Sue McLeod

Described as the most supportive guy on the internet by numerous people, today’s interview with Bill Schwenzer feels long overdue. Better known as Aliveguy Pottery, we talk about his career transition from corporate quality control to clay, his commitment to thoughtful encouragement online and his unique approach to delayed gratification all while continuing to push himself outside of his comfort zone and not get too bogged down in analyzing. 

I reached out to chat with Stanley after seeing his “Thoughts and Prayers” series - a powerful body of work creating strong visuals on the actual effects of a bullet striking a form. A series, he actually made more than a year ago. And yet, only recently and quite suddenly, has gotten quite a lot of recognition. We talk about how the series came about and what’s happened in the year since, as well as the time he’s taking to figure out the next steps, instead of letting the internet push him into a constant state of urgency. Not to mention, the decision to use a platform to express a message and what may or may not happen if that message changes. In other words: Do you keep making the work you know people want, or… Do you change?

If you weren’t learning how to carve intricate designs in sourdough bread in 2020, odds are, you might have been learning how to make pottery. And while this is true for today’s guest, Tim Clark, that wasn’t all. Tim also was learning how to make pottery and navigate the rest of life after a spontaneous tear of the retina left him half blind. There seems to be quite the thru line for many of us finding pottery as a therapeutic thing, but Tim has taken this one step farther, in starting the Blindfold Challenge to help raise awareness and frankly, a bit of money, for an amazing cause called the Fun Eye Fund. 

In this episode, we talk all about that plus how Tim has found the Blindfold Challenge cathartic in ways he didn’t expect and his new endeavors into creating art that’s accessible not only for us sighted humans, but equally enjoyable for those in the blindness community.

How do you stay okay even when it doesn't feel like your business isn't going well? Because while we might feel pulled to log the long hours and push ourselves to "work harder" to "grind it out," in reality, we can't really come up with new, interesting, creative solutions when we're exhausted or stressed or frankly, freaking out. As foolish as it might feel to get up and go for a walk instead of "being productive" it might also be exactly that walk that brings you a clever idea to turn things around. Because as today's guest, Clare Barboza (who's been self-employed for about 25 years now), reflected, "It’s not going to stay this way. That’s what you learn as an entrepreneur. There are cycles. Nothing stays the same.”

Leap and you’ll learn to fly… The key to success is action… The best way to predict the future is to create it… How many of these tropes have you heard? They are usually associated with that scary first step of making a change in your life to go after something you are dreaming about. And while yes, sure, there is often a moment where, regardless of preparation or planning, making a big change feels scary and you just have to finally do the darn thing - at the same time, there are also very real considerations to be made before you take that leap. 

While encouraging each other to go after our dreams and make them happen is important, and while I do believe it is possible to build viable small art businesses for ourselves (clearly), these entrepreneurial tropes - leap and you’ll learn to fly - might actually be doing more damage than good. Sometimes, we leap with the best of intentions, excitement and even planning, and life doesn’t go the way we had envisioned. And frankly, that process isn’t something that gets talked about very often. Which is exactly why I was so impressed with Xioma Ortiz of Hello Xioma and creator of the Domies when she was sharing publicly about the painful decision to close her solo studio.

So what does it mean if the work we’re making isn’t as impermanent as we think? Does it have to be in order to have value? Is there still value when it breaks? 

Thinking about becoming a full time artist is a dream that lingers in the back of many people’s minds. And my assumption is, whenever any of us are dreaming about a change, we mostly think that if we took this leap, if we didn’t have to be bothered with showing up to an office for someone else Monday through Friday, we’d have more time to do the thing we love - to make. But is that what the change is really like? Is selling your work after you

do

What do you do when what you did for fun becomes your job?

So what does it mean if the work we’re making isn’t as impermanent as we think? Does it have to be in order to have value? Is there still value when it breaks? 

Today, I’m thrilled to partner with the one and only Metropolitan Museum of Art to feature an episode from their own podcast - Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time. Each episode examines a material of art - like clay, stone, or even trash and what they can reveal about history and humanity. On today's episode, you're about to hear the story of Stone I recently listened to from their Season 2 launch. The discussion about what happens when the unbreakable not only breaks but shatters had me constantly thinking about every message I’ve ever sent to someone who’s favorite mug has broken. And I wonder how we all might think a little differently about our less than permanent items after listening to this episode of Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time…

As I reflected on what we're doing differently for this market season compared to last year's, I realized a trend that I've also seen after teaching over 200 makers inside our MPSS photography course and journeying along side nearly 100 makers inside of The Community for the past 3 years. And while I don't really believe in magic silver bullets to assured success, this one trait just might be the determining factor from those that do continue to find success vs. those that, understandably, give up.

What does it even mean to “be an artist?” Does it mean you are making work you like to make? Is that art? Does it mean someone else considers you to be whatever their definition of “artist” is? Does it mean not having another job? Or can you be an artist and do something else? Does doing something else actually better allow you to be an artist? Putting it more succinctly, how do you become an artist?

On today’s episode I virtually sit down with Isaac Scott, one of NCECA’s 2024 Emerging Artists, to discuss his own journey in becoming an artist - from first discovering clay, making production work, transitioning to fine art, and ultimately, continuing to figure out how to keep showing up. Because, spoiler alert, perhaps the answer to all of those questions is found in simply (or not so simply) to keep showing up.

If you’re side-hustling your ceramics, are you anxiously awaiting the day you can quit the day job? But what if the day job was actually providing you with the chance to learn to be better at your craft? And no, I’m not talking about a job associated with what you make. I mean a day job totally different than what you dream about making, a job in an office, in a “traditional” employment structure, absolutely not at all associated with the art world. What if that job was actually helping inform how you might be able to dream even bigger about what you could do with your own making business? It might sound crazy, but that’s exactly what Nicole Bernard of NB Makes has been able to find through her communications career. Nicole is balancing a long list of worlds she moves between - from a communications career to growing NB Makes to sitting on boards that make major decisions about funding and somehow also finding the time to commit to a running group. Nicole is taking what she learns from one space and applying it to another - from business to art and art to business. And I think this holistic approach just might be the breath of fresh air so many of us multi-passionate people have been looking for.