Rectangle on Wheels

I'm back from another Artscape Baltimore. Despite the storms and the abominable heat, it was another stellar show. This is my eleventh year at this show, and it continues to be my favorite and highly profitable. At the beginning of this year, I decided to ramp up the "dinnerware" part of my product line, and after six months this has paid great dividends. I've been making plates as fast as I can, but always running out. And the feedback has been even better. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to create more drying space in the studio for plate-shaped things. 

My "I shouldn't have eaten that" indulgence were some deep-fried Oreos. They were way too sweet, but I'd probably eat them again. I also indulged in a little schadenfreude. I don't believe in criticizing people on my blog, so I'm just going to keep it to myself.

But here's the main reason why the show was really exciting: I have a new car! I realize I am the only single and child-free female who was dying to have a minivan. "But people will mistake you for a soccer mom! Or a burglar!" I don't care. A minivan is the vehicle of choice on the art festival circuit. It really is the best combination of cargo space, drivability, gas mileage, and price. 

My mom did her polite best to change my mind. "Umm, isn't that Nissan Murano pretty?" "No mom, those round-shaped cars are not useful. Everything I'm carrying is a box or a table. I want the most rectangular car I can find."

Here is my rectangle. It's a Toyota Sienna. Despite it's size it is very easy to drive. 

This is a vision! Just look at all this space. I have the middle row seats tumbled forward, I can remove them if I want even more room.

This is my entire display for the Artscape show. Just about everything fits into the van SIDEWAYS. I will repeat that just to emphasize my amazement: SIDEWAYS. The only thing that doesn't is a five-foot-long tabletop, which I have propped against the right wall. Yes I am contemplating replacing that with a four-foot tabletop, just so I can pack it sideways too. 

This leaves the rest of the space for, you guessed it, pottery! I packed a hefty inventory for Artscape, five 12-gallon boxes and three 8-gallon boxes. But there was plenty of room to spare.

And here's why this matters so much. There are so few economies of scale with a pottery business, but here's one that can make a big difference: packing your car once and doing two shows. My former car was a Subaru Forester. It was much-loved, but I could barely squeeze in my display and enough pots for one show. The pottery boxes were on the bottom of the payload, so I could not restock them without unpacking the entire car. My renovated studio and the second kiln made it possible to make enough work for two consecutive shows, but the Subaru couldn't match that. As you can see in the above photo, the van could easily hold twice as many pottery boxes. Well, first I need to get more boxes. When Artscape was over, I put the empty boxes in the very back near the liftgate. All I needed to do was fill those boxes up with pots again, and put them back in the van. Without unpacking everything else. And BAM! I'm off to another show. 

This weekend I'll be at the Pennsylvania Guild Fine Craft Fair in Wilmington, Delaware. This is my first time at this show, but I've heard from many sources it is top-notch. This is outside of my local zone, so I'm not sure how many of my usual customer base will attend, but if you are in the area, I hope to see you there!

I bet the minivan will be comfy for a long drive too. I can't wait.