Ok, so I’m not proud to admit this, but 2 months have passed since my last blog post, though I had written a couple drafts. I’m especially ashamed that I didn’t publish the one I’m about to tell you about because it was such an honor for me, and the fact that I didn’t share this experience when it happened might suggest otherwise. But that’s really not the case. The truth is, sometimes my creative business has me going in multiple directions that I don’t always navigate well. And BAM, before I know it, two months have passed. But now I would like to share what happened.
A customer, Mr. Jameson Parker, who ordered one of my dog breed mugs during the 2016 holiday season, followed up by email and confirmed a suspicion I had about selling my work online. He indicated that when he purchased the mug for Christmas, he wasn’t sure what it would really be like. Ok, I thought, that’s only natural. When you buy something online, how can you really know if it’s going to meet your expectations? This is a challenge for all folks selling their handmade items online and something I need to address to help my customers. If any of you have any thoughts on this, I’d love some comments.
Any how, after receiving the one item and liking it, Jameson ordered a few more pieces of my dog breed pottery and then surprised me with a request to interview me for his blog. I rushed over to his blog, Barking Backward, to read it and spent a long time there. His writing style is a pleasure to read and the content is interesting, varying from nature to politics, book reviews, guns, artisan made, Hollywood, and pretty much any darn thing he wants to discuss (as he told me himself, though he might have used a different word for darn).
Jameson is an avid writer. He writes novels, magazine articles, and his blog posts (his blog posts, unlike mine, are consistent and reliable). And what was really fun to find out was that he is the Jameson Parker that starred in one of my favorite TV shows, Simon and Simon. I’ll admit I got a little giddy when I found that out – I’m allowed to be a little star-struck, right?
During the phone interview, Jameson asked questions about my craft, how I got into it, where I live, and other things that you can read in his “The Artisans: Shepherd’s Grove” blog post. We also discussed his dogs – two Australian Shepherds named Bear and Daisy Mae and a Cardigan Corgi named Lola. It’s very clear from talking with him, and reading his blog, that he adores them very much. I guess that’s pretty much what you’d expect from customer’s who buy pottery made for dog lovers, but I love when I get to hear stories about my customer’s dogs. Anyway, the interview was really like having a conversation with an old friend, talking about our lives and our dogs. It was pretty darn cool.
I send my heartfelt (and somewhat belated) thank you to Jameson for featuring my studio on his blog and helping spread my reach. His thoughtfulness and beautiful words are much appreciated and I will remember the experience very fondly.
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Shepherd's Grove Studio 