Etsy: I finally did it
My Etsy Shop. Let me show you it.
It has taken me two years to reach this point. The shop went live last night/early this morning, and by noon, I'd made my first sale. I am so very grateful to this customer, whoever she is (might be a connection from Facebook, might be a total stranger, I'm not sure). She gave me a huge boost in confidence, and I'm going to add a gift of a wood-fired pendant from my first wood fire.
If you have an Etsy shop, please let me know and I will follow you. If you shop on Etsy, please consider putting me in your favorites queue, and favoriting a piece or two, no purchase required. Put me in a collection. Post about a pot in your blogs. If you own a piece I have made, send me a picture of it being used, and I will include it on my website, christinazola.com
If someone you know is wondering where to buy cool Christmas presents this year, send them my way.
Please.
***
A conversation sparked here regarding my wanting to 'do pottery' for a living made something abundantly clear, in mulling it all over. See, it could all come across as a midlife crisis, I guess... and I've heard my share of "Taking care of your family is more important than running off and finding yourself" arguments. It hurt my feelings for a bit, as it plays into the voices in my head that tell me I'm not good enough, successful enough, smart enough, blah blah blah. It reinforces the iron-clad fact my parents pounded home in welded bands of unbreakable steel that the things at which I excelled, like art, music, writing, design, were secondary, tertiary even, to whatever I might actually "DO" when I grew up.
And this conversation ripped me to shreds again, brought up all the old voices of doubt and unworthy-ness. I threw myself back into finding a job that would, quite literally, drive me to insanity if I obtained it, and kept it, long enough. I would pound my proverbial head against a desk job, because that is What's Expected of Me. I'm not ALLOWED to do what I love. Right?
But then... This is what I am good at. Art. Ceramics, in particular. In the studio, I excel. I don't let anyone down. I don't fail. In fact, I succeed, and I make beautiful things. All my life I have been struggling to fit in, to do the desk job, to do 'the right thing', to my natural abilities because everyone has told me they aren't worth pursuing. No, I'm not going to send my kid to college on what I'm making right now. But this is what I am good at. If I am good at this, then I should find a way to turn it into a living. I will continue to look for desk work... but I will also continue to press the ceramics towards a viable living.
So if you can pass my shop on to someone who might like it, or know a food or home decor blogger who might feature the work in a post, or would favorite the shop, the ceramics, or in any way give me some Etsy link love, I would truly appreciate it, and you'd move me another step along the way towards making a living doing what I was meant to do.
It has taken me two years to reach this point. The shop went live last night/early this morning, and by noon, I'd made my first sale. I am so very grateful to this customer, whoever she is (might be a connection from Facebook, might be a total stranger, I'm not sure). She gave me a huge boost in confidence, and I'm going to add a gift of a wood-fired pendant from my first wood fire.
If you have an Etsy shop, please let me know and I will follow you. If you shop on Etsy, please consider putting me in your favorites queue, and favoriting a piece or two, no purchase required. Put me in a collection. Post about a pot in your blogs. If you own a piece I have made, send me a picture of it being used, and I will include it on my website, christinazola.com
If someone you know is wondering where to buy cool Christmas presents this year, send them my way.
Please.
***
A conversation sparked here regarding my wanting to 'do pottery' for a living made something abundantly clear, in mulling it all over. See, it could all come across as a midlife crisis, I guess... and I've heard my share of "Taking care of your family is more important than running off and finding yourself" arguments. It hurt my feelings for a bit, as it plays into the voices in my head that tell me I'm not good enough, successful enough, smart enough, blah blah blah. It reinforces the iron-clad fact my parents pounded home in welded bands of unbreakable steel that the things at which I excelled, like art, music, writing, design, were secondary, tertiary even, to whatever I might actually "DO" when I grew up.
And this conversation ripped me to shreds again, brought up all the old voices of doubt and unworthy-ness. I threw myself back into finding a job that would, quite literally, drive me to insanity if I obtained it, and kept it, long enough. I would pound my proverbial head against a desk job, because that is What's Expected of Me. I'm not ALLOWED to do what I love. Right?
But then... This is what I am good at. Art. Ceramics, in particular. In the studio, I excel. I don't let anyone down. I don't fail. In fact, I succeed, and I make beautiful things. All my life I have been struggling to fit in, to do the desk job, to do 'the right thing', to my natural abilities because everyone has told me they aren't worth pursuing. No, I'm not going to send my kid to college on what I'm making right now. But this is what I am good at. If I am good at this, then I should find a way to turn it into a living. I will continue to look for desk work... but I will also continue to press the ceramics towards a viable living.
So if you can pass my shop on to someone who might like it, or know a food or home decor blogger who might feature the work in a post, or would favorite the shop, the ceramics, or in any way give me some Etsy link love, I would truly appreciate it, and you'd move me another step along the way towards making a living doing what I was meant to do.