Pottery Blog: Emily Murphy

Lillstreet Studios Holiday Show - 2008

2008-11-29T09:13:00.014-06:00

I've been locked away in my studio this fall filling it with pots for the holiday show at my studio. Mugs, necklaces and bowls are stacked on the shelves. Lots of smaller pieces that will make perfect gifts.

This Friday, December 5, 2008, is the opening celebration at Lillstreet Studios in Chicago from 6pm - 9pm. You can find me in my studio on the 2nd floor on Friday and throughout the month of December.

There are over 50 artists at Lillstreet making pots, tiles, jewelry and more. It's a unique place where you can shop directly from the artist's studios as well as from the Gallery at Lillstreet. The opening of the show is on Friday from 6pm - 9pm, but the studios will be open throughout the month.

There is plenty of parking and accessible by lots of public transportation (Montrose-Brown Line, Lawrence-Metra, Ravenswood-Montrose Bus, etc...).

I'll be posting a preview of my newest work over the next couple of days so watch out for the updates!

Obamaware!

2008-10-19T20:22:00.005-05:00

Ayumi Horie's Obama/ Biden fundraiser: Obamaware is live on Ebay. Bidding is open until Wednesday evening, but there is a "Buy it Now" option available if you don't want to play the bidding game.

For more information on this fundraiser, I highly suggest reading this essay by Sarah Archer: Kitchen Table Politics: ‘Obamaware’ Campaigns for Change, One Mug at a Time

This is the one that is coming to my house to live:

Ravenswood Art Walk - Chicago (Oct. 4 - 5)

2008-09-30T00:25:00.005-05:00

The air is a little crisper with a cool edge to the breeze here in Chicago. Autumn is upon us and that means that it is time for the Ravenswood Art Walk!

The north side art walk takes place this weekend, Oct. 4 -5, 2008 from 11am - 6pm in Chicago. There are over 30 participating venues and over 150 artists.

The art walk takes place on the Ravenswood Ave. industrial corridor (by the Montrose stop on the Brown line). Lillstreet is part of the walk as well as other ceramic artists. Most of the studios that will have their doors open this weekend aren't regularly open to the public so you don't want to miss it!

My studio will be open this weekend as part of the artwalk, and as I posted yesterday, a show that I am in, Collective Conversations in Clay is also opening up in conjunction with the artwalk.

If you're around, I hope you'll stop by!

Exhibitions: Collective Conversations in Clay

2008-09-29T11:08:00.011-05:00

Collective Conversations in Clay

A collaborative exhibition with:

Emily Murphy & Gary Jackson

Gina Hutchings & Sarah Hicks

Joanna Kramer & Dustin Yager

Jay Stromen & Debra Fritts

Shane Grimes & Nancy Pirri

I am going to be in a very cool show that opens this week at Lillstreet Gallery in Chicago. (Please refer to the diagram in the top left corner and follow along.) The show is made up of work from five pairs of artists. Each ceramic artist made 1 piece(s) from start the finish and another piece(s) halfway. Then traded the leather hard piece with their partner. The partner decorated, finished and fired the piece(s). Each pair will display their four pieces. I haven't seen any of the other pieces yet, so I am really excited to see what everyone did.

The details:

Collective Conversations in Clay

Lillstreet Gallery

4401 N. Ravenswood

Chicago, IL 60640

Oct. 3 - Nov. 1, 2008

Opening Reception:

Saturday, October 4, 2008

4pm - 7pm

This show is part of Chicago Artists Month and the Ravenswood Art Walk.

We did a slightly different incarnation of the show last year. You should definitely check out it out: Being to Being: Collective Conversations in Clay.

I think this is an exercise that every ceramic artist should try. You learn so much about your own work and your approach to it by seeing your form through someone else's eyes. I will be posting pictures of the show soon so you can see the work even if you're not in Chicago.

Upcoming shows

2008-09-20T15:13:00.010-05:00

I've been a bit of an absentee blogger lately. After a summer of travel, I came home to a very busy life (I haven't even downloaded the photos from our trip yet). I will get into some of it later in a future post, but for now I thought I would share with you some shows that I will be in over the next 3 months. I've been shipping a lot of pots lately!

Platters and Pourers
Juried Exhibiton

Baltimore Clayworks
Baltimore, MD
September 27 – November 6, 2008
Juror: John Glick

Opening Reception:
September 26, 2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
map

Ceramic Biennial 2008

Juried Exhibiton

New Hampshire Institute of Art
Amherst and French Building Galleries
Manchester, NH.
October 8 – November 7, 2008

Opening Reception:
French Building Gallery
Friday, October 17, 2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
map

Collective Conversations in Clay

Invitational Exhibition

Lillstreet Gallery
Chicago, IL.
October 3 - November 1, 2008

Opening Reception
October 4, 2008
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
map

Clay³

Juried Exhibiton

ClaySpace
Warrenville, IL
October 24 – November 22, 2008
Juror: Simon Levin

Opening Reception:
@ IBEW
October 24, 2008
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
map

Soda Salt National IV

Juried Exhibiton

The Clay Studio of Missoula
Missoula, MT
November 7 - 25, 2008
Juror: Jim Koudelka

Opening Reception:
November 7, 2008
5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Map

Winterfest 2008

Invitational Exhibition

Baltimore Clayworks
Baltimore, MD
November 15 – December 22, 2008

Opening Reception:
November 15, 2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Map

Dinnerware

Invitational Exhibition

Lillstreet Gallery
Chicago, IL
Nov. – Dec.
Map

Our Cups Runneth Over
Invitational Exhibition

The Society of Arts and Crafts
Boston, MA
November 1, 2008 – January 25, 2009

Opening Reception
November 7, 2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Map

Don't Knock my Smock!

2008-09-14T11:19:00.010-05:00

Enjoy!

All images are copyrighted © by Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Thanks to: dontknockmysmock.com for posting this!

Four Years of Pottery Blog!

2008-08-10T10:44:00.003-05:00

How it All Began

It's a bit of an anniversary for me... It's been 4 years since I first started writing PotteryBlog.com. It all started about 4 and a half years ago at NCEC A – Indianapolis. I had attended a number of panel discussions and lectures given by writers, editors and publishers of both books and magazines. I found myself inspired by the words I had heard throughout the week and the conversations had, but I wasn't quite sure where to go with it. I knew that I wanted to write, but the time lines for traditional media didn't appeal to me. Magazine articles usually took about a year to be published, and books could be 3-5 years. I wanted to go in the direction of something less formal and with more immediate feedback, for now.

On the trip home from Indianapolis, a conversation started with my friend Brian Boyer (programmer, writer and potter). He really felt that a blog was the direction to go in with my post-conference energy. Ian and I had many conversations at home and he had been urging me to start a blog throughout the previous year. My hesitation was that I didn't know any other potter that was writing a blog about clay. A huge part of blogging was the connections with other bloggers writing in the same field. Blog writers are great blog readers, and when you begin to link to each other, your audience can grow exponentially. But after the conference, and my conversation with Brian, I realized that it was what I was going to do. And so I went home, registered the domain name: PotteryBlog.com, and soon I began to write. I had no idea where it was going to lead me, but I knew it was were I wanted to be at that moment.

A Slow Start

When I started this blog, I had to do a lot of educating. The question that I got from most of the clay folks that I talked to about my writing endeavors was “What's a blog.” I guess it's a question that I still get, but in the beginning it was the question that I got from everyone that I talked to about it. I continued to write for the next 2 years. Not on a super regular basis, but regular enough. A couple of years into it, I had that nagging feeling that maybe no one was reading my blog. A large part of writing a blog is personal, so theoretically, I would continue to write with or without readers. But when you send your words and images out there, you do hope that someone is reading them.

Why do I Blog?

The other top question that I get on a regular basis is: why? Why do I spend my time and energy into writing this blog. Why do I "give away information for free" (their words, not mine)? The answer is pretty simple: information is free. I would love to give away pots, but it's not the most sustainable business model. Ian (my significant other of 12+ years) is an open source programmer. He's rubbed off on me over the years. The idea with open source is that the programming code and/or the process of writing it are open for others to see and use and that by making it public, the larger community will benefit from the sharing of information and collaboration. With programming, you can easily do this regardless of geography. With clay, it's not so obvious on how to do it, but I think blogging is has been a good way to do “open source ceramics”. If I give you a pot, now you have a pot and I don't have that pot. But if I give you an idea then we both get to keep it.

The open sharing of ideas might be the overarching reason on why I write, but I've discovered many more benefits to blogging. I have found that writing has greatly impacted my work. The conversations I have with myself about my own work have grown and evolved, affecting the aesthetic decisions I make daily about my pots. As a visual artist I'm used to falling back on the thought that my work will speak for itself. I hope it does, up to a point, but there is something to be said for backing it up with words. And obviously not everything I write is that profound (like instructions on covering your remote with plastic). But when I have to be more serious and thoughtful about my words, like when writing an artist statement, it comes easier than it ever has before. The habit of writing makes writing easier.

Getting Re-energized

Two years after I began this blog, I once again found myself at NCECA (Louisville) and throughout the week had some amazing conversations with people that "knew me" from my blog. I suddenly realized that my blog posts were not just disappearing out there, but they were being received on the other end by ceramic artists that not only knew what a blog was, but were excited to be reading one that focused on clay! Once I had the knowledge that people were out there across both the US, but also around the world were reading, I was energize and completely dove into the blog.

When I got home I started writing more regularly. I also started to pay attention to the statistics on who was reading my blog. And I set up an email list so readers could automatically get an email with each post. Knowing people were out there on the other end really pushed me.

Some Nice Side Effects

I've had a website of my work, in one form or another for the past 9+ years. I used to be conflicted about having pots online. They are 3-dimensional and tactile; things that don't usually go so well with the internet. I think that a blog helps add other dimensions to the piece. You can show the pieces in progress. Talk about the process of making. Show the pieces in use. Talk about inspirations and frustrations in making. Some of the blanks begin to fill in and the connection between maker, pot and user has grown stronger. Stronger than I ever could have imagined way back when I began my first adventures online.

There have been some great and unexpected side effects of writing my blog. It turns out that it is the best kind of publicity: it's publicity as a side effect. I get to put my efforts into what I want to do: write, teach, share my work, and connect with others. And it just so happens that it's publicity. I've been lucky that I've been asked to be in a number of invitational shows where the curators, jurors and gallery managers have found my work and gotten to know it through this blog.

It's also allowed me to keep up with regular customers. They can check in and see what I've been up to easily. The email list, RSS feed and blog reader instructions have been really important. I wrote a while back about the concept of 1000 True Fans. I'm far from it, but my blog helps me on my path.

The Ceramic Blogging Revolution

Ever since my return from NCECA in Louisville 2 years ago, something really exciting is happening! The number of clay focused blogs has grown exponentially and an incredible international community of clay bloggers has developed. It's a community that I feel very lucky to be a part of, to have these relationships with my readers and other pottery bloggers. I'm learning a lot, both technically and personally.

What's Next

I have at least 6 other posts in progress, and another dozen ideas in my head, but if you ever have any suggestions, I'm glad to hear them and respond to them. I find that the more I write, the more I want to write (like this past week).

I will continue to have tutorials, studio updates and show announcements. But I'm also expecting the unexpected, just like when I began. You never know where life (or a blog) is going to take you.

Thank you for reading my blog. Please share your thoughts about pottery blogging with me and the other readers in the comments, it's an important part of the process for me. It would be quite a different experience entirely for me if I wrote without comments. The posts would become static. This post doesn't end with this sentence, it ends with the last comment at the bottom of this page.

Dinnerware, a platter, wall vases and a whole bunch of cups

2008-08-08T22:02:00.006-05:00

As promised, here are some photos of some recent work. I got them out of the kiln right before our July road trip. And had the photographed this week by my photographer, Guy Nicol.

This is some new dinnerware that I've been designing:

And this is part of my newest platter series:

I'm really excited for these new wall vases.

These pieces are sort of a hybrid between my oval vases and the wall pieces.
And this is a new surface that you're going to start seeing on more of my pieces.

I'm really excited for a floral designer to go to town with them! Unfortunately, my favorite designer, Amy Lemaire, has moved away! Amy has done all the arrangements over the past 4 years. You can see some of her past work here.

I think I've mentioned before that I've been in a cup making groove.
I really love the curve & tension in these handles.

You might remember these masked mugs from an earlier post.

The curve of this mug makes me want to fill it with hot cocoa and cup it in my hands on a cold autumn night. That's not going to happen for a while.

And here are the peace cups that you might remember from a previous post too.

hope. peace. change.

Analyzing your Blog or Website

2008-08-07T23:09:00.005-05:00

A brief follow up:

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the incredible response to this week's posts, especially the overwhelming response to the Search Engine Optimization post. There is some great energy happening around the clay blogs this week- conversations starting had by commenting back and forth, linking and sharing of one another's posts, and lots changes being made on the pottery blogs to improve search results. I'm so glad that it's been useful and may have sparked the interest of some of you out there!

I have gotten several questions on why I am planning on making the switch from Blogger to Wordpress. Luckily, Cynitha of Colorado Art Studio just happened to write this fantastic post today that just happens to answer this exact question in it. She made the switch a little while ago. It's also a must read article if you were at all interested in my post earlier this week about SEO. I know it's all a bit overwhelming, but you just need to jump in and start chipping away. (I'm reminding myself of this too.) One part of Cynthia's answer that isn't quite the same for me is that she was switching from a .blogspot account to her own domain so some of the growing pains won't be the same for me since I am already using my own domain name (that will only really make sense if you read her post).

Cynthia also shared this fantastic website for anyone who has a website or blog: websitegrader.com
It seems like a great tool for telling you what you're doing right with your site, what you need to do and how you're doing in comparison to similar sites.(It doesn't tell you this, but you're limited to 2 comparison sites at a time.) And you can go back and see how your improvements are working. It pointed out to me some meta tag and descriptions that I'm missing. Oops! When I make the switch over to Wordpress, I will put some serious time and energy into improving my 'grade'. I'm feeling really excited and anxious to make these changes now, but I'll be patient...

I will go into depth about this whole change over process when it actually happens. We're leaving in a couple of days for a big trip, so I've decided it would be best to wait until we get back to do it. I was having flashing of breaking something in the move, and then being out of the country for a couple of weeks and the blog being broken the whole time.

Good luck to all of you working on your blogs!

Fall Classes with Emily Murphy

2008-08-07T00:52:00.014-05:00

It's time again to sign up for next session's classes at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago, IL. Classes begin the week of Sept. 8, 2008 and run for 10 weeks. If you sign up by August 15th, you'll get 10% off.

Below I've listed the classes that I will be teaching in the fall. If you're not interested in soda, or aren't at the advanced level yet, there are tons of other classes to take (clay and non-clay, although you know my preference:) .

Advanced Topics in Soda Firing: Surface Decoration
Level:Intermediate/Advanced
LAC members $340 / Non-members $350
Soda Lab Fee: $60.00

Class description:
This class will focus on color, pattern, texture, motif, and the development of a personal style for your soda fired pots and sculpture. You will use glazes, flashing and colored slips, stains and oxides to experiment with a wide variety of techniques which include resists (wax, latex, paper and tape), stencils, spraying and brushwork. In addition to concentrating on surface, hand building and wheel throwing demonstrations will be presented. All students are required to share loading and unloading of kilns on evenings outside of class

Class

Dates

Instructor

Wed 6:30-9:30pm

Starts Sept 10, 2008

Emily Murphy

_______________________

Advanced Wheel: Throwing and Altering
Level: Advanced
LAC Members $ 340/ Non-members $ 350

Class description:
This class is for the proficient thrower to take their wheel work to the next level. We will push, pull and cut the clay on and off the wheel to create new forms on and off the wheel. We will use the wheel to make the basic forms, and then incorporate hand-building techniques to build forms that are out of round.

Class

Dates

Instructor

Wed. 1:30-4:30

Starts Sept 10, 2008

Emily Murphy

_______________________

Student Information:

Class fee includes:

25lbs of stoneware, terra cotta clay, porcelain or soda clay.
Glaze materials with over 200 glaze combinations
Gas, soda and electric kiln firings
Generous open studio time!! Come in 12 hours per day; 7 days per week (10am-10pm).

Please Note:

Tool kits and additional clay are available for purchase.
Don't forget to dress-for-mess and bring an old towel to class.

Tour of Clay Focused Blogs (semi-complete), part 5

2008-08-06T23:37:00.005-05:00

I have once again updated my blogroll of clay focused blogs. It's getting loooong. But I seriously do read all of these blogs. As I have mentioned before, I use a blog reader, Google Reader, to keep track of my subscriptions. I could never actually keep track of all of these without it. I also use Google Reader to create my blogroll over there in the side bar automatically. If you're a blogger and you'd like to do this on your website, check out this tutorial. Or if you're want to do it a different way, you can try this.

There are lots of updates in this list. I've removed some that haven't been updated in 7-8 months+, plus added all sorts of goodies. Every week I'm finding new blogs. I'm often surprised when I come upon a 'new' blog that has actually been around for several month. Why didn't I know about it? If I'm missing something, let me know!

86. That's the number in the blog roll now:

I hope you dive into these clay blogs and find some that really speak to you. There are so many different perspectives and so much knowledge. I think you'll never be bored again.

Since I'm a big advocate of using a feed reader, I will give you a reminder of how to set up this list in Google Reader:

If you're interested in subscribing to my list, and you're using Google Reader, just follow these simple steps.

Login to Google Reader
Click on this link and "save file": http://www.google.com/reader/public/subscriptions/user/15666827403315601321/label/public
Figure out where the downloaded file is located. (for PC users) Right click on the download and click on "open folder containing." That will tell you where the downloaded file is located
Click on "Manage Subscriptions"
Click on "Import/Export"
Click on"Browse" and locate the downloaded file.
Click Upload and then start reading! You'll be overwhelmed with posts to read at first, but once you get caught up, it's quite manageable :)

You can always use this as a starting point and add and subtract subscriptions from this list to suit your interests.

----
I forgot to mention this in my previous post about my new website. If you have a link to my website, would you mind updating it from sodafired.com to emilymurphy.com. And of course my blog address is potteryblog.com. Links are always appreciated :)

I hope you don't mind my heavy posting this week. I've been traveling a lot this summer and I have been writing, but I haven't always had the time to complete a thought, edit or ability to upload. So I have a back log of partial post. I'm leaving for Berlin and Amsterdam in less than a week and I want to try to get as many finished and posted as I have time for.

New Website: EmilyMurphy.com

2008-08-06T15:48:00.006-05:00

I've been a very busy potter lately. Busy on the computer, that is.

I have totally redone my website. It's still a bit of a work in process, but it's complete enough that I wanted to share it with all of you. Take a look: emilymurphy.com

I've been patiently waiting for someone who owned the domain, emilymurphy.com to let it expire. There was never anything done with it, so I had hope. Finally, it was free for me to buy and I jumped on the chance. I had been wanting to do the site for a while, but I kept putting it off (with excuses like, I should be making pots). But then we had a major server crash and my site was down and not easily retrieved. I had a deadline for a wedding registry that I needed to have online, so I dove in and did it. I guess that's how you need to do it. Stop thinking that you should do it one day, for months and years on end. Just dive in and begin. (This is something that I often tell myself.)

There is still some content that I'm planning on adding, and I haven't done all of the SEO yet, but it'll happen in time. I'm also planning on moving my blog over from Blogger to Wordpress sometime soon. It'll coordinate nicely with my new site too. So much to do... so little time... But for now, I'm pretty happy with it and wanted to share it, albeit a work in progress.

Search Engine Optimization for Clay Bloggers

2008-08-05T13:50:00.007-05:00

This is another big one, but if you (or someone you know) has a blog or website, or you are planning to one day, I think this information will be pretty valuable.
---------------------------
When you write a clay focused blog, your intention is that someone out there will read what you're writing. In the beginning you'll have friends and family that will read your blog regularly. Then maybe some regular customers and other ceramic artists that you've gotten to know.

But if you want to have other people, people outside of your circle, start reading your blog, you need to put some effort into it. There is some straight up time that you need to invest, and then there is a bit of retraining yourself on how you blog to help get others to find your blog.

If I Google "Pottery Blog" or "Ceramics Blog" or some sort of similar thing, I'm surprised at the top 30 results. There are things that haven't been updated in years or month, or ones that are sort of spammy. But some of my favorite (and I know highly read) pottery blogs aren't near the top listings as they should be. Why aren't they?

One of the reasons that I really love blogging is the community that has developed around it- of other bloggers, regular readers and commenters. I think if the ceramics blogs were a little easier to find it would just boost the community even more. So I thought I'd share with you some of the search engine optimization that I have researched and implemented over the years. There is a lot of information here, but it's all basically free. You just need to put in some time and energy and you'll get some great results. Here you go...

Have your own domain name.
This is something that I can't stress strongly enough. Google doesn't seem to index sites that are name.blogspot.com or name.wordpress.com very well so they can come up low in search results. And if your domain name has something in it like your name, or something describing your process, that will be an added bonus to help get better search results.

You can sign up for a domain name for only $12/ yr. on Joker.com (Network Solutions charges $35 for EXACTLY the same service). Or if you're using Wordpress.com, it's $15 for your domain name and hosting for a year, or if you already have a domain name, then it's only $10 for hosting/ yr. If you're using Blogger, then it is no extra cost once you've purchased a domain name (hosting is free!), or you can buy your domain name directly through blogger. By purchasing your domain directly through Wordpress or Blogger you'll save a step in the whole process of setting up your own domain. It's a VERY small investment for your biggest impact (think about the price of postcards...). And it's a heck of alot easier to tell people your blog's address. While I use Blogger, if I was starting a new blog I'd start with WordPress.

Label your pictures.
The top 3 ways people get to PotteryBlog.com:

Google
Direct (bookmark, email, typing in address)
Google images

I label all of my pictures very conciously. I might name something: stoneware-vase-soda-fired-Emily-Murphy.jpg* It's long, but Google likes all the descriptor words and my images come up very high in search results. There was a period of training that I had to go through, but it's second nature now and doesn't take much extra time. I mix it up too. Use "sodafired" and "soda-fired" or maybe I'll throw in "Chicago" or "pottery." It allows different pictures to show up in different search results.

*You might have noticed the dashes in my image name. You can't have any spaces in your image name (at least in Blogger you can't). Use a "-" or "_" to separate words.

Watch your language.

Diversify your words. This is another one of those things that you have to train yourself on. Words. Google loves words. Words are the main reason that your blog/site will show up in search engines. If you just have pictures with minimal text, Google won't pay that much attention. That isn't such an issue with blogs. But what you can do is diversify your words. For example, don't just use the word pottery: use clay, ceramics, tableware, stoneware, porcelain, dinnerware, pots, etc... mix it up. Do this conciously at first and eventually it'll flow when you write.

Below I have some information on Google Analytics. One thing that you can see on Google Analytics is the key words and phrases that people are using to find your site. Maybe you think that everyone is searching the term "pottery" because that is your go-to search term. But you might find out that everyone else is looking up "honey pot" and "wax resist." You just don't know what people are searching for, but if you diversify, you'll have better results. You might be inspired to write about wax resist more often because that is what people are searching for.
Use straightforward titles for your post. The title becomes the url for your post. If it's full of useful information, it'll do better in search results. If you use Wordpress and your url has %P=5 or something like that in it, there is an easy setting that you can change so you have better urls.

Use actual text, not images. This one is a problem on a lot of websites. You want to have control over the fonts, so you turn your address (for example) into a nice little graphic. Unfortuately it makes it so Google can't "read" your address.

Get incoming links.
Incoming links give you status. Along with the words that you use, it's the top thing that gets you up high in search results. You can get them for "free, " you can pay (not something that I do), or you can link to someone and have them link to you (sometimes it's reciprocal, sometimes not).

Sign up for various blog search engines. It won't actually get you much traffic via the sites, but it is usually a free incoming link (just Google "free blog listings" or "blog search engines", etc...) Here is a list of search engines by type. It might give you some ideas.
Link to your blog from your social networking site, like Facebook. You can even add your RSS feed on different sites, like here.
StumbleUpon. This is huge. I'm always surprised and the number of visitors I have from StumbleUpon. I don't even know how to expain it. Just go there and see. There are days when it's my #1 referrer.
Link from your regular site to your blog (sounds obvious, but it must be said).
Link to other people's blog. Share a link to a specific post on their blog on your blog. Be GENEROUS with your links. And then be patient, they'll come. I'm not a fan of asking someone directly "I'll link to you, if you link to me." Put it out there and it'll come back to you (both good Karma and links). The top referrer sites for my blog (outside of Google and my own site) are Michael Kline's blog and Ron Philbeck's blog.
Comment on other people's blogs. Do it because you want to, but enjoy the side effects. People are more likely to read your blog if comment on yours. They want to see who is reading their blog, so they'll follow the links. There is often a place for your website to be listed. Or at least a link to your Blogger Profile where a link to your blog can be found. And it's also the best way to be part of the great and generous community of clay bloggers. Some great conversations happen all happen in the comments. The more comments you put out there, the more that you'll get on your site. And commenting is good for the soul.
Combine the previous two points- comment on a blog on your website (with links and everything). It could be the start of a great conversation.

Think local.
One of the main reasons that you have a clay blog is to get your work known in the world. People that live near you are the ones most likely to come to your booth at an art fair or stop by your studio when it's holiday shopping time. Make it clear where you're from, and get it out there that you're a potter/ tile maker/ sculptor who live in mid-size city, USA. And if one of your loyal blog readers happen to be visiting you mid-size city, they'll be excited to come visit you.

Are there blog sites just for your area? (For me there are several, including: ChicagoBloggers.com and ChicagoBlogMap.com.)
Do you belong to a guild, art group or some other group that has a website that will link to you?
Are there free papers and sites that you can list in for "things to do" or "galleries"?
Is there a local tourism site?
Put your studio address on every page (usually a footer) so that search engines can associate your pages with your location.

Encourage your readers.
Once you have people hooked on your blog, you want to make it EASY for them to keep up with your bountiful postings. There are 2 main ways to do it.

Use an email list. Clay people aren't necessarily blog readers, but you want them to be. The easiest way to do this is to set up an mailing list where people can sign up to automatically get an email from you whenever you write a new post. I think there is also a way to do a mailing list through FeedBurner. I have mine set up through Google Groups (go here if you want to see it or sign up for it).
Have an RSS or Atom feed and encourage people to use it! If you don't have a feed, people are going to have to remember to come back to your blog and read it. There is so much to remember to do, don't make people remember to manually go back to you blog to see if you wrote or not. I read 90% of my blogs through my blog reader. For more information on using a blog reader, go here.
Remember that clay blogs are still pretty new and there is still a lot of educating to be done. Do some educating on how to keep track of blogs. If you don't want to write about it, you can alway share the link to my post about the subject.

Is anybody out there?
A common feeling that is had by anyone who blogs is that no one is reading it. Well, it just isn't true. There are ways to find out who is reading your blog. When you start getting back the results and realize that people from all over the world are reading your blog, you'll be energized and you'll write even more than usual.

Just remember, it'll take time- usually up to a month, to start getting true results from these sites.

Google Analytics. I LOVE Google Analytics! I can find out where people are coming from from countries to actual cities and towns. I can see all incoming links to me, find out how long they were on the site, etc... I love seeing the key words and phrases too. Some can be quite surprising.
Google Webmaster. I haven't figured this out, but you should sign up for it and see what it does for you. It has some tools to help Google see content on your site. Some of what it does is handled automatically by the blog software.
Feed Burner A good way to manage your RSS/Atom feeds, and potentially a mailing list. You can also find out how many people are subscribed to your feed. If people are reading your blog via a blog reader, they will not show up on your Analytics results. You need something like this to find that out.
Technorati I can easily keep track of all my incoming links (from other blogs) on here.
Quantcast I just discovered this, so I don't have enough info to know if it's good or not.

I hope this was helpful to you. I suspect this will be one to bookmark and take a while to go through (if you're a blogger). If there are some tips and tricks that you use, share them and I'll update this post. Although I am talking about search engine optimization for clay bloggers, it's applicable for websites and non-ceramic focused sites too. If you think that other people might find this post useful, put a link to it up on your site. Thanks for reading!

Pigeon Road Pottery

2008-08-05T11:54:00.005-05:00

I'm so excited to share with you a new clay blogger (and old friend): Amy Higgason of Pigeon Road Pottery. Amy was a long time studio member at Lillstreet until several years ago where she left her job as a graphic designer and her home in Chicago for the woods of Wisconsin to become a full time potter. Amy has written many email updates over the years to friends and family about her endeavors in clay and life. They are always beautifully written and full of wonderful photos. It's only natural that she's now blogging. Head on over to her blog and have a read.

One of the challenges that Amy faced with her work when she moved away from Lillstreet was to transition her work from c.10 soda and reduction to c.6 electric. It amazes me how she has kept the feel and aesthetics of the higher fire work in c.6.

And if you ever find yourself in northern Wisconsin, stop by her studio in Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin.