom setting, I did teach a lot in community studio and museum settings.
Since June 2016, I’ve been working on making a life as a full-time ceramic artist. My work schedule mirrors daycare hours Monday through Friday, with occasional after-bedtime and weekend work. I try to keep it around 40 hours per week but know it is probably more if I count the times I quickly step into the studio to check something or jump into the office to pack an order. I spend my time split between making and admin work. In the studio, I prep and plan ahead as much as I can in order to get into a flow state when working with the clay. I alternate my prep by processes each week. For instance, weeks 1 and 3 of the month are slab weeks, while weeks 2 and 4 are casting and throwing weeks. Each week also includes some firing and glazing to keep the ball rolling. I work in batches of a kiln load at a time from start to finish.
Within our household, I am the flexible partner and household manager, but I have great support and help from my husband when his work schedule allows. We both work really hard to put family first and balance the work of our jobs. All that being said, I want to acknowledge the safety net I have doing this career, because we’re married, he carries the health insurance, and we have stability through his work. In our current economy, I appreciate this so much. It has been a tough economic year for many small businesses and makers.
Marketing
I spend much of my marketing and sales efforts online. It allows me the flexibility to be home with my young boys while selling any time of the day or year. The internet has incredible reach and has surprised me with sales from every continent in the world except Antarctica. Social media and keeping an email list is very important to this strategy. I post regularly on Instagram because consistency is important in gaining reach. I try to aim for a few times a week and mostly focus on videos. I don’t have a strict schedule but keep this on my to-do list as a habit tracker each week. I also try to send a newsletter that is broken up into three categories, behind the scenes/studio updates, upcoming events, and sharing another artist I’m inspired by.
Over the years, I’ve created websites on all the major sites including Wix, Squarespace, Etsy, Faire, and now Shopify. Someone mentioned their New Year’s goal was to keep their Etsy open with listings all year round. Since hearing that, I’ve had a similar goal to always have work available to purchase on my own website. This includes in-stock items as well as made-to-order listings for some items. Currently, I have a little over 500 listings created on my site and about 160 in stock. Once a listing is created, I reuse that listing if I create a similar item. Of course, there is some variation from piece to piece, but I put a disclaimer on each listing explaining the nature of handmade items and how they fall on this spectrum.
In addition, I sell my earring line wholesale on Faire, a website marketplace that connects independent artisans and makers to independent retailers. Earrings are created with the same technique as my pottery and are easy to ship to shops because of their size and weight. I shifted to wholesaling just earrings after realizing the wholesale model when applied to my pots didn’t make sense for the labor and cost.
There is one shop in Fargo I stock with my pottery, Unglued. I also regularly apply to their in-person markets and craft fest. I support them because they make our community of Fargo incredible.
Finally, this year I’ll be participating for the first time in the 2024 St. Croix Pottery Tour at host potter Matthew Krousey’s studio in Minnesota over Mother’s Day weekend. I’m currently creating a plan for the next 6 months for the hundreds of pots I need to make and bring. I’ve been an avid attendee for many years and feel very honored to be part of another community-centered in-person sale.
Mind
I love this creative life. My focus at the moment is shifting away from clay and toward developing new patterns in my sketchbook. The surface designs featured on my pots often come from my personal experiences, whether it is looking at our flower gardens or finding bugs with our boys. We spend a lot of time together coloring and I love seeing how they imagine things to look. They have fearless confidence and humor within their sketches, which I try to absorb as much as possible.
To recharge, I like to spend time in our yard. I love a good fire any time of the day, love working on a house project that flexes my creative muscles in a different way, and enjoy no-plan days where we make it up as we go.
Overall, I’m trying to embrace the moments of stepping away from the studio because there will always be a to-do list that is never complete. Instead, I look at the studio as a habit of showing up consistently but not excessively. To me, the work is so much of my identity, but to the close other people in my life, the work is a small part of who I am and how I show up.
Most Important Lesson
The best advice I have is to do the work. The ideas and goals need to come out of your efforts and from your hands. The romantic parts of being an artist ebb and flow with time and have little to do with talent. The real challenge is showing up routinely, trying ideas out tangibly, and putting in the hours of practice into your craft.
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Just the Facts
Clay
Earthenware, currently testing a few different types for throwing and slip casting
Primary forming method
A combination of throwing, hand building, and slip casting
Primary firing temperature
Low-fire electric
Favorite surface treatment
Screen-printed newsprint slip transfers
Favorite tools
2-ounce squeeze bottles with removable tips
Studio Wishlist
Walls to provide a defined separation from the home
Studio
I have a studio tucked into the garage of the home we built in 2017. We live on a little less than two acres in a quiet neighborhood of the small urban city of West Fargo, North Dakota. It is 15 Å~ 25 feet (4.5 Å~ 7.6 m), a generous one-stall garage basically. It is small but efficiently organized to maximize workflow. Within the space, I have a couple electric kilns: an older Paragon and a Skutt 1227. One of my favorite things about the space is the access to a sink and hose hookup along with a floor drain. I use an electric pressure washer to spray down my floors throughout the year so dust and grime aren’t carried into our home. I’ve sectioned off the space with shelving units lined with pegboard to make walls used to hang tools and test tiles. My wheel is set up at the end of a shelving unit with a pegboard above to hold throwing tools. I also have a slab roller and a couple of worktables with storage below. In addition, I recently added a slip-mixing tank and have molds for slip casting some of my forms. The space is heated with geothermal floor heat throughout the garage to battle the -50ÅãF (-46ÅãC) wind chills in the long winter months.
Many of the layout and studio design decisions were influenced by my previous studio experiences. Before moving into our home, we rented a townhome with a garage studio equipped with one light bulb, a space heater, and water access from the third level of our house. I knew if I invested in shelving, tables, and equipment, they could move along with me. Moving into my current space with equipment and the basics of light, heat, and water allowed me to hit the ground running. The organization and cleanliness of the space are a product of my type-A personality in combination with my residency experience at Belger Crane Yard Studios in Kansas City, an immaculately clean and organized community ceramic center.
In addition, I also have a small office inside our home where I keep the finished pieces, take photos, make listings, and ship orders. It is full of shelving for inventory, boxes, and photo equipment.
Having control and access to my own kiln is my favorite part. Toting work back and forth for kiln access is doable, but having my own kilns has increased the frequency and amount of work I make.
Paying Dues (and Bills)
I went to Minnesota State University Moorhead and earned a BS in art education and a BFA in ceramics. Though I never worked in a traditional classroom setting, I did teach a lot in community studio and museum settings.
Since June 2016, I’ve been working on making a life as a full-time ceramic artist. My work schedule mirrors daycare hours Monday through Friday, with occasional after-bedtime and weekend work. I try to keep it around 40 hours per week but know it is probably more if I count the times I quickly step into the studio to check something or jump into the office to pack an order. I spend my time split between making and admin work. In the studio, I prep and plan ahead as much as I can in order to get into a flow state when working with the clay. I alternate my prep by processes each week. For instance, weeks 1 and 3 of the month are slab weeks, while weeks 2 and 4 are casting and throwing weeks. Each week also includes some firing and glazing to keep the ball rolling. I work in batches of a kiln load at a time from start to finish.
Within our household, I am the flexible partner and household manager, but I have great support and help from my husband when his work schedule allows. We both work really hard to put family first and balance the work of our jobs. All that being said, I want to acknowledge the safety net I have doing this career, because we’re married, he carries the health insurance, and we have stability through his work. In our current economy, I appreciate this so much. It has been a tough economic year for many small businesses and makers.
Marketing
I spend much of my marketing and sales efforts online. It allows me the flexibility to be home with my young boys while selling any time of the day or year. The internet has incredible reach and has surprised me with sales from every continent in the world except Antarctica. Social media and keeping an email list is very important to this strategy. I post regularly on Instagram because consistency is important in gaining reach. I try to aim for a few times a week and mostly focus on videos. I don’t have a strict schedule but keep this on my to-do list as a habit tracker each week. I also try to send a newsletter that is broken up into three categories, behind the scenes/studio updates, upcoming events, and sharing another artist I’m inspired by.
Over the years, I’ve created websites on all the major sites including Wix, Squarespace, Etsy, Faire, and now Shopify. Someone mentioned their New Year’s goal was to keep their Etsy open with listings all year round. Since hearing that, I’ve had a similar goal to always have work available to purchase on my own website. This includes in-stock items as well as made-to-order listings for some items. Currently, I have a little over 500 listings created on my site and about 160 in stock. Once a listing is created, I reuse that listing if I create a similar item. Of course, there is some variation from piece to piece, but I put a disclaimer on each listing explaining the nature of handmade items and how they fall on this spectrum.
In addition, I sell my earring line wholesale on Faire, a website marketplace that connects independent artisans and makers to independent retailers. Earrings are created with the same technique as my pottery and are easy to ship to shops because of their size and weight. I shifted to wholesaling just earrings after realizing the wholesale model when applied to my pots didn’t make sense for the labor and cost.
There is one shop in Fargo I stock with my pottery, Unglued. I also regularly apply to their in-person markets and craft fest. I support them because they make our community of Fargo incredible.
Finally, this year I’ll be participating for the first time in the 2024 St. Croix Pottery Tour at host potter Matthew Krousey’s studio in Minnesota over Mother’s Day weekend. I’m currently creating a plan for the next 6 months for the hundreds of pots I need to make and bring. I’ve been an avid attendee for many years and feel very honored to be part of another community-centered in-person sale.
Mind
I love this creative life. My focus at the moment is shifting away from clay and toward developing new patterns in my sketchbook. The surface designs featured on my pots often come from my personal experiences, whether it is looking at our flower gardens or finding bugs with our boys. We spend a lot of time together coloring and I love seeing how they imagine things to look. They have fearless confidence and humor within their sketches, which I try to absorb as much as possible.
To recharge, I like to spend time in our yard. I love a good fire any time of the day, love working on a house project that flexes my creative muscles in a different way, and enjoy no-plan days where we make it up as we go.
Overall, I’m trying to embrace the moments of stepping away from the studio because there will always be a to-do list that is never complete. Instead, I look at the studio as a habit of showing up consistently but not excessively. To me, the work is so much of my identity, but to the close other people in my life, the work is a small part of who I am and how I show up.
Most Important Lesson
The best advice I have is to do the work. The ideas and goals need to come out of your efforts and from your hands. The romantic parts of being an artist ebb and flow with time and have little to do with talent. The real challenge is showing up routinely, trying ideas out tangibly, and putting in the hours of practice into your craft.
www.catie-miller.com
Instagram: @catiemillerceramics
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