In 2023, I kinda-sorta launched my pottery business.
In reality, I just started selling what I was making in class at the Gulfport Arts Center upstairs in the artists gallery. I had to apply and be juried, just like any other artist, but that is how my pottery hobby spent the better part of the last year. Of course I continued making pottery for local charity programs and silent auction items, gifts for friends and family and a few things I loved so much I just kept them for me (amazingly, I am allowed to keep something I made that I like).
Time went by and in the fall of 2023, the opportunity to feature in the gallery as “Artist of the Month” in June 2024 for my first ever pottery exhibition. And of course it was not a chance I was going to miss out on! Here I go – thinking I had so much time to get ready, and immediately started asking around about what I should do, how much I needed, thinking of a theme, etc.
In the process of preparing for this show, I also started contemplating just how possible it would be for me to turn this art therapy and passion project of mine into a small side business. Lord knows I don’t think I am ready to be a full time potter, but what if I could make it into more than just selling nick-nacks at a local gallery?
While I started cranking out pots, mugs, leaves, shells and all my other normal items – I set to work on the side building out a business plan and setting some goals. This was all sort of sketched out on random notes and in word documents, or voiced out loud to my friends and family, but it was still just ramblings without any really determined direction – yet.
Fast forward to June 2024: One June 1st, I hosted my opening reception for “Wonders of Nature” – my artist of the month exhibition at the Gulfport Arts Center. Thanks to an incredible outpouring of support from local friends and family (and even a few who came in from out of state) the evening was a smashing success! The show lasted all month long, with a good number of cherished pieces making their way to new homes. By the end of the month, it ended up being my highest grossing sales – over 4x what I would normally sell at the gallery. That in itself was extremely exciting, not to mention validating, and I really started spinning my wheels about launching an actual business.
About a week into the show, a friend at the Harrison County Development Commission reached out about my art. She asked about painted shells, and I told her I didn’t paint shells, but that I did make ceramic shells. As we chatted back and forth, she decided to go ahead place two orders for shells: half that I already had ready and half to be made and delivered once available. Let me tell you – this is when things got real. I started looking into how I could send her an invoice, what I needed to put on a W-9, how could I take a payment from them, etc. As of course, being the Harrison County Development Commission, I wasn’t about to say “Can you pay me in cash?” I got to work on Canva and Word and the Secretary of State, got myself together, and got all the documentation needed to get things rolling.
One week later, I delivered the first half of the order, just in time for Bill to take them to Europe on a business trip to give out as special gifts to the people he was meeting with. (Pieces of my functional art are in Europe, living their best life. How cool is that?!) I picked up a check, thanked them for being my first official purchase for my small business, and rode that high all the way to the bank where I deposited that check into my freshly opened business account. I will forever be thankful for the HCDC for liking my work, believing in me to get my business off the ground, and for giving me the chance to get everything started while working with me on a generous timeline.
After this sale – it was official. I am now a small business owner. In the time since June 1st, I have been busy: completing the second half of the HCDC order, making a few custom orders people requested at my show, engaging with a local non-profit to make awards for an upcoming event, crafting items to donate to a few local fundraisers, and of course making things for myself for fun and to keep my shelves at the gallery full. I was notified earlier this month that I am a recipient of an Artist Mini-Grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission. This week, I even had one of our local magazines reach out to let me know that they are writing a piece about me and my pottery to be featured in a few months! How cool is that?!
It is my goal to start making and keeping enough in stock to do the occasional art, craft, or farmers markets this fall and to try my hand at being a weekend vendor at a few places. My full time job and time with my family and friends will always stay a priority for me. But seeing how much support and love there is for what I do over the past month has been an inspiration to me, and I fully intend to dedicate some time to giving this whole “side hustle” a run for it’s money!
If you have questions about me, my pottery journey, getting started in ceramics, or would like to place a custom order – I am an open book and here to share! Head over to my social media to check out some of my work. I am always trying to upload more content since this is all still very new, but there should be enough to give you a taste of what I create.
Thank you to everyone who has played a part in making this dream come true. I couldn’t do it without you.
Much Love ❤
~Kelly
Devine Perks 