Tasha mckelvey’s Blog

Buyers Market of American Craft

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:18:49 -0500

Super excited and busy right now cause I’ll be in Philly for the Buyers Market of American Craft from February 18th - 20th. This is a my big trade show for the first half of 2012. Much to do, much to do!

more info on my wholesale line

www.buyersmarketofamericancraft.com

Fall 2011

Tue, 8 Nov 2011 13:59:04 -0500

Fall 2011 has been quite eventful! Earthquake, Hurricane, Trip to Europe and finally returning home to a tree on the house/studio! We had a great time traveling & visiting in Germany & the Netherlands, but upon landing in the US we received a text message from a neighbor that a terrible storm had come through our little neighborhood the night before and there was now a tree on the front of the house.

When it was all said and done, it could have been worse - but it was still pretty bad. It caused a bunch of electrical problems that had to be sorted out and that plus the clean-up & jet lag put me behind schedule in the studio. But that’s what I get for taking my first two-week trip away in 8 years! So I’ve been burning the candle at both ends more than usual for the past month trying to get caught up. My wholesale customers have been so understanding and patient - just one of the many bright spots that come with the job!

The saddest part of the whole tree on house business was that my front garden was pretty much ruined in the short term - and Fall is really when I love it the most. That part was really hard to come home to :( But most of my plantings are perennials so everything will be back next Fall.

Anyway - here’s some pictures from the past few months, including Europe, a few craft shows, some house and garden before & afters and my beloved and unharmed veggie garden.

Tasha McKelvey’s Press Kit

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:57:57 -0400

Well, it is that time of time year when makers like myself are in the trenches getting ready for the Fall & Holiday Seasons, not to mention forecasting and doing preliminary planning for 2012! I’ve been busy coming up with new designs and filling orders for shops. I also recently updated my catalog and press kit to show off all this new work I’ve been coming up with.

My Summer Goings On’s

Wed, 3 Aug 2011 12:21:48 -0400

It has been a busy Summer and there’s still more to come. I’ve been traveling a lot this Summer for Craft Shows, but I’ll be pretty much home-based (but working my butt off) until Mid-September when Jeremy and I will be heading to Europe for 15 whole days!

We’ll be in Berlin for the Hello Etsy conference for a few days (and we’ll also be there for our 6th Wedding Anniversary). Then we’re off to Munich for Oktoberfest - we’re so excited about all the beer and food! After a few days, we’ll head north to Hamburg & the little town of Munster to visit Jeremy’s German family (from when he was an exchange student in high school). And the last part of the trip will be Amsterdam for a few days.

Thought I would share some photos of my Summer so far and let folks know about my photo blog on tumblr, where I have been doing a pretty good job of posting most days, if not multiple times a day.

And I’ve gotten some great press lately too - my nesting bowls were feature on the Craft: blog and Belle Magazine. Plus my (old) studio is in the current issue of Studios Magazine.

My New Studio

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:15:57 -0400

It was a lot of hard work, but the new studio is done!

Indie Artist How-To: Putting Together a Portfolio

Mon, 23 May 2011 11:42:44 -0400

Awhile back I put together a group of images for some indie craft show applications and I also created a portfolio with said images on Flickr. Just thought I would share the images and my thoughts on image selection and online/digital portfolios for other indie artists and crafters. I created the portfolio mostly with indie craft show applications in mind - I wanted to provide a hyperlink to a small selection of images that I feel accurately represents the ceramic work I currently make for the show’s jury panel to review (I felt providing a link to my entire website for the purpose of image review could be overwhelming for a jury, as there is a very wide selection of my work viewable on my site). An online portfolio can also be a great resource to share with gallery/shop owners/buyers and the press.

I could also use the individual images to upload directly to any craft show applications that request or require you to attach image files for the show jury. My individual images in the portfolio are actually composite images, consisting of two images side by side in each jpeg image. I combined the images using Photoshop. I chose to use two images in each “slide” to be able to better demonstrate the variety and relationships between my various work. I put my bird bowls side by side with my ceramic bird necklaces, my ginkgo pottery with my ginkgo jewelry, my woodland gnome with my woodland mushroom mini-tray, etc.

Directly below are large images of the six “slides” that make up the portfolio. Note the order I placed them in and the story that it conveys - especially note the first image is bold & eye-catching and that the last image references the subject matter and some of the colors of the first image. Also note that the background for the images varies, but shares the common themes of neutral colors and woodgrain - there is variety, but it is a consistent variety.

Spring!

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:17:41 -0400

Where has the time gone?! I can’t believe it is already mid-April. 2011 is shaping up to be a very busy year.

The Richmond Craft Mafia’s Spring Bada-Bing was this past weekend and I have the Spring Handmade Market this coming Saturday in Raleigh!

Other than that, I’ve been super busy with my sister’s wedding, sneaking a few minutes here or there to work in my garden and making pottery for a ton of new shops and galleries. I really need to find some time to update my “Where to Shop” page sometime this week.

American Craft Council Show

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 02:58:55 -0500

I’ll be in Baltimore all next week for the American Craft Council Show. The first few days are wholesale only, then Thursday - Sunday is retail, open to the public. I’m in space 1715. (updated - here’s some pictures of my booth)

More info here:
http://shows.craftcouncil.org/2011/37/new_exhibitors/18298

Richmond Craft Mafia Shop

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:10:47 -0500

Did you miss Handmade Holiday
at Plant Zero last Sunday?
Well, you still have a chance to get local handmade goodies to fill all those stockings!

The Richmond Craft Mafia Shop at Crossroads Art Center has work by Richmond Craft Mafia Members.
Including my pottery and ceramic jewelry!

Crossroads Art Center Hours 'til Christmas:
Monday - Thursday 10am - 6pm
Christmas Eve 10am - 4pm

The Crossroads Art Center
2016 Staples Mill Road
Richmond, Virginia 23230
(804) 278-8950

Handmade Holiday this Sunday!

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 13:45:25 -0500

Handmade Holiday
December 12th
11 am - 5 pm
Plant Zero
Richmond, Virginia

www.richmondhandmadeholiday.com

This show is my last craft show for 2010 and I’m the chairperson for it too! Myself and my fellow Richmond Craft Mafia Members have been hard at work putting together a unique Holiday shopping event for Richmond. We moved the show to larger space than we had for the past few years - so we have over 65 different indie artists & crafters selling their work on Sunday!

I hope to see you there!!! -Tasha

New Shops!

Mon, 8 Nov 2010 11:12:49 -0500

New & Recently Restocked Shops that carry my work!

Virginia

NEW!
The Richmond Craft Mafia Shop
at Crossroads Art Center
Richmond, Virginia
www.richmondcraftmafia.com

NEW!
Living on Grove
Richmond, Virginia
www.livingongrove.com

NEW!
The Virginia Living Museum Shop
Newport News, Virginia

Maryland

New!
Red Tree
Baltimore, Maryland
www.redtreebaltimore.com

Coming Soon!
Vivo!
Annapolis, Maryland

Wasington DC

Coming Soon!
Trohv
Washington, DC

New Jersey

Coming Soon!
The Farmhouse Store
Westfield, New Jersey
www.thefarmhousestore.com

North Carolina

Recently Restocked!
Seven Sisters Gallery
Black Mountain, North Carolina
www.sevensistersgallery.com

Coming Soon*
Maddi’s Gallery
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.massisgallery.com

Kentucky

New!
Consider Boutique
Louisville, Kentucky

Arkansas

NEW!
The Full Moon
Little Rock, Arkansas
The Full Moon

Florida

Laughing Dog Gallery
Vero Beach, Florida
www.TheLaughingDogGallery.com

California

Luna Sea
Pescadero, California

Coming Soon*
Island Outfitters
Carpinteria, California

Nevada

New!
Nevada Museum of Art
Reno, Nevada
www.nevadaart.org

New England

Recently Restocked!
Pinch Gallery
Northhampton, Massachusetts
www.pinchgallery.com

Coming Soon*
Collyers Frame Design
Mattapoisett, Massachusetts

NEW!
Valerie’s Gallery
Newburyport, Massachusetts
www.valeriesgalleries.com

Recently Restocked!
Carver Hill Gallery
Maine
www.carverhillgallery.com

Engaging Art & Design
Salisbury, Vermont

New!
The Griswold Inn Shop
Essex, Connecticut

Midwest

Recently Restocked!
Craft Alliance
St. Louis, Missouri
www.craftalliance.org

New!
Sticks
Des Moines, Iowa

Restocking for the Holidays*
Artifacts Gallery
Indianapolis, Indiana
www.artifactsindy.com

Coming Soon*
Leon & Lulu
Clawson, Michigan
www.leonandlulu.com

Northwest

Boheme
Eastsound, Washington

* Will be stocked or restocked by Thanksgiving!

Updated 11.8.2010

Holiday Craft Shows!

Thu, 4 Nov 2010 15:05:26 -0400

Upcoming Craft Shows:

The Handmade Market
November 13th
Raleigh, North Carolina
www.thehandmademarket.com

Opening at Crossroads Art Center
November 19th
The Richmond Craft Mafia Shop
at Crossroads Art Center
Richmond, Virginia
www.richmondcraftmafia.com

The Charm City Craft Mafia’s Holiday Heap
December 4th
St. John’s Church
Baltimore, Maryland
www.charmcitycraftmafia.com

Merry Mart
December 5th
Creative Alliance
Baltimore, Maryland
www.merrymartbaltimore.blogspot.com

Handmade Holiday
December 12th
Plant Zero
Richmond, Virginia
www.richmondhandmadeholiday.com

Check back often for updates. . .

Fall!

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:22:45 -0400

Just got home from my second Country Living Fair this Fall - and I came home to one of my Squirrel Bowls on the front page of Etsy! As usual Fall is a crazy time of year for me with shows and filling wholesale orders. This year I have enlisted help in the studio and with running my Etsy shop to hopefully make things a bit easier on me!

Is this Success?!

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:44:56 -0400

I just wanted to write a quick post (during a break from frantically getting ready for the Country Living Fair in Columbus this weekend) because I have been wanting to share my thoughts for weeks now . . .

It has been very busy around my house for the past 6 weeks or so. I have been producing pottery plus prepping for some pretty big wholesale and retail shows. My husband has been working crazy long hours too. We both are self-employed and work from home now. I was a bit concerned about us both working from home and it being the busiest time of year right now to boot. Pretty quickly we settled into spending even more time together, knowing when not to bother each other and figuring out when we needed to support one another. Not there haven’t a few little fights, but I think we are better for this new experience. It seems like we both have a better understanding of what we each do for a living.

There have been so many happy things of late. Yet I regret not being able to savor these happy moments a bit more because of how hectic things are right now. There are babies, weddings, engagements, adding over a dozen new shops that carry my work, getting into high-end craft shows that I have been trying to get into *forever* and celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. I just keep telling myself that this is how success is sometimes - it takes hard work to make your dreams come true!

Where to find me

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 10:00:47 -0400

Where to find me? Why, I’m quite easy to find - because I have been chained to the table in my studio for the past few months and will be for several more with the exception of getting some time off for good behavior to attend a few craft shows in the coming weeks. Seriously, I have been working really, really hard filling wholesale orders (I’ve added about a dozen new shops in the last month) and getting ready for my Fall retail shows. I’m really excited about these shows so if one of them is near you I hope you can make it out to say “Howdy!”

Upcoming Craft Shows:

Country Living Fairs
Columbus, Ohio - September 24-26
Atlanta, Georgia - October 22-24
More Info!

Crafty Bastards
Adams Morgan, DC - October 2
More Info!

Stay tuned cause I’ll be adding a bunch of new shops to my “Where to Buy” page in the coming weeks . . .

My Work - Then and Now

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:02:07 -0400

Comparable work & photography from 2007-2008ish to my current work in 2010 (and a photo of me in the studio on the potter's wheel in 2003 and again in 2010).

It’s interesting and embarrassing at the same time to see the difference three years has made!

The Buyer’s Market of American Craft

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:57:18 -0400

I’m happy to announce I will be returning to the August Buyer’s Market of American Craft Wholesale Show again this year! The show has moved from Philly to Baltimore (one of favorite places to visit!) this year. I’m sharing a booth with some fellow Richmonders - including a few fellow members of The Richmond Craft Mafia & The Richmond Etsy Team. The four of us will be in Booths 1429 &1529.

Shows, Shows, Shows!

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:56:02 -0400

Upcoming Craft Shows:

6.26.2010
Pile of Craft
Baltimore at St. John's Church

The Richmond Craft Mafia’s Handmade Throwdown at Crossroads Art Center July 16 - September 8 - Opening July 16th 6 - 9 pm

Sorry, but no Artscape for me this year - I’m teaching a bunch of Summer Clay Classes, so I figured a big three day show in July was too much ... but I will probably still go up for the weekend to enjoy the art, music & friends for myself.

Country Living Fairs
Columbus, Ohio - September 24-26
Atlanta, Georgia - October 22-24
Country Living doesn't have the 2010 info up yet, but you can check out the 2009 info here!

Kid’s Summer Clay Classes

Wed, 2 Jun 2010 11:07:38 -0400

I’m really excited to be teaching some Summer clay classes for kid’s with Visual Art Center of Richmond’s Artventure program again this year. Last Summer, I taught clay jewelry to a lovely group of young ladies, that definitely reminded me how rewarding & fun teaching art can be. I’m happy to have added several clay handbuilding classes this year as well. My teaching schedule is listed below, but be sure to check out the full schedule if you have a child in your life and live in the Richmond area. There are classes for a ton of different interests from sewing to writing to clay to animation and anything creative in between. Check it out here or download the Artventure flyer here. Register early - classes are filling up!

Half of 2010 Is Gone Already?!

Fri, 28 May 2010 15:19:33 -0400

How did this happen? How is it going to be June in just a few days? Anyone else feeling like time has been moving way too fast lately? Maybe it is just because I’m old. I have been feeling very nostalgic lately, with people and places reminding me of times long since gone. It is probably because it has been 10 years since I graduated from college and that also means my graduation present, Tela the Beagle, is also 10 years old. Where did the time go? Oh well, can’t really complain there has been an abundance of good news the last few weeks: babies being born, weddings, engagements & kittens.

Anyway, here’s my upcoming shows & a few pictures from the past few weeks.

Cheers!
Tasha

Upcoming Craft Shows:

6.26.2010
Pile of Craft
Baltimore at St. John's Church

Sorry, but no Artscape for me this year - I’m teaching a bunch of Summer Clay Classes, so I figured a big three day show in July was too much ... but I will probably still go up for the weekend to enjoy the art, music & friends for myself.

Country Living Fairs
Columbus, Ohio - September 24-26
Atlanta, Georgia - October 22-24
Country Living doesn't have the 2010 info up yet, but you can check out the 2009 info here!

Upcoming Craft Shows

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:32:57 -0400

Upcoming Craft Shows:

5.1.2010
Handmade Market
Raleigh at Marbles Kid's Museum

5.15.2010 & 5.16.2010
Art Star Craft Bazaar
Philadelphia at Penn's Landing

6.26.2010
Pile of Craft
Baltimore at St. John's Church

Sorry, but no Artscape this year - I’m teaching a bunch of Summer Clay Classes, so I figured a big three day show in July was too much ... but I will probably still go up for the weekend to enjoy the art & music for myself :)

Also I do have one Fall Show to announce the Country Living Fair in Ohio!!! More details to follow. . .

Slow Going

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:05:52 -0400

This past month has been fairly frustrating. My kiln was firing slowly, so I investigated and discovered a broken part. I had to order a replacement directly from the manufacturer, but it took two and half weeks to arrive. All the while, my studio shelves filled with unfired pottery and orders were delayed in going out. When the part finally arrived, it was successfully installed. Then I was able to start firing my pottery to bisque and start the glazing process. It is nice to up and running again, but now I feel quite a bit of pressure to get caught up on my orders as quickly as possible. I’m getting there.

Oh and just for kicks, I got either food poisoning or a stomach flu the week before last. Luckily it didn’t last long, but I was feeling pretty weak & tired for several days afterwards.

So a big thank you to my wonderfully understanding wholesale customers for your patience while I get caught up!

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 . . .