Design Your Own Forest

‘Customizing’ and ‘Art’ are not terms you usually hear together.  As a business manager, who happened upon pottery, I don’t follow your typical thought process in creating and selling my art.   I create with clay, but I think in marketing, mathematics and efficiency.

In 2018, while I was working in my pottery studio, I had a vision.  I saw a table layered with trees in my booth at the upcoming November Boulder Potters’ Guild Sale.  I saw customers approaching my booth with their first image being a forest, created from clay.  I started designing and creating trees with this vision in mind. 

Just like in the movie, I built it and they came….in droves.  I designed a forest of trees, made out of leaves, and it was spectacular.  When customers arrived, the trees flew off my table.  Green trees, blue trees, white trees, trees with birds, tall trees, small trees, and trees with stars.  After a day, my forest was gone.

In the last two years, I created trees year-round to prepare for the demand at the holidays.  I added a hole in the top of each tree, so a bird or star could be added, depending on the owner’s mood of the day or the season.  I created 4 sizes of trees.  I designed new ideas for styles and I tested new glazes.  I worked with customers to create custom orders for their forest or to give as gifts at the holidays.

In 2020, with art sales all going online, I decided it was time to create, ‘Design Your Own Forest.’  Now, in my Etsy Shop, tree lovers can choose a tree from photos of 4 styles of trees in 4 sizes.  The photos of the trees are all raw clay and the customer chooses from a selection of 4 glazes.  Within a few weeks, I can have that customized tree in their hands.  This system allows the customer to choose exactly what they want in their collectable tree, and to design the look and feel of their very own forest.  Some customers want to give each of their children or grandchildren the same tree, and this allows them to select a tree that I can create in multiples.

I typically create each tree as a one of a kind.  Two trees may be the same height and use the same leaf shape, but a different texture and a different glaze will create an entirely different tree.  In working with customers designing one tree, I learned that too many options is a challenge for most people.  With 4 styles, 4 sizes, and 4 glazes, in Design Your Own Forest, there are 64 combinations, but the customer can pick from 16 raw clay examples.  The customer then selects their favorite glaze from a test tile chart.  I can create 16 trees in multiples ahead of time, which cuts down the delivery time to the customer. The final art piece is a bit of a surprise, allowing the customer to experience being the designer and seeing their finished piece unveiled as they unwrap their package. 

What trees will you design in your ever-growing forest?