Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carolyn Lobeck. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Carolyn, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

As a ceramic artist, I have found the biggest challenge of profitability to be identifying the markets that will best expose my work to an audience who wants to buy it. I have done a lot of guess work along the way, selling at a number of markets to varying degrees of financial success.
At this point, I am working on creating distinct lines and bodies of work, each with their own distinct market. This is my attempt to expand what I offer, while simultaneously branding these works to specific audiences.

It’s all very new, so you’ll have to check back in a year or so to see what has developed!

Carolyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I first discovered clay through a couple ceramics courses I took in high school, and I naturally gravitated toward it. I continued dabbling in ceramics throughout college, until after my Junior year, when I received scholarship funding from a college internship program that allowed me to work with two different studio potters for a summer. I studied philosophy in college and my summer in clay was such welcome break from intellectual discussions and writing papers. I loved how direct and straight forward it was.

I have a natural curiosity for form and function and strive to create work that is balanced and designed to fulfill its use. My shapes are soft and natural and draw my customers in with their refined details. My love of clay is truly in the skill of working it. The economy of motion required to manipulate clay while it is in motion on a wheel requires years of study, and I am content to devote myself to it, ever improving and working out little kinks.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I am currently working on restructuring my business in terms of clientele and sales. For the length of my career, I have made the bulk of my income from in-person sales at local and regional art markets and shows. In an effort to gain back some much needed studio time, I am soliciting more wholesale accounts so that I don’t have to work as many markets and shows.
Previously I never wanted to do much wholesale because I wanted to get full price for my products, but after doing a deep dive into the numbers earlier this year, I realized that the value of the time I would gain from doing fewer shows far exceeded getting full price on 100% of my work. I’m using this year to discover what the correct balance of shows to wholesale is for me.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I often decorate my work with leaves, grasses and flowers. Years ago I had made a series of bread plates that I decorated with a scene of flowers. I was at a market explaining to a customer the process of applying and painting the floral pattern when a bee landed on one of the “flowers.” It’s silly, but I felt such validation in my successful rendering of nature and the timing of it all. In truth, it was the pollinator that made the sale for me that day, and I’ll never forget how utterly amused and convinced that customer was of purchasing that plate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://innovateceramics.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/carolyn.lobeck
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/InnovateCeramics

Image Credits

Mari Angulo