Originally posted on Williams Design Co's website on July 2, 2023: Louisville! Lou’vol! Luckily my brother-in-law taught me how to say it properly over the years since he is from the area so this Colorado girl didn’t make a fool of herself. We camped in our van at a state park across the border in Indiana. The morning of the art fair we went on a 3 mile hike with Mishka through the “mountains” and it was beautiful. Then we made pancakes and coffee by a river and were the only people around. It was a calm, and wonderful start to the day. The art fair was in Butchertown which is an area in Louisville, KY near downtown. It had a lot of really interesting history to it, so just to share some: the first homes were built in the 1820’s in the area. It’s called Butchertown because the location was ideal for the butchers to put the animal entrails in the river to move it away from the town (mmm). Lastly, it is home to the Thomas Edison House, which is now a museum. It was one of the homes Thomas Edison lived throughout his life. We were lucky enough to be next to the Thomas Edison House booth so we got to learn all about the history as the staff spoke to fair goers. They also had a gramophone which played the same song over and over, but we enjoyed the historical significance of it all. The staff at this show was amazing, bringing cold water over to all the booths. The whole street had large trees and each booth was decently shaded, and the homes in the area were beautiful, so it all made for a serene ambiance. There was an ice cream and lobster roll food truck, so it was like they catered the market to two of my favorite things. So because of that alone, the show was already a success! We were also lucky enough to be next to someone that loved our dog and would give her treats and pets through the back of the tent. Mishka definitely found her new best friend. The fair goers were wonderful and we met some lovely people. The fair was most definitely a success, we will be back!

Originally posted on Williams Design Co's website on July 2, 2023: It’s Farmers Market season, and I have been lucky enough to be part of the Tuesday Tower Grove Market, and the Thursday Rockwell Beer Garden Market in Francis park here in St. Louis, Missouri. Being newer to the St. Louis area, I had never even been to these parks, but they are both incredible. They are big, with beautiful grass and trees, and make for a perfect spot for Farmers Markets. On Tuesday’s at Tower Grove I have a permanent spot under an awesome tree, which makes for a lovely shady spot to post up. The vendor next to me is Misty from “Hi, I’m Misty,” and she blows glass and does incredible work, and is so much fun to hang out with during the market. I really enjoy being at this market because the food is incredible. There is a Thai place that does amazing pad thai and thai tea, a sandwich place called “Fat Fox STL” that makes killer sandwiches, and then the star of the market (in my opinion) is “Damn Fine Hand Pies” who make the best donuts in the history of the world (among other things). If you haven’t tried these places, and are in the St. Louis area, do yourself a favor and change that. Thursdays and Francis park vary in my spot and my neighbors, which is also fun to be able to meet new people. Larder and Cupboard (that makes amazing jams, jellies and curds) is there, Mylk and Hummus (who make carrot and ginger hummus to die for), Key Cakes makes incredible gooey butter cake (a St. Louis treasure) and the market is run by a woman named Dee who is so wonderful, supportive and interactive with customers and vendors. She is constantly looking for ways to improve the market for customers and vendors alike and the market is so lucky to have her. The weather has been getting hotter, and sometimes that slows the market down, but I tend to love the heat. Mainly because I hate the cold so much! Yes, even being from Colorado. And because of how much I complain about the cold in the winter, I feel like I am not allowed to complain about the heat, so I just soak it in and enjoy it. Luckily I don’t have a product that melts or struggles in the heat. OH! And I got a new chair everyone, and what sold me on it was that it has a fold up cup holder and table to be able to hold my water bottle, or cocktail, or beer and all my snacks. It has been a game changer. The chair I had before was just a fold out one from target, and at the time I didn’t fully comprehend how important it is to find a chair that you can literally sit in all day. So that’s probably the biggest bit of news thus far!  But, in other less exciting news, I have been working on increasing my production of ceramics each day I create. This seems to have multiple factors to it. One, is simply just getting more comfortable and quicker about the actually throwing and creating. The other is finding ways to be more efficient with how I time manage, such as doing items that need handles in the morning and ones that don’t in the evening. Also, I use my garage as the studio and there is no air conditioning, which makes heat a factor, and if the pieces dry out to much it makes trimming and putting handles on difficult. I have found that using the bed of my truck as a drying station for a few items I can control drying times and be able to work on my pieces in smaller groups, it has been a game changer as well. Again, its just learning as I go and figuring out what works and what doesn’t work. And apparently trying some out-of-the-box or back-of-truck thinking! If you are in the St. Louis area, come and check out the markets!

Originally posted on Williams Design Co's website on July 2, 2023: Showtime! We headed south to Austin, Texas! We loaded up the van full of all our supplies, inventory and of course our dog Mishka. The show was in the downtown area of Austin called the “Pecan Festival,” named for the street it was on, not for harvesting actual nut pecans (as I previously thought). We stayed in a hotel downtown which had an incredible view. The show was Saturday and Sunday, so we set up bright and early on Saturday morning, lugging our stuff by wagon through the downtown streets (so it was the workout for the day). Meanwhile, our dog found an entire hot chicken sandwich on the ground and we didn’t realize it until she had basically swallowed it whole like an anaconda in an attempt to keep us from stopping her… it worked. We made it to the market, and we were space “1” so we were right in the very start of the market which made for an absolutely prime spot for the patrons coming in and out.   We started to sell ceramics before the market even officially started and the sales didn’t stop until we shut down at the end of the day. The festival goers were amazing, and very generous towards the small businesses. So much so, that I ended up nearly selling out of the inventory I brought on the first day, with just a few items left. Luckily the festival staff were understanding and excused me for the second day. It was bittersweet, because on one hand, I was proud that my work was so appreciated and loved, but the other part of me was disappointed that I didn’t prepare properly and missed out on a whole day of sales and enjoying the people and the market. Again, being that it is my first year of doing markets and selling my work, it is understandable that there will be a learning curve. And unfortunately, that means learning a lot the hard way. But here’s to lessons learned, and on to the next market! But in more positive news to finish off the blog, I got to see an old friend that I hadn’t seen in over a decade and she and her wife came and helped run the booth for the entire day on Saturday. We also got to try some amazing Texas BBQ, which is my favorite of all the BBQs! Sorry to my current state of Missouri and that Kansas City BBQ! Austin is such a fun place, cool city, and the some of the best art supporters around, I highly recommend the area/show for anyone, including vendors.

Originally posted on Williams Design Co's website on April 16, 2023: My first “show season” has started! Since it is not quite summer yet, we (Abby, Mishka and Sandy-The-Vandy) made the trip to Arizona for warmer weather to start out with. BUT IT WASN’T WARM! Luckily the weather and temperature was manageable, but not what you would expect from a trip to the Phoenix area for the time of year, or any time of year for that matter. The show was fantastic, however! It began on Friday, and lasted throughout the weekend. Since it was my first show there were lots of learning experiences, such as making sure to have plenty of weights to assure your tent does not become a lawn dart into a fountain. This did not happen to me, but it did happen to someone else at the same show unfortunately. So, on top of making sure the tent was weighed down properly, we learned a bit about efficient setup with the tent, tables, etc. which we will get better at as we go. There seems to be lots of strict rules about open containers or drinking alcohol outside the beer tent areas. I learned this when the taco delivery person tragically informed me that she could not bring a mojito to my tent, but I could drink it in the “beer garden,” (which is just a taped off area of asphalt and sadness with a few fold out chairs). So basically, you have to buy a beer or beverage, and then drink it in beer jail, while you watch with jealous envy as everyone else lives their life on the outside. Bummer! But the show must go on! We met amazing people, which included other vendors, locals and tourists. I even met a vendor from my hometown in Colorado, and we did an exchange of one of my mugs for a pair of her earrings (Colorado Restrung made from recycled guitar strings!). We stayed in the van in a sectioned off lot reserved for vendors and their RVs. Which worked out perfectly for us and the van, because even though there was not electrical hook ups, there was easy access to port-o-potties to be able to go to the bathroom. So the first show was a success! For the summer happenings I will be at the Tuesday Markets in Tower Grove and the Rockwell Beer Garden Thursday markets in St. Louis, Missouri, The Pecan Festival in Austin, Tx, Pearl Street Arts Fair in Boulder, Colorado, Butchertown Art Fair in Louisville, KY, and hopefully going to do a fair in Durango, Co and Pagosa Springs, Co in the fall. So stayed tuned for all the updates.

Originally posted for Williams Design Co's website on January 22, 2023: Wow! It has been five months since we launched the Williams Design Co website! It was a long time in the making getting to this point. In fact, it was a long time getting to the point of even being able to create ceramic pieces to even have a website. Abby and I were living in Reno, Nevada in 2021. During this time, the world was still suffering from the aftermath of COVID, where production and shipping of goods were delayed or sometimes non-existent. It was at this time I was trying to purchase my first ceramic wheel and kiln. Most third party distributors had little to no inventory on these products and the lag time on these items was up to a year or more. This was discouraging to say the least. However, with a bit of good luck, I was able to order a Skutt wheel from a third party distributor with only a 6 month waiting period. The sales associate mentioned that the L&L Kilns or the Skutt would be over a year, BUT, that Cress Kilns would be around 6 months and they were manufactured about an hour away from me in Carson City, Nevada, which meant I could pick it up and avoid shipping costs (which is a lot for such a heavy product). So this is exactly what I did. And within 6 months I had the wheel, kiln and the basic set up for some ceramics projects. Getting the kiln into the garage with just Abby and myself and no hydraulic or fancy lifting machinery was not so easy! That was a “learn the hard way,” experience to make sure that we have the proper equipment for transferring these heavy products. During the 6 month waiting period, I had licensed electricians come in to wire the garage up for a 220v plug on a 50 amp breaker to be able to run the kiln. The wheel runs on a standard 110v. The kilns also need an emergency shut-off handle just in case there is a problem. Since my kiln isn’t hard wired into the wall, I am able to use the plug itself as the emergency shut off, avoiding this extra step. The kiln also needs a ventilation system, as the firing process creates unhealthy fumes that need to be vented outside to keep the space safe. I was able to install this myself with a few simple tools and a dryer vent system purchased at Home Depot. So, after all the preparation and then finally getting the products, I was able to create a few pieces in our garage in Reno, which was a nice large 3 car garage space, with windows on the garage doors which made for some lovely natural light. I was looking forward to getting enough pieces for the first firing in my kiln. It was at this time that Abby received the news that she was so good at her job she was being promoted. We move a lot for her work which makes for amazing and fun new experiences for us. Because of this news I decided to hold off on creating more pieces and begin the process of getting the studio packed and ready to head off to St. Louis, Missouri. Because the kiln is built with very soft brick, it is very fragile, so I had it professionally crated for safety. The movers packed, loaded and moved the items across the country to the Midwest where we bought a home and met them on the other side. This home had a 3 car garage with an epoxy floor and two side windows. It is the perfect space for a studio. The only problem was that it was unfinished, meaning there was no insulation or drywall on the walls, and for the cold winters in St. Louis it would not be a feasible space for ceramics that deal with wet clay that would freeze if kept too cold. And for those of you that know me, I am not a fan of the cold, so more importantly I would be so grumpy that I wouldn’t even go in the garage if it was cold. I insulated and sheet rocked the garage myself. My taping and mudding skills have much to be desired, so luckily my work is isolated to the garage. But it did the trick, and with the addition of a portable electric heater that uses the same electrical circuit as the kiln, it was up and running. Just like Reno, I had a licensed electrician come out and run this circuit. The only unfortunate part is that I cannot run the heater and the kiln at the same time, but fortunately the kiln acts as a hot stove and keeps the garage warm enough to keep the pieces safe, but not warm enough for me to do work, so I take those days off. I have learned a ton up to this point, most of which I have learned the hard way, as life usually works with taking on new things and endeavors. Some hurdles I have encountered: Its been a long time since I did ceramics in high school. Its like riding a bike, it comes back, but its not pretty starting out! I’ve learned glazes don’t typically turn out identical to their picture on the container, and each container varies itself. On top of this, brush strokes and variations in thickness of glaze dramatically effect the outcome. Too think and the glaze color gets washed out, too think and the glaze will bubble. Handles are much tougher than I remember. I have struggled with the handles cracking at the attachment point and how to combat this. Shipping is tough, the postal service doesn’t take the fragile stickers as seriously as I do, so learning to properly pack pieces is tricky while still trying to be eco-friendly and cost efficient. These are to just name a few. I will write further blog posts on overcoming these odds in detail. Things are moving along, there are ups and downs, but I am loving my days in the studio and being able to have a creative outlet. Thank you for reading and for being part of this business journey.