Less Than a Week 'til the Road Trip

Well, with less than a week 'til my best friend and I venture out to sell our wares on the road, I'm still managing to gather all the small things that I need---oil change for the truck, cut business cards, sand pots, load and unload three more kilns, rewire the trailer. These are the things that I'm finding I'd eliminate If I were a wholesale potter vs. the trade off traveling on the road and meeting new people. Over the past year this has been my dilemma of how to make a living as a potter. The excitement of going from state to state has made it pretty easy at times to handle the monotonous chores. Although I work out of my home with my business, I don't know if I'd want to be home all of the time, never getting out. So, I'm beginning to do both--wholesale and retail on the road. Don't get me wrong, the life of a potter exceeds the 40 hour work week that most of us live, but being able to have my cup of coffee or a nice shot of Bourbon at any time I want is definitely better than having someone else telling me what to do. My first show is in Memphis, Tennessee--Pink Palace Fine Arts and Crafts Show. Nine shows later I end my fall stretch with a three day holiday market in Chattanooga, Tennessee. For some reason, I really enjoy that three-in-the-morning pit stop at the gas station for bad coffee and expensive gas daydreaming about the many pots I might sell.