Tasha mckelvey’s Blog

Is Winter over yet?

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:49:54 -0500

I’m getting tired of waiting.

There has been a lot of snow this year for Richmond (and other even more in other places) and I am totally over Winter at this point. I’ve already started planting seeds for Spring on my window ledge to try and brighten things up a bit.

I have also been eagerly waiting for my new print materials to arrive. I got some items for my new Press Kit yesterday and it looks like my new retails catalogs for the kits will arrive on Monday (you can see the online version of the catalog here).

That’s it for now I need to get back to work to complete two big orders that need to go out next week!

Busy, Busy . . .

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 13:32:39 -0500

I’ve been busy planning and scheming for the coming year. I have been working in the studio a bit, but I really need to start marking off more than I add to my To-Do-List. Planning time is important, but so is productivity - there’s a balance to it all.

I’m working on a new project that will hopefully turn into a line of wall hangings and related decor items - it is a series of pieces featuring trees and woodland creatures, including gnomes & hedgehogs. It is very much inspired by things I adored as a child (and I still adore). Here’s more pictures of the project so far on Flickr.

Other things that have been going on:

I am setting up an Online Shop for my regular production items.

I had a nice little feature on Scoutie Girl with some of my new work.

I was a Visiting Artist for a few days at a school down in Gloucester

A picture of my studio was on the Craft blog.

Also our house was featured on Apartment Therapy!

Vote for me! Pretty please with a cherry on top.

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:01:04 -0500

I’ve been nominated for a Poppy Award! If you are a fan of my work won’t you vote for me?

Vote Here!

The Beginning of a New Year

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 12:40:50 -0500

2010 is a big year of anniversaries for me - 10 years since I graduated from college, my Tela Beagle is 10 years old this year (she was my promised Graduation gift from Jeremy before she was even born and then she actually came into the world on my Graduation Day) and our new-to-us old house turns 100.

2010 also marks the tenth year I have been a professional Ceramic Artist. I started my business in May 2000, just after I graduated from college. The time has flown by, but I can say that I have come a very long way from where I started. I did a bit of a review of my time as a working artist last year, you can find it here. The big changes in my business over the past year, include another studio move - this time into our very first home that we own - and the business has greatly expanded into the wholesale market. I went from about 10 wholesale accounts with shops & galleries this time last year to about 30 as of the end of 2009.

I have many new plans for 2010, some of which no doubt will begin to take form and some will have to be set aside, at least for a time, since we are not always able to do everything we would like in life. For me, it is important not to be too disappointed in myself when I realize I won’t be able to do everything I had planned to because - well, it just isn’t humanly possible. Yet it is so important to set goals and have high expectations for oneself, for me anyway - it is the only way to accomplish things really. The key thing is to recognize your achievements and not just your shortcomings. The ability to let go of things that don’t work out just as I had hoped, is a skill I plan to cultivate and hone in the coming months, both in my professional & personal lives.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well rested from the Holidays and ready for the adventures and challenges a new year always brings!

-Tasha McKelvey

My little family around the end of 2000

Hello 2010!

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 23:34:53 -0500

It has been a wonderful week and a half - the only work I have done has involved sitting on the couch ordering supplies and designing my new catalog. I am so thankful I got to see so many of my favorite people over the Holiday - both friends and family. I have also enjoyed a great many tasty meals as well.

I purchased a new camera the other day and have played around with it a bit, so enjoy the pictures and I wish you all a wonderful new year!

Happy Holidays!

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:55:20 -0500

Happy Holidays! We have a ton of snow here in Richmond and we never have snow for Christmas! I’ve been keeping busy finishing a few custom orders, making Holiday Gifts and coming up with new ideas for 2010!

Finding an Intern

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:24:59 -0500

Being finished with the Holiday Selling Season and not having any major projects lined up for the most part for the the first Quarter of 2010 has seriously freed up my creativity. This always happens this time of year. It’s like the “gotta make more stuff, gotta make more stuff” voice in my head finally shuts the hell up and I can actually hear my “you know, it would really cool if you did --blank--” voice can finally be heard again. I have ideas for new clay work, marketing, craftivism (craft + activism), my studio environment and how to manage all of it.

One of my first steps is that I am seriously thinking I would like to have an intern/apprentice sometime in early 2010 - working with and teaching someone about what exactly I do would be beneficial for me & the student.

Exactly what the intern would help me with would depend on what they were interested in. But if I had an extra pair of hands to do some office work, then I could get more done in the studio and/or an extra pair of hands in the studio and I could get more office work done. It would be an unpaid internship, but I could teach someone interested in having their craft or art based business quite a bit about the business end of it all or if someone had a basic background in clay I could pass along some of my knowledge and provide them with the opportunity to make some of their own work using my facilities (although they really couldn’t be looking to make BIG work, as my studio & kiln are on the small size). Ideally, the intern/apprentice would be interested in possibly having a clay based business sometime in the future.

I’m doing some research right now and here are some of the resources I have found so far on internships in the Craft field:

IndieBiz – How to get an Indie Intern
Intern or Employee? Legal Issues
Max & Chloe Vintage - Call for Intern (I find looking at examples of other people’s approach to a situation is always helpful in the learning process)
I need to think about all this a bit more, but if you know anyone in the Richmond area that might be interested in an internship/apprenticeship with me, let me know!

Wrapping Up

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:15:41 -0500

The last of the odds & ends of my wholesale orders will ship out tomorrow and I am taking a short break from throwing some last minute Holiday Gifts of my own right now.

Handmade Holiday is over until next year. I had been planning and organizing to help put on that craft show since the Summer! It was pretty darn successful if I say so myself - I have heard from a number of vendors that it was their best show ever. I learned some new lessons about planning events, like I definitely let go of the details way more than last year, having faith that the other planners responsible for a given task would handle it on their own. It was a much less stressful experience that way, but I also have a better idea about what does need extra attention next time around.

Holiday Wish List

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:05:31 -0500

Here’s a bunch of stuff I really like - and would be overjoyed to receive as gifts
*hint*hint* for anyone who cares . . .

The Long Holiday Weekend in Photos

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:26:53 -0500

Much food was eaten and many walks were taken - to combat the effects of said food.

Thanksgiving

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:54:32 -0500

Our first Thanksgiving in the new house in photos taken by my sister . . .

A Bit of My Weekend in Photos

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:25:43 -0500

Sunday Brunch at Millie’s & Walk around Church Hill
(photos by me & my iPhone)

Ashland Trunk Show is Tomorrow!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:55:02 -0500

My Sunday in Photos

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:39:03 -0500

Ginkgo in the Fall

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:28:36 -0500

This little tree was at our Ginkgo Themed Wedding in 2005 and we happily were able to plant it when we brought our first house in 2009. The tree goes nicely with one of my Bird Vases featuring the golden yellow ginkgo leaf of Fall.

My Sister’s Turkey Burger Photo was on Martha Stewart

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:44:29 -0500

My sister, Melissa, is a very talented at making and taking pictures of food. Despite her being far too calm about it (in my opinion), she had one of her photos on Martha Stewart this week! It was in a segment about Flickr and Lissa’s Turkey Burger was based on a Martha Stewart recipe (although Lissa didn’t toast the buns like the recipe called for, so Martha called her out on that!) Lissa has an awesome blog called The Boastful Baker that is a must read. My pottery is featured in many of her photos (in fact the plate in the Martha segment is part of a set Lissa & I collaborated on for her when I was still in college about 10 years ago). I often purchase handmade gifts for Melissa with the soul purpose of her using it in her food photos.

Here’s Melissa’s blog post about the Turkey Burger & Martha -
Martha Stewart scolded me for not toasting my buns

Ashland Trunk Show

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:44:11 -0500

The 10th Ashland Trunk Show is next Thursday (see the details above) - I will be there with my pottery & jewelry, but so will a bunch of other artists & crafters I consider friends, fellow Richmond Craft Mafia members and there’s even a former co-worker (seeing as I have been self-employed almost my entire adult life, a co-worker is a real rarity for me). Hope to see you there!

Full List of Artists for the Ashland Trunk Show

Some of my favorites:
Gwen Campbell
MaryEllen Kim
Modern Atelier
Suzanne Vinson
Susannah Raine
Erika Hollen
Vicki Kolar

Handmade Market in Raleigh this Saturday

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:03:46 -0500

I will at the Handmade Market in Downtown Raleigh on Saturday. It’s a great show, so if you’re in the area please stop by!

Here’s a little feature on me for the show:
Vendor Spotlight: Tasha McKelvey

I’m behind

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:54:58 -0400

I’m behind on a number of things right now - making stuff for upcoming shows, a few wholesale orders (that I was overly optimistic about how long they would take to fill) and some paperwork that needs to done yesterday. I want to resolve all of these overdue things this week if possible. Being behind is stressing me out.

I got behind because I took a few well-deserved personal days after Crafty Bastards (which would in themselves not put me behind), then I got a little bit of stuff done but not as much as I would have liked, then I took the weekend off to go on an annual camping trip (big deal - it was just one weekend), when I got home I had to get the application materials for Handmade Holiday together for the Jury to review (it took way longer than expected because we has a third more applicants than anticipated) and we also found out that my husband’s grandfather had passed away. My husband left a day later with his Dad for the funeral in Illinois and they wouldn’t be back until Saturday. We were planning to have an big annual party we host last Saturday, but because of my husband’s loss - it was decided that it would be postponed a week. Two days after my Father-In-Law and husband left (and the day after the Handmade Holiday Jury at my house) I noticed, as I was headed to the studio to get some work done, that my Father-In-Law’s car wasn’t parked in front of the house anymore - it was stolen! Many phone calls and statements were given, it was awful. Also, just for kicks, one of my debit card numbers got stolen. When my husband got home, he was coming down with a Cold (I went out to get all the immune boosting stuff I could find). Not to mention the weather all last week was horrible - it was suddenly cold, *very* overcast and rainy. The sun came back yesterday, thank goodness.

I got a fair amount of studio work done yesterday and today so far, with plans to get more done this evening. The house is in pretty good order for the party we are having on Saturday, it just needs to stay neat. There is however a mountain of laundry to fold, but I am making progress. Right now I am eating chicken soup & force-drying stuff in my kiln. Paperwork is next on my list - wish me luck!

-Tasha

A Critical Eye on Craft Show Application Images

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:21:55 -0400

I should be in the studio working right now, but I’m writing this instead because this has been a real crap week due to several events that occurred. So I’m not feeling all that inspired right now. Don’t get me wrong, some good things have happened this week like I found out I got into Holiday Heap in Baltimore and I did enjoy seeing almost all the Richmond Craft Mafia (RCM) girls at the meeting at my house last night.

The Craft Mafia meeting is what has me thinking about the images we crafters use to represent our work. We juried our holiday craft show at our meeting last night. I was responsible for preparing all the applicant images into a slideshow and supplementary worksheet to rate our applicants during the jury process. This means I spent the first three days of the week looking at, renaming, arranging and rearranging these images - so I became very familiar with this images - *very familiar* and have mentally put together some tips for Craft Show applicants as a result.

Little background here - I have been taking pictures of my craft work for about 10 years now, so I am pretty experienced. I started out on a crap click and shoot film camera when I was in college. I bought a nice 35 mm film camera when I graduated so I could try to take decent slides of my work to get into craft & gallery shows - and I was moderately successful at it. Then digital cameras finally became good enough to use, so I would take pictures with film and pixels during the same session because most shows still required slides. Then came the image cd, then the online applications and if a show actually wanted slides then I could order slides from digital images. I currently use a $150 7-megapixel pretty basic digital camera that I get some pretty good results from. I am thinking that I will upgrade my camera by the end of the year because, well, frankly I think I deserve it.

Back to product images of crafts. Us crafters and artists use images of our work to represent what we make in many situations where the actual work can’t be present like a show jury, selling online, marketing materials, etc. You might make awesome work, but very few people will be aware of it if you don’t have good images to represent your work. One option is to hire out your product photography, this a good option for getting really great images for show juries especially. It would probably be cost prohibitive for keeping an online shop well-stocked with one-of-a-kind or short run items though. I never went the professional photographer route myself - I’m very DIY (unless it has to do with gas lines, electric wiring or heights).

Sometimes I am just astounded by the images that some pretty darn good crafters send in for a craft show jury. I ask myself “What were they thinking?!” but I know the truth is most likely that they just don’t realize what that they were actually shooting themselves in the foot.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give to someone applying to a craft show is prepare your images carefully before you fill out that application. Your images are the most important part of your application! Maybe your work fits into an under-represented media category and you might slip by with marginally okay images of your work, but this is not the case most of the time. Most shows receive at least twice as many applications as spaces available, and some receive 4 or 5 times as many applications as spaces! That makes for some pretty tough competition.

If you make jewelry, which is currently a very popular craft form, then your competition is way tougher. If you make jewelry and work in another craft category as well, it is important not over promote your jewelry on your application - although some shows do require separate application for different media categories. I’m not saying to lie on your application, but if you make cool stuff that isn’t jewelry you should let the show jury know about it!

Also make sure that a particular craft show is a good fit for you - if you make Country Crafts than an Indie Craft Show probably isn’t a good fit for you and visa versa.

Here’s some updated tips that I originally came up with few years ago on
putting together Application Images for Craft Shows:

Note how the top row of images is cohesive in subject matter and color family.

What not to do!

Last bit of advice:
Always read Craft Show Applications carefully and be sure to follow directions to the very best of your ability. A correctly filled out application makes the Show’s Organizers’ and Jury’s jobs much easier. Indie Show Organizers are often volunteers (like myself & fellow RCM members) and put hours & days into putting a show together. Following directions on an application and at the actual show (if you get in!) demonstrates courtesy to the show’s organizers and your fellow crafters - which might be pretty important if you want to get into that same show next year!

P.S. I would love to have some images to show what to do and what not to do, other than my own, for future posts. If you would like to share some you can email them to me - please let me know if an image is a “DO” or a “DON’T” because I would hate to use a picture you are proud of as a “Don’t” by mistake ;) Also let me know how to credit your photo (i.e. your name, anonymous, link to website, etc)

Camp Fall 2009

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:21:20 -0400

Camp Fall 2009

Crafty Bastards Wrap-Up

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 14:49:47 -0400

Crafty Bastards Wrap-Up:
It was awesome and a huge thanks to my sister, Melissa (awesome craft show helper!)

Handmade Nation Screening in Norfolk

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 14:46:23 -0400

Handmade Nation, the new documentary about the indie crafts/DIY movement is going to be showing at the Naro in Norfolk, VA. The screening is at 5:15pm on Saturday, October 24th.
Please see the movie’s website for a full description, the director’s blog, and more. Also see the Naro’s website for location and ticket info.
I was lucky enough to get to see Handmade Nation in August in Philly while I was at the Buyer's Market of American Craft. I also got to meet the director Faythe Levine and get a copy of Handmade Nation the book autographed by her. The Richmond Craft Mafia's founding date and our indie craft show Spring Bada-Bing are mentioned in the indie craft timeline in the book.
Thanks to the 7 Cities Crafters for posting the screening info.

Crafty Bastards, Adornment Adored & New Shops

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:44:19 -0400

I’ve been busy. . . making pottery & jewelry for Crafty Bastards (two days from now!) the Adornment Adored Show at Baltimore Clayworks (opening on Saturday!) and filling wholesale orders (Pinch Gallery & The Laughing Dog Gallery orders are shipping out today!) I have many more new shops as well - find one near you here.

Call for Richmond Area Crafters & Designers!

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:14:53 -0400

Handmade Holiday Craft Show

What: A Juried Indie Craft Show in Richmond, Virginia.

Why: Buy Handmade, Buy Local!

Who: The Richmond Craft Mafia, The Visual Arts Center of Richmond and some of Richmond's most talented indie crafters.

Where: The Visual Arts Center of Richmond (formerly the Hand Workshop) on Main Street.

When: Preview Party, Friday Evening, December 11th - 7-10pm
Open to the Public - Saturday - December 12th 10 am - 5 pm

How: Applications for Handmade Holiday Craft Show will be available online from September 5 - October 10th. Applications are only available online. Only crafters living in the Richmond, Virginia area will be eligible (applicants must be within a 50-mile radius of the City of Richmond). Please read and fill out the application carefully - only complete applications will be considered.

Click Here to Apply

Application - Deadline October 10, 2009

Vote for me as the Craftiest Bastard! (please)

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:54:22 -0400

Crafty Bastards & other busy-ness

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 12:37:34 -0400

I’m toiling away in the studio filling my Fall wholesale orders (see my new shops here) and making new work for Crafty Bastards (October 3rd in Adams Morgan). I’ve also been spending some time doing a few blog (BEST - 10 Question Tuesday & Scoutie Girl - Finding Passion) interviews and planning the Richmond Craft Mafia’s Holiday Show - Handmade Holiday.

A Work In Progress

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:48:48 -0400

Our House - a work in progress . . .

My First Wholesale Show & More!

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:24:29 -0400

July has been a whirlwind for me this year! It started with a trip to Europe (which was hands-down the best vacation I have ever had in my life), I was home for a few days of hurried pottery glazing & kiln firing, then it was up to Baltimore for three days of showing my work and hanging out with friends at Artscape, then home again for a few days of prepping for my little sister’s wedding in Mathews County (which was wonderful & beautiful!) now I am home again - making, glazing and firing samples for my first wholesale show in Philadelphia this weekend - The Buyer’s Market of American Craft! This is a big deal for me and it was a last minute opportunity. For those who don’t know what a wholesale craft show is - it is a trade show for crafter’s to show their work to and take orders from retail shops, galleries, museum gift shops, catalogs, etc. Luckily, I will traveling and working along side some wonderful ladies from here in Richmond. Kelly of Modern June, Suzanne of Silver Tree Art and Susannah of Zou Zou’s Basement will be there with me in our Richmond Etsy Street Team Booth (#1218). So any Wholesale Buyers out there planning to attend the show please stop by our booth and say “Hi!” I will even have some special items that will only be available to order wholesale at the show, which is at the Philadelphia Convention Center August 1-3!

Wedding Photos by Melissa McKelvey

Back in the States

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:46:25 -0400

We got back from our trip to Holland and Germany late on Saturday. I had a wonderful time sight-seeing, eating, drinking, hanging out with Jeremy’s co-workers, eating, visiting with our Dutch friend’s family, drinking and most of all meeting my husband’s German family from when he was an exchange student 13 years ago. They had lost touch 12 years ago and he hadn’t seen them since, but thanks to Facebook he was able to find them again last month.

We can’t wait to get back to Europe, especially Germany - sooner than later!

Getting Settled

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:12:17 -0400

Just a quick note to say Yay! I’m all done with school, the new kiln is installed (and firing right now), the house is 98% unpacked (just need to get a few trunks to store a few things in because old houses don’t have much closet space), I’m busy filling wholesale orders and we’re going to Europe in a few weeks!!!

The house really feels like home now - Jeremy came home for lunch today and said “the house is so comfortable, it’s really nice.”

Here’s some pictures of the house and the House Warming Party we had on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came out- especially those of you came all the way from Baltimore and thanks for sharing pictures Melissa!)

Shows, Shows, Shows!

Tue, 2 Jun 2009 22:54:29 -0400

This past weekend was
The 2009 Art Star Craft Bazaar!
in Philly. I’m still tired from it. Here’s some pictures and go here to see a post with pictures of my booth by Jen from IndieFixx.

Also this weekend coming up I will be selling at the Metro Art Mart on Broad Street at Metro Gallery (next to Metro Sound) for the First Friday Art Walk and Broad Appetite in Richmond!

Yay for Summertime!

Mon, 25 May 2009 23:26:00 -0400

I’m finally (mostly) settled into the new house - I just used my new studio for the first time and I have pictures to prove it!

School will be over in a few weeks, I have plants I’m trying to grow in the yard, a few shows lined up for the Summer Season, lots of orders to fill, new work to show off and a trip to Europe in the works! Yay! for Summer, I honesty don’t think I have been this excited about Summer since I was a kid.

Come out and see me in Philly this weekend at The 2009 Art Star Craft Bazaar!