We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Gunsch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rachel, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I attribute what some people call my success or luck to three things: enthusiasm, reliability, and a willingness to act on opportunities. If you show genuine excitement and enthusiasm in people’s interests they will create and connect you to opportunities. If you follow up this enthusiasm with accountability and action you can earn their trust and build a relationship. This compiles into more connections, opportunities, and lasting friendships. Many of the opportunities that result from these connections are ones you might have never considered. Having the courage to give them a shot and see what happens has led to the best experiences of my life. There are good people everywhere and these three principles are how I have found them.
An example of the impact of enthusiasm. At an art festival, I met a retired weaver. I was telling her how fiber had become my creative outlet as a working ceramicist. We started talking and she mentioned that she was selling her loom and offered it to me. We spent time together and she ended up giving me her books on weaving, some of her patterns, and a large quantity of yarn to go with the loom. We are still in contact and I’ve gained a friend.
An example of reliability: When I first began my business I joined the Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Guild. I actively participated in events and organized a pop up show. Due to my initiative and accountability one of the members recommended me to Clayworks studio. I had not even considered teaching because I had just graduated, but the opportunity presented itself. Now I have taught at five institutions and it is a core part of my business.
An example of acting on opportunities. I partnered with Dr. Miderski, a chemistry professor at Catawba College in Salisbury. She occasionally taught Aesthetic Alchemy, a class on the science behind art in tandem with an art teacher. It was a travel course and we decided to focus on Japan, where I had studied abroad. I taught the lab portions where we attempted to use traditional techniques to make Japanese handicrafts and she taught the chemistry behind the materials and creation process. We then took students to Japan for ten days to experience the culture and art firsthand.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I received my BA, specializing in Ceramics, from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. I then became a full-time potter and began my small business, SunRay Pottery. My work is primarily functional dinnerware that is intended to reveal the beauty in everyday objects and moments. I enjoy creating clean forms that are intentionally designed to enhance the function of the piece. Pottery is a part of daily life and should be as useful as it is beautiful. I create a montage of geometric shapes and lines through methods of taping, painting, and drawing with underglazes. I hope to maximize the potential of the three-dimensional surface and encourage the viewer to interact with the form of the pot. Working exclusively as a full-time potter left me wanting a community and I began teaching ceramics classes in addition to my business in 2021. I work with students of all ages, from teenagers to seniors who have skill sets ranging from beginner to advanced. My lessons are unique in that they focus on developing specific skill sets that can be built upon in layers. Being able to communicate a physical process in words to someone and observe their resulting actions, helps me to improve my explanation of techniques as well as informs my own craftsmanship. Teaching has allowed me to connect with people in ways that I had never anticipated and I intend to continue teaching and creating pottery in tandem as both roles creatively fuel one another. I love making things with my hands and sharing those skills with others. I am most proud of choosing an unconventional profession. It is terrifying to go out on a limb and make your hobby your profession. It isn’t considered reliable and it is based on people valuing something that is extremely personal. Customers judge the worth and quality of my craft and it is so hard to separate that from my self-identity. I have chased every opportunity that has come my way and as a result, I have had so many amazing experiences I had never considered. I am so grateful to my family for believing in me before I believed in myself and for making SunRay Pottery possible.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I was a senior in college when the pandemic interrupted all of our lives. I had every intention of working in an art museum once I graduated or continuing my education until I could. Instead, I was living at home, completing my degree virtually. The museums were closed or not hiring, the schools were all grappling for normalcy and quality of education, and I felt stuck. My parents however asked, “Why not make pots, like you always have?” That was the beginning. My family and I transformed a backyard shed into a working studio. We installed insulation, drywall, flooring, and a window ac unit. I invested in my studio equipment and while waiting for it to arrive I began marketing. I created an online shop, a social media account, and joined a pottery guild. I attended my first juried craft fair in August of 2021. Then I started attending around twelve shows a year in addition to teaching pottery classes. I had never considered turning my craft into a business for fear of losing my creative outlet. The reasons I love pottery have transformed. Now I am chasing after continual improvement in craftsmanship and the puzzle of relaying physical skills into verbal ones that my students will understand. I took up fiber arts as my new creative outlet to fill the space pottery once had.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
When I first started applying to juried shows, being declined was devastating. When your art is your business it is exceptionally hard to separate yourself from your work. They are judging your craft and many artists consider that an extension of themselves. It feels quite literally like being told you are not good enough. Then I attended a show that I should not have been accepted to and my entire perspective changed. This show was geared towards the antique pottery market and I make contemporary work. When we set up the day before I was thinking to myself how great a show it would be because it is well established and prestigious. I even thought my work stood out and it certainly did because I was surrounded by traditional face jugs and all of my work had bright colors and geometric shapes. The problem was the people who attended, the show’s target audience, were only interested in traditional work. They were not interested in what I was selling regardless of my craftsmanship or creativity. The responsibility of a jury is to ensure that both the artists and clients benefit from the show. Other potters had told me this was the case, but like any lesson when you witness it first hand it leaves a more lasting impact. That was when my mindset shifted from I’m not good enough to they might not be my clientele.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sunraypottery.com
- Instagram: @sunraypottery
- Facebook: @sunraypottery
