Interview questions asked to Fired Up and Painting
1. what attracted you to creating this business
2. how did you get where you are today
3. what do you like about pottery
4. What work Do you most enjoy doing
5. Who are you and what do you do
6. what themes do you pursue in your work
7. what Your favourite artwork
8. what / who has inspired you
9. What jobs have you done other than being an artist
10. what do you like/ dislike about your work
11. what is your dream project.
12. What type of clay do you use
13. How long does it take to complete your work
14. How long have you been making pottery
15. What temperature do you fire
16. What is a typical day of work for you
17. Do you sell your completed products online/ do you have an Etsy
Version 1 Edited interview
I like how pottery is very unpredictable, clay in its raw state can dry to quickly, cause stress cracks, it's an enormous subject, I find it's like making a curry and playing with your spices until you create a consistent outcome your happy with. I have worked with pottery for 12 years those years included 3 years of intensely playing with recipes and making mistakes. I have 30 years of painting experience and a degree in fine art, I love art however there are many difficulties in becoming an artist, making an income is very difficult due to how limited and lacking opportunities are in the art world. Because of this I needed to find something to do with my degree, so I went into teaching, and it sucked the life force out of me , there was no time for my own work while teaching and I was fighting to regain creativity, but I had to think about making money and I still do now I have to think about marketing my art and paying the bills for my business. I enjoy working in a creative community because we can learn from each other, that's why in my workshops I want to help to get the creativity out of others and give them the confidence to tap into something they will be happy about producing. The creative process needs to flow and bounce its limitless, that’s why I like working faster and sporadically dipping between different protects, as much as I want to, I’m just too busy to sit and paint. I coexist In a collaborative group of female creators and makers; we support each other by networking and giving each other inspiration. My inspiration often comes from my customers, they have done so many things in their own lives and they have such interesting stories , and the social impact of my business feels very important for my creativity. I love seeing allot of art online form lots of different people but some of my favorite artists are Nataly Rhyme , Kurt Jackson and Jolynn nelson. In my ceramics work I tend to pursue themes of habitat, weeds, birds’, manmade houses and natures forming houses, seascape and harbour’s. My work is very maverick it's not tied to a particular subject, I like using many different techniques and I then simplified my products to satisfy what shops need creating a body of 7 or 8 products is important. It takes about 4 week to complete my work proses. I use white earthen as it's a low fire clay for my own work and the pottery that can be chosen to paint this makes it energy efficient and cost effective. A typical day of work for me starts at half 8, I glaze pottery , unload the climb , have my staff wrap products, I clean, order stock and sometimes set time aside for planning and developing products that I want to sell. I've expanded my business pottery painting business by focusing on canvas painting workshops. As the constants of potter painting is to exhausting, I want to the grow these workshops to be the focus of my business but first it needs to be supported by the pottery painting.
version 2 edited interview
I like pottery because it's very unpredictable, for example clay in its raw state can dry to quickly and cause stress cracks, which can lead to interesting outcomes in the pottery, it's an enormous subject, I find it's like making a curry and playing with your spices until you create a consistent outcome your happy with. I have worked with pottery for 12 years those years included 3 years of intensely playing with recipes and making mistakes. I dislike the admin side of running a small business but working in the Civil Service for 2 years gave me insight into a work ethic that has helped me to create my own business. I have 30 years of painting experience and a degree in fine art, I love art however there are many difficulties in becoming an artist. 20 years ago, making a living from painting was not realistic due to the lack of opportunities in the art world. Because of this I needed to find something to do with my degree, so I went into teaching, and it sucked the life force out of me and it made me feel like I lost my creative artistic self, there was no time for my own work while teaching and I was fighting to regain creativity, but I had to think about making money and I still do now I have to think about marketing my art and paying the bills for my business.
I enjoy working in a creative community because we can learn from each other, that's why in my workshops I want to help to get the creativity out of others by using my teaching experience to create a productive space, help develop my customers skills and give them the confidence to tap into something they will be happy about producing. I've expanded my pottery painting business by purchasing the room above my current business setting to focus on my canvas painting workshops. The constant day to day demands of running the pottery workshop can be exhausting that’s why I want to grow the painting workshops into being the focus of my business but first it needs to be supported by the pottery painting business to pave the way. The creative process needs to flow and the range of creative projects I could get involved in is limitless, that’s why I like working faster and sporadically dipping between different projects, as much as I want to, I’m just too busy to sit and paint.
I coexist In a collaborative group of female creators and makers that run similar businesses to mine; we support each other by networking ,giving each other inspiration and sharing our own techniques from our artistic knowledge. However, my inspiration often comes from my customers, when I chat to the them, I find out that they have done so many things in their own lives and they have such interesting stories, I have found through covid isolation that the social interaction from my business is very important and impacts my inspiration when creating art and producing new painting workshops for customers. I love following seeing allot of art online from lots of different people but some of my favourite artists are Natalie Rhymer , Kurt Jackson and Glynn Masey. In my ceramics work I tend to pursue themes of habitat, weeds, birds’, manmade houses and natures forming houses, seascape and harbour’s. My work is very maverick it's not tied to a particular subject, I like using many different techniques this comes from teaching as I had to teach many different topics, I'm now comfortable with not catering to galleries who want a repetitive way of working and a set style. Once the creative process is over, I simplified my products to satisfy what shops need creating, perhaps a body of 7 or 8 products is required important. It takes about 4 week to complete my work process. I use ‘white earthen’ as it's a low fire clay and its cost effective for my own work and some of the pottery that is sold in my pottery paint business, this makes it energy efficient and cost effective.
A typical day of work for me starts at half eight in the morning, I glaze pottery , unload the climb , have my staff wrap products, I clean, order stock, and sometimes set time aside for planning and developing products that I want to sell, I create workshop advertisements and answer messages/emails on my business's social media. Some advice I have for other small art businesses is to: Try not to panic when things go quite and bills need to be paid just keep on growing and try your best, having a quiet period is a natural aspect for all businesses, expand your business by creating different workshops and aim for 10 bums on seats, create a good atmosphere in your business setting this is good for you and your staff's mental health as well as improving your customers enjoyment, Involve yourself in creative cooperatives as they can lead to more opportunities for example I'm going to the Fringe exhibition in Holmfirth to display and sell my work. Try to create advertisements on multiple social media platforms to access a larger audience. You can find me on My Instagram @firedupandpainting and My Facebook @firedupandpainting Sarah moss art.
Version 3 edited interview
On April 13th I interviewed Sarah Moss, a female business owner about her pottery paint and work shop business at 'fired up and painting' in Aston Springs.
Q/ Why do you like pottery?
SARAH I like pottery because it's very unpredictable, for example clay in its raw state can dry too quickly and cause stress cracks, which can lead to interesting outcomes in the pottery. It's an enormous subject, I find it's like making a curry and playing with your spices until you create a consistent outcome your happy with.
Q/ How have you got where you are today?
SARAH I have worked with pottery for 12 years, those years included 3 years of intensely playing with recipes and making mistakes. I dislike the admin side of running a small business but working in the Civil Service for 2 years gave me insight into a work ethic that has helped me to create my own business. I have 30 years of painting experience and a degree in fine art. I love art however there are many difficulties in becoming an artist; 20 years ago, making a living from painting was not realistic due to the lack of opportunities in the art world. Because of this I needed to find something to do with my degree, so I went into teaching, and it sucked the life force out of me and it made me feel like I lost my creative artistic self. There was no time for my own work while teaching and I was fighting to regain creativity, but I had to think about making money and I still do now as I have to think about marketing my art and paying the bills for my business.
Q/ Why do you like the creative industry?
SARAH I enjoy working in a creative community because we can learn from each other. That's why in my workshops I want to help to get the creativity out of others by using my teaching experience to create a productive space, help develop my customers skills and give them the confidence to tap into something they will be happy about producing.
Q/ How did you expand your business?
SARAH I've expanded my pottery painting business by purchasing the room above my current business setting to focus on my canvas painting workshops. The constant day to day demands of running the pottery workshop can be exhausting, that’s why I want to grow the painting workshops into being the focus of my business, but first it needs to be supported by the pottery painting business to pave the way. The creative process needs to flow and the range of creative projects I could get involved in is limitless, that’s why I like working faster and sporadically dipping between different projects, as much as I want to, I’m just too busy to sit and paint.
Q/ What or who inspires you?
SARAH I coexist In a collaborative group of female creators and makers that run similar businesses to mine, we support each other by networking, giving each other inspiration and sharing our own techniques from our artistic knowledge. However, my inspiration often comes from my customers, when I chat to the them, I find out that they have done so many things in their own lives and they have such interesting stories. I have found through covid isolation that the social interaction from my business is very important and impacts my inspiration when creating art and producing new painting workshops for customers. I love following allot of art online from lots of different people but some of my favorite artists are Natalie Rhymer, Kurt Jackson and Glynn Masey.
Q/ How do you pursue your themes in your personal art?
SARAH In my ceramics work I tend to pursue themes of habitat, weeds, birds, manmade houses and natures forming houses, seascape and harbour’s. My work is very maverick, it's not tied to a particular subject. I like using many different techniques, this comes from teaching as I had to teach many different topics. I'm now comfortable with not catering to galleries who want a repetitive way of working and a set style. Once the creative process is over, I simplified my products to satisfy what shops need creating, perhaps a body of 7 or 8 products is required. It takes about 4 week to complete my work process. I use ‘white earthen’ as it's a low fire clay and its cost effective for my own work and some of the pottery that is sold in my pottery paint business. this makes it energy efficient and cost effective.
Thank you to Sarah for allowing me to create this interview.
If you like creating art why not try to win a 'Mabef M22 box easel' by sending in your work to the 'Holly and Co' 2024 Fall competition. The artwork must be an A4 self portrait, there are no restrictions on your choice of medium. The deadline is the 31st of November. To find this competition just look up www.holl&co.com.
Good luck!
