Ryan Durbin (@rdceramics) & Becca Otis (@5linespottery) share their experiences as potters, makers, small business owners, and creatives. Becca is a full time studio potter, while Ryan is a full time website developer and part time potter. We'd love to share our ups and downs along the way as we build our skills as makers and small business owners in an honest, informal manner. We hope to bring you helpful tips we've learned over the years, learn from each other, and share expertise from a n ...
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#265 - Creating through health struggles with Aleatha Aiken-Sherrer from aleathabean (Pt 1)
1:24:00
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Ryan and Becca welcome back Aleatha Aiken-Sherrer from Aleathabean to chat on a range of topics. Aletha has some insights on using a cheap Amazon pottery wheel to sustain her business the past few years. We also get to hear more about how Aletha lives with Crohn's disease the past few years and how it impacts her business. Come back next week for t…
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#264 - Spaghetti brain or box brain?
2:08:28
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Ryan & Becca get into an interesting discussion sparked from a human psychology thought experiment Ryan had recently. We get into the weeds about the differences between those who are flexible focusers ("spaghetti brained") and priority focusers ("box brained"). The discussion ensues and provides some context to how both Ryan & Becca manage their b…
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#263 - Cohesion vs. creativity in your pottery
1:48:39
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Ryan & Becca tackle a listener question today about the importance of having a cohesive style in pottery. Two Sisters Pottery includes a sibling duo creating work in varying styles today. We discuss the balance between creative freedom and branding, offering insights on how diverse styles can coexist within a single pottery business. Thanks for lis…
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#262 - Lessons from The E-Myth Revisited
2:10:18
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Ryan & Becca discuss some lessons learned after Ryan recently listened to some of The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. They specifically focus on the idea of the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician and dive a little bit into franchising as the author explains as well. We share some insights related to our own businesses as we converse.…
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#261 - Virtual teaching milestones & new horizons with Tzipporah Schvarcz from Sipor Ceramics (Pt 2)
1:32:06
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Ryan & Becca finish up our conversation with Tzipporah from Sipor Ceramics to hear more about packing for a big international move and a big project she's hosting this August. Tzipporah is bringing together 5 artists for Modern Clay: A Live Virtual Summit to help attendees learn a range of topics from wheel throwing, hand building, surface decorati…
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#260 - Virtual teaching milestones & new horizons with Tzipporah Schvarcz from Sipor Ceramics (Pt 1)
1:44:37
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Ryan & Becca welcome back Tzipporah from Sipor Ceramics to catch up on what's happening with her virtual workshops since we last talked. Virtual teaching was in it's very early stages the last time we talked in August of 2023 for Tzipporah and she's come a long way since. In the midst of balancing family life and the business, she's moving out of h…
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Ryan & Becca are back after a long time since their last Q&A episode nearly a year ago. They answer many of your questions related to business, studio practice, and a few random ones. Thanks to everyone who continues to send us questions on Instagram and by email! Listener Questions Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking a…
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#258 - A new start for Bluebird Clay with Jordan Kloppe (Pt 2)
1:23:59
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Ryan and Becca are back with Jordan Kloppe, owner of Bluebird Clay, for part two of our discussion. He shares more about new product development, manufacturing challenges, experiences at pottery conferences (Clay Con West & NCECA), fulfilling orders efficiently, building a small pug mill, and the future of Bluebird. Thanks to Jordan for chatting an…
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#257 - A new start for Bluebird Clay with Jordan Kloppe (Pt 1)
1:22:33
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Ryan and Becca introduce listeners to Jordan Kloppe, new owner of Bluebird Clay. Bluebird is a name that’s been around our industry for decades and are most known for manufacturing pugmills, clay mixers, and Soldner pottery wheels. Jordan shares his outsider perspective as he recently purchased the business, brings it into a new era of manufacturin…
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Ryan & Becca come ready to chat all about what's involved in moving out of a studio, no matter the size. I think we can all agree, moving sucks! Both have experience in moving to larger and smaller studios over the years. With Becca's recent move, she's got a lot to say about selling equipment, tools, clay, etc so someone else can get a second life…
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#255 - Adapting to uncertain times with Link Henderson from Kentucky Mudworks (Pt 2)
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Ryan and Becca welcome back Link Henderson, the owner of Kentucky Mudworks and Dirty Girls Pottery Tools, for part two of our conversation from last week. They discuss switching to Shopify as a sales platform, running marketing campaigns/sales throughout the year, online and print resources for staying up-to-date on changes in our industry, and som…
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#254 - Adapting to uncertain times with Link Henderson from Kentucky Mudworks (Pt 1)
1:32:12
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Ryan and Becca welcome back Link Henderson, the owner of Kentucky Mudworks and Dirty Girls Pottery Tools, for an in-depth conversation. They discuss the significant adjustments Link's businesses have made since their last chat 3 years ago, particularly in response to the uncertainty surrounding raw materials. Link also shares insights into their ri…
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Ryan & Becca are back to chat about Becca's next challenge as she's made her way back east for the summer. She's planning ahead for diving head first into online teaching in clay. It's not something too foreign for her, but she's been planning for months (maybe even years) to get to this point. There's a lot of unknowns still, but the plan is set i…
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#252 - Making pottery for restaurants with Bethany Kramer from Bethany Rose Pottery
1:54:39
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Ryan & Becca are happy to be joined by Bethany Kramer from Bethany Rose Pottery to answer all of our questions about working on orders with restaurants. Bethany has been working with various local and regional restaurants over nearly the last decade, finding success as she's grown. We're happy to get some answers regarding making orders in large qu…
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#251 - What can you do when sales are slow?
1:55:43
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Ryan & Becca discuss how they think about adjusting their business & finances when sales are harder to come by. We've seen slower sales to start the year online, at shows, and general sentiment around folks having less disposable income. We hope you get some valuable takeaways to get yourself prepared in the case of finances tightening or product b…
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Ryan & Becca go in deep on finding shows early in your selling career. Becca plays interviewer on this one to ask Ryan all about his early shows, what he hopes to get sales-wise these days at a show, and how the progression has evolved year to year. There's also some discussion about where and how to find the shows for you. Thanks for the question …
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Ryan & Becca are back together once again to discuss risk taking in our businesses. What's the most risk we've taken lately, how do we think through risks we're willing to take, how having a support system influences our decisions, and how do we prepare ourselves when something doesn't go right. We hope you enjoy our discussion today. Resources Sig…
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#248 - Is your price right? with Isaac Shue and Heidi Fahrenbacher
2:23:45
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Ryan & Becca have the whole crew here today, joined by Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery and Isaac Shue from Gallery Mostaza. They talk a lot more about our hot topic as of late: pricing. Heidi continues where we left off last time to ask Ryan about his approach to pricing and digging into Isaac's pricing philosophy. -----Find more about Is…
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#247 - "Resources for your business" at NCECA 2024
1:07:17
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Ryan & Becca are proud to share the topic of "Resources for your business" live at the NCECA 2024 clay conference hosted in Richmond, VA. We hope you enjoy the discussion as we share how our friends and peers become some of the best resources for our businesses. Thanks to Ben Carter (Tales of the Red Clay Rambler) and NCECA for co-producing the pod…
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Ryan & Becca chat about preorders today! We cover a few pros and cons of doing a preorder, what we've preordered before, what we'd like to preorder in the future, and customer considerations when receiving an online preorder. Enjoy and good luck if you're planning to preorder anything this year. Resources Join the waitlist for Ryan's future Bookkee…
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#245 - Pricing your work pt 2 & presenting at NCECA with Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery
2:18:42
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Ryan & Becca welcome back Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery for third time to chat all things NCECA and catch up on Becca's pricing. They recap how NCECA went for them as demonstrators & presenters, what makes the conference so overwhelming, dig into Becca's pricing and sales since we last met with Heidi, and hunting apparently. Stay tuned …
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Ryan & Becca are heading home to Cincinnati with Erica & Jessica from Richmond, Virginia after attending NCECA 2024. Enjoy the events that made this week special and some of our key takeaways as we get home, rest up, and get back into our studios soon. We hope to see everyone in Salt Lake City, Utah for 2025 and Detroit, Michigan for 2026! Follow E…
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#243 - Getting better at in-person shows
1:38:54
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Ryan & Becca are getting excited about NCECA, which just concluded at the time of this release, before answering a listener's question about gauging the shows they're selling at. Sandrine's in her second year of selling and wants to make sure the shows she's looking into are good fit for the potential customers out there for her. We get into how yo…
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#242 - How we started & where we're going
1:31:13
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Ryan & Becca share some stories today about how the podcast started and how it's changed over the years. We also get into how we see it progressing into the future and some dream scenarios we may see come to fruition at some point. Thanks for continuing to listen! Listener Questions On this episode: - How did the podcast start? How did we manage it…
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#241 - Setting boundaries on social media with Melanie Westheiden from Swell Ceramics
1:52:37
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Ryan & Becca are joined today by Melanie Westheiden from Swell Ceramics. Melanie shares about her business’ evolution from a home studio to brick and mortar, preparing for the holiday season, setting boundaries on Instagram, & shifting her body of work. Thanks so much to Melanie for taking the time to share with all of us. -----Find more about Mela…
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Ryan & Becca are back together once again and this week we're talking mobile studios! We received a question about the viability of using a mobile studio in a trailer, van, etc to assist in teaching small kid classes and selling at shows from it. Becca's insights may surprise you on this one. Thanks for the question Lilly! Listener Questions On thi…
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#239 - Custom wholesale & clay buttons with Sara Davis from Golden Earth Designs
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Ryan & Becca are joined today by Sara Davis from Golden Earth Designs. Sara shares about her process of making custom wholesale mugs, selling full time the past year, getting back to production after the holidays, and clay buttons! Thanks so much to Sara for sharing some time to chat about her work and business. -----Find more about Sara's business…
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#238 - A path to full time ceramic artist with Em (Paz) Stevens (Pt 2)
1:48:51
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Ryan & Becca welcome Em (Paz) Stevens to the show to discuss balancing a full time job in the service industry and part time pottery. We get into how her business did in 2023, how she's building out her home studio, funding the build through Kickstarter, setting realistic business goals, and digging into Etsy shop advice. Thanks again to Em for sha…
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#237 - A path to full time ceramic artist with Em (Paz) Stevens (Pt 1)
1:50:19
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Ryan & Becca Welcome Em (Paz) Stevens to the show to discuss balancing a full time job in the service industry and part time pottery. Em has a number of questions for us, especially related to how Ryan was able to sell $95k worth of work in a year that averages $35 while selling "part time." We cover a number of topics on this first installment of …
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Ryan & Becca are back to chatting just the two of them on today's episode. Most of the discussion involves updating everyone about their busy lives the past few weeks before getting into their time at Clay Con West this January. It was another great year spent with new and old friends and we hope to see you at NCECA 2024 in Richmond, Virginia or ne…
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#235 - A peek inside the Maker's Playbook with Rebecca Ickes Carra
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Ryan and Becca are joined by Rebecca Ickes Carra, host of The Maker's Playbook podcast and co-owner of Carra Terra, a small pottery business in Milwaukee, WI. Drawing from her 14-years as a self-employed photographer, Rebecca sheds light on the dynamics of building their pottery business alongside her husband Francesco. We cover the art of juggling…
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#234 - Body care for long term success with Joshua Reed from Wellness with Joshua
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Ryan and Becca are joined by Joshua Reed from Wellness with Joshua to talk how we can ensure our bodies can hold up long-term as potters and small business owners. Joshua has a varied background in physical therapy, biomechanics, physical training, nutrition coaching, and more to share his expertise with us for long term body care as potters. We ho…
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#233 - Is paid advertisement worth it? with Will Donovan from Donovan Pottery
2:23:30
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Ryan and Becca welcome back Will Donovan of Donovan Pottery to discuss a range of topics, including: sharing end of year recaps, growing your business with help, using paid ads to sell your work, and geeking out on Lord of the Rings. We learn a ton from Will's second time on the podcast and we hope you take some good nuggets into your own practice.…
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#232 - What do you look for in a workshop?
1:38:58
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Ryan & Becca share insights about what they look for when seeking out workshop opportunities to expand their skills. We also share what valuable takeaways we typically come away with once we’re leaving a workshop. Join Becca or Ryan at a future workshop they are teaching soon: Throwing Efficiency with Becca - Jan 10 Selling at In-Person Shows with …
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#231 - Analyzing your best & worst Instagram Reels
2:24:34
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Ryan & Becca try a different approach on today's episode to discuss some of their top performing (and worst) Instagram Reels over the past 6 months. We chat about what we think made them so successful, some takeaways to think about as we produce content for future reels, and why some just completely flopped. We hope this is a useful discussion as y…
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#230 - Starting a community studio from scratch with Noah Smith from NWS Ceramics
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Ryan & Becca welcome Noah Smith to the show today to chat about getting a community studio up and running very recently in Portland, Oregon. Noah's been making pottery for a few years, but has recently embarked on opening Heirloom Ceramic Studio in the Sellwood neighborhood outside Portland. We chat about the growth so far, how he's enjoying the te…
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Ryan & Becca discuss leaving early for in-person shows from a recent experience Ryan had at a show before wrapping up their key takeaways from their year, even though there’s still a few weeks left in it. They get into goals, money, & possible plans for next year. Thanks for listening and have a great holiday season everyone! Listener Questions Sen…
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#228 - How do you handle negative feedback?
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Ryan & Becca have some thoughts today about how to handle negative feedback, whether it's a customer, fellow business owner, business you partner with, or otherwise. Handling these situations can be pretty tricky and we hope you get some good insight from today's discussion. Thanks for listening! Listener Questions On this episode: - What's the bes…
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#227 - Tiki Technical Talk with Henrik van Ryzin from VanTiki
2:34:43
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Ryan & Becca welcome Henrik Van Ryzin today from VanTiki Studios. He shares a wealth of knowledge about his evolution from a special effects artist to a full time ceramic artist focused in mold making & slip casting. Henrik and his wife Denise focus on producing ceramic tiki mugs and other goods that share their love of tiki with customers all over…
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Ryan & Becca get deep into kilns on today's episode to give some insight into how you may choose your next kiln based on your studio production. They cover a range of kiln body sizes from the L&L & Skutt lines, as well as a few others along the way. Good luck if you're in the market for a kiln and let us know if you have any questions to help you m…
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#225 - What influences a buyer to purchase?
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Ryan & Becca are back together this week to recap some of the points discussed last week on Becca's solo episode about her shows. To relate back to a more broad topic, Ryan get's into what he feels influences buyers to purchase from you at shows. Hopefully you were able to reflect on your booth set-up and interactions at shows to see where you're d…
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Becca shares some thoughts on her drive back to Indianapolis after a show weekend in Louisville, KY. She covers some thoughts around what a positive show looks like for her, how she's feeling about shows this year, and how she plans to move forward. We hope you enjoy this raw solo episode with Becca and stick around next week when Ryan shares some …
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#223 - Health & safety in the studio
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Ryan & Becca answer a frequent listener questions about how to keep your studio clean, from handling water usage, clay dust, reclaim, equipment, managing a packing & shipping station, and how we can make the space sustainable for the long term. Enjoy and happy cleaning! Resources For Flux Sake Podcast Safety in the Ceramics Studio by Jeff Zamek Lis…
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#222 - Building partnerships with companies
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Ryan & Becca share some updates about their lively week together before getting to some listener questions and finally the topic for today: building partnerships with companies. There's no copy and paste message you can send out to the companies you'd like to partner with, but you can certainly be yourself and share how you'd make a great person to…
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#221 - Fostering community as a family with Milissa & Eric Beale from Beale Pottery
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Ryan & Becca are together in-person today at Ryan's while they chat virtually with Milissa and Eric Beale from Beale Pottery in northwest Indiana. They chat about their recent grand opening celebration, managing the business as a husband & wife team, balancing multiple styles of work, class/workshop offerings, financial risk of relying only on pott…
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Ryan and Becca discuss a heavy topic today: burnout. What’s led to burnout for both Becca & Ryan, how are they feeling in the midst of it, & how do they cope with it? It’s a tough time of year for so many small business owners as the holidays approach, but we can get through this to feel good about the end of our year. Thanks for listening and best…
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#219 - Pricing your work effectively with Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery
2:59:29
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Ryan & Becca welcome back Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery while Becca is visiting her up in Michigan for the week. They cover a number of topics but mainly focus on how Heidi manages many wholesale accounts, the collections most suitable for wholesale, and pricing your work to properly account for your materials, labor, and profit. We hop…
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#218 - Pot Swap 2023 is almost here!
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Ryan & Becca bring you a special episode discussing all things #potswap2023, our 6th year hosting this global event. There are a few important changes this year to be aware of and we cover it all today. Follow along with all Pot Swap happenings on Instagram @potswapofficial. Registration is free and open to the first 1,000 entries this year startin…
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#217 - Teaching in-person & virtually
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Ryan and Becca compare various ways of teaching: in-person and virtually. They have both taught in community studios settings in-person and virtually on various topics. Enjoy the discussion and let us know how you prefer to teach. Upcoming Workshops from Ryan/Becca Throwing Efficiency with Becca - Sept 25th Jewelry Making with Becca - Sept 27th Cin…
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#216 - Maintaining a love for clay with Juliann Roush
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Ryan & Becca are joined today by Juliann Roush while Becca is visiting her in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We discuss how she makes her very time-intensive functional work using various hand-building techniques. Her business and work has shifted a lot over the 30+ years she’s been playing with clay, but she still finds love in what she’s making…
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