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Improvising in a Pandemic

4/21/2020

6 Comments

 
I’m writing down all the details of what I did this past week so that other potters can copy or adapt this idea.

So far, two of my spring and summer shows have been cancelled. I expect to lose a few more. At least. My original plan was to keep making pots as normal, and to try to make up for lost income later this year or next year. I quickly realized the flaw in this plan, which is that I don’t have room to store months worth of production. I can only store about 10 weeks worth of production at a time.

I’ve been seeing a lot of artists trying to sell online more, and that many of them are finding receptive audiences, who miss art festivals as much as the artists do. The thing is, I had sworn off online selling at the end of last year. Or, to be more specific, I had sworn off SHIPPING pottery anymore. I hate packing pots into shipping cartons. "Hate" is not a strong enough word.  It’s such an inefficient use of time, and it produces so much trash in terms of packing materials. It creates an unacceptably low limit on volume of sales, due to the amount of time it takes to pack the boxes.

I was so sure that I wouldn’t sell online anymore, that I deleted my BigCartel account.

Here’s my new version of an online sale, that doesn’t involve any shipping, and works within our current strange circumstances. I called it The DC/Baltimore Area, Maximum Social Distancing, Free Home Delivery Pottery Sale

Here’s the email I sent to my customer base, explaining all the terms and conditions:
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Note the part about taking reservations in advance. This is something I’ve been doing with all of my shows for several years, and many of my customers have learned how to work with me this way. I have found this to be incredibly valuable in terms of building customer relationships. As soon as I sent this email, the reservations came pouring in. Along with many nice messages of support and “go girl!”

I built an online store using the Square store platform this time. I already use (and like) Square to process credit cards at shows, and I was able to build a no-frills online store for free. Overall, I liked this platform better than BigCartel because the payment process was faster for the customers. With BigCartel, I was encountering an annoying problem with overselling, because the payment process took too long when customers were shuttled between BigCartel and PayPal. This meant a second (and sometimes third) customer could buy the same item before the first customer finished paying for it. With the Square store, the payments were processed on the same website as the store, and I did not have any items oversold.

The new store went live at 10am last Friday. By noon, all but four items had sold. I only had one item left when I shut down the store on Sunday.

Then came the next phase … I needed to deliver all of these pots! I had 46 addresses to visit. Fun fact, when I was in college, I worked part-time in a flower shop. On the busiest flower shop holidays (Valentines, Mothers Day, etc), they let me make deliveries instead of working in the store. I enjoyed this so much, being able to work independently in my car. And I got paid per delivery, thus would make a lot more money compared to my hourly wage in the shop. This was way before Google maps existed. So I was confident I could make these pottery deliveries.

First I sorted all of the purchases into neighborhoods.
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Then I printed out maps of the region, and plotted the locations of each delivery. I numbered the plot points in the order that made the most sense. Then I numbered and organized the purchase sheets into this order.

Edit: After this first home delivery sale, I discovered a website called RouteXL.com, that calculates the fastest driving routes for me. Big time saver for the subsequent events! I ended up doing this type of sale four times for my local region, plus twice for the Central Pennsylvania region, and once for the Philadelphia region. 
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I divided the 46 deliveries into 3 driving routes and 3 days. Each driving route took between 3 and 6 hours, for a total of 14 hours. The night before I set out for each driving route, I sent the following email to everyone whose pots would be arriving the next day:

“Hi [……],
Your pottery will be delivered tomorrow, Monday 4/20, between 12noon and 2pm (give or take). I will assume you are home, so I will knock or ring the doorbell, then leave. If you have any special delivery instructions (eg, leave on back porch, etc), just let me know!”


That last sentence proved to be very valuable, because quite a few people responded with instructions. In particular, those who live in secure apartment buildings. This allowed every single delivery to take place without a hitch.

I followed the sorting order as I packed the pots into shopping bags (which takes no time compared to packing them into shipping cartons), and therefore the shopping bags were sorted in my car in the same order.
 
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Let’s talk numbers. While I was cooking up this plan in my head, I was thinking "it would be great to make $3000." After I sent out my email announcement, I got over $3000 in reservations alone. I had also been thinking that I wanted to make about 40 deliveries tops. But the reservations only involved 20 addresses. I realized that the deliveries-to-sales ratio was more favorable than I was expecting. So I raised my goals, and decided to offer a greater amount of pots in the online store. 

The total sales from the MSDFHDPS ended being only $30 less than my 2019 average gross sales per show. Sales at shows vary a lot, between $2700 and $12500. And so do the expenses, between $200 and $2000. My expenses for the MSDFHDPS included 47 shopping bags ($0.60 ea = $28.20), and 1 tank of gas ($30). This means the MSDFHDPS came out ahead, given how low the expenses were. I am really stoked at how well it turned out. 

How does this compare to selling online? In the past several years, my use of online selling has been limited to once a year. In December, when my annual Open Studio was over, I would offer the remaining pots for sale online. So I have never tried to sell a full-show-size inventory online. The largest online sale I ever had involved 35 pots, for a total dollar value of $2550. It took me about 10 hours to pack all the pots for shipping, spread over 2 days. And remember, this is labor that I hate so much, I felt like a zombie when I was done. There were also some substantial expenses. I spent $264 on shipping supplies (boxes, peanuts). I collected $315 in flat rate shipping fees from my customers, but ended up spending $441 on UPS that year (net loss of $126). 

So it took me 10 hours to pack 35 pots into shipping cartons for an online sale. It took me 14 hours to deliver 154 pots for the MSDFHDPS. 

Do you see how inefficient online selling is for a potter? Financially, materially, and time-wise? This is true for any artist who sells fragile, bulky, heavy items. And given the choice between spending my time packing boxes, or driving around in my car, it’s a no brainer. Especially when driving can yield so much more net profit. Driving is part of being a full-time festival artist anyways. If you don't like driving, your available choices for shows will be severely limited. When I had dropped off my last delivery, I felt sad that it was over, not like a zombie. And now more than ever, I needed a reason to get out of the house, in a safe fashion. 

Does this mean I think the MSDFHDPS is better than shows? No way. As much as I enjoyed it, the MSDFHDPS was missing a very critical component, which was the opportunity to meet NEW customers. To survive for the long term, a pottery business needs a steady influx of new fans. This past week, I reached out to my existing customer base, but did not grow it. I won’t be able to do this too many times. If all of the summer shows get cancelled, I’ll probably do this again in late summer. And if all of the fall shows get cancelled too, I will hold my December open studio in this fashion. But I don’t think it would be wise to do it every month, and hopefully not into 2021. And in the coming weeks, I need to figure out places to store more inventory in my house.

On the plus side, though, the interactions I had with my best fans this week were overwhelmingly positive. They are all stuck at home too, and feeling unhappy. Some of them seemed genuinely tickled that pottery was arriving at their door. Everybody could use a bright spot right now, and I’m glad I could provide a small one. Although I did not grow my customer base with this sale, I do think I built stronger ties with my existing base.

This brings me to one last point, which I have been preaching about for years on this blog … the importance of building and using an email list. It is the best way to stay in touch with people who actually want to buy your work. The ratio of serious customers within an email subscriber base is very high. The ratio of serious customers within a social media following is very low. And even if social media fans buy, chances are you have to ship their purchase to them, which is a real bummer, as far as I’m concerned. And the best way to build an email list is to do shows, because that’s where the right people are. It’s a slow process to build a list, one person at a time. But when you have done it consistently for many years, it can provide immeasurable value, at times when the world has been turned upside down..

(This is pretty much the exact same concept I wrote about in my recent blog post about financial preparedness. Think and plan for the long-term. Practicing consistent good habits over many years will pay you back when you need it.)

Many, many thanks to all the wonderful people who made this event work! And once again, to all the artists out there whose shows have been cancelled, please feel free to copy this idea. My friend Nan Rothwell has already created the Charlottesville, VA Area MSDFHDPS, which goes live this Saturday 4/25. If you are in her area, lucky you!
6 Comments

The DC/Baltimore Area, Maximum Social Distancing, Free Home Delivery Pottery Sale

4/12/2020

0 Comments

 
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This is partly because I lost one show (so far) this spring to the pandemic, and partly because I could really use a day or two out of my house and driving around in the pottermobile. This Friday, April 17, opening at 10am, I will be holding the first ever pandemically-designed pottery sale, for my DC and Baltimore area customers. 

A small selection of work will be made available to purchase online. I will give you the date and approximate time that your purchase will be delivered to your doorstep, free of charge. I will ring your doorbell then leave. 

Orders to the following areas will be accepted
In Maryland: Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Baltimore County. Plus, Washington DC, and inside the Beltway in Virginia.

Reservations
Just like with any of my shows, if you were hoping to buy a specific pot(s) this spring, you can contact me and reserve it before the sale begins. I am always happy to do that. 

Mark your calendars!
Friday, April 17, starting at 10am. Store will be open through Sunday, or until the pots are sold out, whichever comes first. 
https://goodelephantpottery.square.site
(note that I am no longer using BigCartel for my online store. The above url is new.)

Wishing you all comfort and health. Stay strong, and keep up the good work with social distancing and mask wearing! 

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New pots for the Open Studio 2019

12/10/2019

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I've got several new designs, and some updates to existing designs, that will be unveiled at this weekend's Open Studio. For new designs, the prices I'm charging this weekend are introductory prices. I'm just looking for feedback and reactions from my existing customers at this point. Final prices will be determined throughout 2020 depending on how sales go. 

I've been trying to figure out this design for over two years, and think I've finally done it. A ceramic tea steeper with a stainless steel handle. It fits into any cup, or at least all of the cups I make. $25 each.
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Most of the teapots I've made in the past will not work with the tea steeper. But I will start making teapots with a top opening that is large enough. I like how the two stainless steel handles parallel each other. 
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The 4.5 x 10 inch rectangular tray that I introduced last year was such a big hit, I have now developed its larger cousin. This tray is 7 x 13 inches, and features a koi fish illustration. I've made lots of koi-themed pots, this is a new, more loose and gestural approach to koi fish. $60 each.
EDIT: The Koi Fish Trays are now sold out.
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Crab coasters are back! I used to make these sets years ago, but discontinued them due to production headaches, mostly having to do with glazing. I am re-introducing them, now made out of an espresso brown clay that looks striking when unglazed. $30/set of four. 
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I have made several different versions of a kimchi dish over the years. The newest design is a hexagon! 6 inches across. $17 each. 
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The small pitcher, meant for cream or maple syrup, has been updated with a subtle "flower petal" alteration of its rim. They are about the same size and scale as before. $35 with a handle, and $30 without a handle. EDIT: the pitchers with handles are now sold out.
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Those of you who follow my blog know that I am learning bookbinding. A limited offering of hand-bound notebooks will be available this weekend. These are 3.75 x 5.25 inch books with 96 pages. I call them "List Books," and are designed for jotting down a shopping list or to-do list, then shoving it in your pocket or purse. The extended flap on the back cover keeps the book closed, or acts as a bookmark. $12 each.
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This was a big year for seconds! This is the only event where I will sell seconds, and this year's selection is larger than usual. Including quite a few imperfect mugs. Some are almost firsts and marked down just a little. Some are steeply marked down. All seconds are still fully functional pots. 

Good Elephant Pottery's 13th Annual Holiday Open Studio
Saturday, December 14th and Sunday, December 15th
10am to 5pm both days
Hope to see you there!

(For those of you not in the DC/Maryland area, my annual Online Sale will open on Monday, December 16, at 10am ET. Stay tuned!)
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I got on TV at the Smithsonian Craft Show

4/30/2019

1 Comment

 
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At this year's Smithsonian Craft Show, I was interviewed by Voice of America's Korean TV station. There were quite a few Korean artists in the show, so I am thrilled that they picked me. The program is in Korean but they let me do my part in English with subtitles. Here's a link to watch. The segment is the first 1:30 of the program. 

The whole show itself was another life-defining experience. This is the apex of the craft world, and it is a real honor to be so well-received here. Both by the attendees of the show, and the committee of gracious and tireless people who organize it every year. On the last afternoon as things were winding down, I wanted to lie down on my back in the middle of the aisle, with my ankles crossed and my hands behind my head, and just gaze up into the soaring architecture of the National Building Museum. And to contemplate "what's next?" Don't worry I didn't do it. 
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New Pots for the Open Studio 2018

11/28/2018

2 Comments

 
This has been a productive year in terms of exploring some new ideas. If you are coming to the Open Studio this weekend, you'll be the first to see them.
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I recently blogged about these new glazes, Snow and Cloud, with hakeme background textures. I plan to use this combination on minimalist, down-to-earth, functional forms. The cups are part of the Whiskey Sipper line (introduced last year) and are $35 each. The medium sized serving bowls range from $65 to $75. The larger bowl is 9 1/4" across. 
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These rectangular trays are also part of the new Snow/Cloud line, with the addition of fine-line illustrations carved into the hakeme. 4 3/8" x 10 1/4". For serving sushi or snacks, or for displaying treasured items. I'm still figuring out how best to glaze them, so for now they will be sold at the "prototype" price of $22 each.
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UPDATE: The rectangular trays are now ​sold out. I will be making more in 2019.

 
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I've always been fascinated by clock face designs. I made clocks many years ago when I was a beginner potter. (they were pretty cheesy.) I am coming back to the idea now, with much better craftsmanship and design, and with silent continuous-sweep clock movements. Some are meant for wall hanging, and some are meant to sit on a desk or shelf. The white one in the middle is 6 1/2" across. Introductory priced this weekend at $65 each. My plan for these going forward is to make these occasionally in low volumes, with a wide variation of designs. 
 
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The Boat and the Mini Boat. The Boat is 15" long, and can serve bread or salads. Or it can be used in your entry way to hold your mail, wallet, and keys. Introductory priced at $55. The Mini Boat is 10 1/4" long. Perfect for olives or other finger snacks, or filled with pencils on your desk. Introductory priced at $20. 
 
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I'm now offering a second version of the Maryland Platter. I'm still making the one with the silhouette of the state of Maryland, but now there is a second one featuring a blue crab. 8 1/4" x 11 1/2", $75 each. Can I take a moment to rant about people who try to sell crab-themed artwork to Marylanders that features a dungeness crab instead of a blue crab? Those people should be deported to a different state. 

​UPDATE: The Maryland Platters (both versions) are now sold out. I will be making more in 2019.
 
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Here is this year's lineup of School Pots. These are the pots made during the filming of my Online School videos. Prices range from $24 to $75. 
  
 
Of course I will be fully stocked with all of my usual line of work. There will also be a "scratch and dent" table full of steep bargains, and a table full of snacks. Hope to see you this weekend! 

Good Elephant Pottery's 12th Annual Holiday Open Studio
December 8-9, 2018
10am to 5pm both days

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The Elusive Outdoor Booth Photo

10/11/2018

5 Comments

 
When applying for art festivals, many shows ask for a photograph of your booth. It's not that hard to photograph an indoor booth, with controlled lighting and no weather. But shooting an outdoor booth is kind of like nature photography! It's hard to get the conditions just right, and it takes a lot of patience. You really can't use an indoor photo to apply for an outdoor show. Some shows state specifically "white canopies only" and some shows will even get picky about which brands of canopies are acceptable or not. Therefore, your booth photo must show that you can handle outdoor logistics, and that you have a decent canopy. 

I hadn't taken an outdoor booth shot in at least five years. I changed my display a lot since then, so it was time. Earlier this year, I realized there was only one show this entire year where I would have a chance to take photos during daylight hours, without any customers around. This was at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, where setup takes place starting at 6pm on the day before the show. It's the middle of summer, so the sun stays out past 8pm. All of my other outdoor shows this year had setup hours in the early morning or after dark. 

I once paid a professional to photograph my booth, but I wasn't happy with the result (he might want to ease up on the sharpening filter). However, I did learn a neat trick from him while he was shooting. He took a bracketed range of photos, from underexposed to overexposed. The final photograph was a composite of different exposures, choosing areas of each shot where the lighting was ideal. 
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I had to shoot these photos around 8pm, with the sun starting to sink. I took a bracketed range of photos. Here is a darker one. Everything here is too dark, but I like that the canopy is not glaring white, and the bright ray of sunlight on the right wall is not too glaring either. 
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Here is the lightest photo that I took. The pots along the back wall of the display are now correctly exposed. But everything else looks obviously blown out. The canopy is still brighter than the display, and it is closer to your eye than the display, which means it draws more attention that it should. 
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Here are the two photos combined. In Photoshop, I layered the darker photo on top of the lighter photo. I added a Layer Mask to the darker layer. Then I selectively erased areas of the darker layer, using a soft-edged brush on the Layer Mask, to reveal areas of the lighter photo. This is mostly the dark photo. The light photo is only used for the pots and the logo curtain.
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I also straightened and cropped the photo, leaving just enough details of my canopy for a knowledgeable juror to recognize it as a Light Dome, which is a well-known brand. And I applied the right amount of sharpening. 
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You might be wondering why I didn't just take a medium exposed photo, and lighten and darken areas using Photoshop tools. That's because making those types of edits results in data being thrown away from your original file. In some publishing situations, that loss of data can come back to bite you. In terms of good Photoshop habits, you should avoid throwing away data whenever possible. Also, if you don't have a good touch, inventing your own shadows and highlights can look very fake. Your camera does a much better job of calculating these things than Photoshop ever can. It's not a fair fight, your camera has the actual subject to work with. By combining two original photographs, you are not throwing away any data. And it's almost impossible to make it look fake. 

So glad it wasn't raining that day! I would have had to wait for another year. ​
5 Comments

Online Sale 2017

12/10/2017

1 Comment

 
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​I can't express how grateful I am for all the people who trekked out into the snow to attend my Open Studio this weekend. My pottery business would not exist without people like you <3

The remaining pots are available for sale in my online store, which opens at 10am ET today, December 11, 2017. The store will remain open through December 31 or until the pots are sold out. 

goodelephant.bigcartel.com

Wishing you all a warm and happy holiday season!
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The Law of the Craft Show

10/9/2017

1 Comment

 
This is a play on the phrase “Law of the Jungle,” which generally translates to “every person for themselves” or “eat or be eaten.” On a regular basis at craft shows, a customer will decide for various reasons to leave my booth and come back to purchase the pot they want later. Only to find that somebody else got it first. When it happens, I shrug and say “sometimes that’s The Law of the Craft Show.” I try to be lighthearted about it to ease the customer's disappointment. Most of the time, they understand it was their own fault. Every once in a while, the customer will seem genuinely upset with me. Go figure.

At the end of a recent show, I heard a voice say “Oh no! It’s gone!” She was very understanding and immediately started signing up for my email list. I shrugged and said my “Law of the Craft Show” line. Her boyfriend/husband got very excited. “Oh my god that’s so true! It happened the other day at the farmer’s market. Only it was ME who won! I was buying this beautiful little potted tree and a woman came running up saying ‘I was going to buy that!’ and I was like ‘Well you should have gotten here before me BUT YOU DIDN’T. I got here first so I win! IT IS MINE! You were too slow and I beat you!’ ”

He went on like this for a good minute. Let me make something clear, there was no trace of malice in his excitement. It was more like he was making fun of himself for feeling so good about it. He was so funny it’s possible he was a professional comedian. I am paraphrasing his words, I don’t remember the exact words because I was laughing so hard. I only wish those people who ever held it against me were there to hear his gleeful and victorious rant.

​These days, a nearly-empty booth at the end of a show is not that unusual for me. Not every show goes this well, but it’s not uncommon either. “Buying it later” will subject you to The Law. Just fyi, if you want to purchase something large or heavy but don’t want to carry it around, you are welcome to pay for it and leave it in my booth until you are ready to leave. I do that all the time, and I'm pretty sure most artists will. 
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1 Comment

Part of the Bargain

5/17/2017

0 Comments

 
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That's me, getting up at 4am last weekend to set up my booth for a show. And yes, it was raining. This is part of the bargain when you choose to be a full-time potter. Some shows have no choice but to make you set up at crazy o'clock. And Mother Nature doesn't take requests. Sure there are shows that allow set ups the day before, and shows that are indoors. But not enough to fill out a full-time schedule. Besides, this show delivered on all the factors that are really important, more than making up for its inconvenient set up time. 

From my perspective, there were 130 other artists doing the same thing that morning. This is normal to us.  

Lots of aspiring professionals try art festivals and quickly decide "is there another way to make a living with my pottery?" The answer is "yes" but none that are any easier than this. Every bona fide path requires this amount of energy. 

I have a surprisingly easy life hack for those days when I need to wake up at 4am. I go to bed at 9pm the night before with a dose of an over-the-counter sleep aid. It knocks me right out, and when the alarm starts buzzing I've had a normal amount of sleep. My body clock is still off but I don't feel sleep deprived. 
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Fast-Motion Booth Setup

4/1/2017

10 Comments

 
As some of you already know, I am learning how to use a video camera and video editing software. I'm working on a big, ambitious project with these. But in the meantime, I am having some fun "playing" with the camera and software. I created a fast-motion rendition of myself setting up my festival booth. I hope those of you who aspire to do shows will find this helpful. This takes me between 1.5 and 3 hours, depending on conditions. I've condensed it down to one minute. I filmed this at the ACC Baltimore show back in February, and have already shared this on Facebook and Instagram. I wanted to get in onto my blog for posterity, but didn't know how. I just now figured it out! 
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Fast-Motion Booth Setup from Mea Rhee on Vimeo.

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    Mea Rhee (mee-uh ree),
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