Creative Process

Who or what inspires your designs and creations?

I have always had a strong affinity for Folk Art of all kinds. I first discovered this as a young student when taking some special classes with the artist Corita Kent in the 1960s. As a young art student, I was fascinated by Kinetic art and seeing a show of Alexander Calder’s kinetic toy circus made me realize that art could be fun. I love the way folk art can take designs from nature and make them relate to our human world with color, design and often humor. Later after we had our two kids, I saw the way that babies responded to the Jumping Jacks and Pendulum clocks we made for them, so I began to also be inspired by nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

How do you stay motivated and inspired when faced with creative blocks?

When I feel blocked, I usually use the down time to clean my studio and look through portfolios of my old designs, paintings and photos that I have saved over the years. And if all else fails I grab my garden tools and lose myself for a few hours.

Business Aspects

Any tips for time management and organization?

That’s got to be such an individual decision. When you are self-employed there is really no one-size fits all answer to that. Richard and I have been doing this for such a long time that time management changed as our lives evolved from young single people to parents raising kids and then being empty nesters. One thing we did was set deadlines for ourselves and kept a very visible calendar with these dates in both our workspaces. And being partners in all we created it was very important to have specific roles in managing our business. There was a point in our business for about 10 years that our workshop was separate from our home. That actually made time management much easier because there were not as many distractions.

What challenges did you face when starting your handmade business?

When we started our business, it was 1970 and I had just met Richard, and his woodworker and artistic talents made it possible for us as a team to create a way to make a living. At the time we were known as Toymakers and just happy to find good, juried Craft shows and people who loved what we did. We had to learn by trial and error about sellers’ permits, keeping records, filling out applications for shows, good photography and making mailing lists of our customers, many of them became collectors of our work. We married in 1974 and by 1977 we had two young kids that were with us at most shows. Our first big challenge was when we lost our house, studio and all our tools in a huge Calif Malibu wildfire in 1978. We had to start from scratch including rebuilding our home and studio plus at this point we had a toddler and a baby. It took almost two years to get back into our business. But it gave us a chance to be more focused on what we wanted to concentrate on and the types of shows we felt were right for us.

Can you share any advice for creating engaging content that resonates with your audience?

We hope that our work makes people of all ages smile and that it connects with emotions and memories. People are first attracted by the movement of the clocks and then as they look closer, they often smile as they notice the humor and stories that these pieces evoke. With the Jumping Jacks they won’t move until someone engages enough to pull the string and that always gets a laugh or a smile. They are interactive and many of our buyers say that they bring a fun kind of energy to their shops and galleries. We think of them as Classic Action pieces and one thing we know, is they do get attention when you see a display with all that movement.

We feel that there should be affordable art that can be offered to/for children because the children of today are going to be the craft collectors of tomorrow. So many of our designs are made with kids and baby rooms in mind. We like to stress that these are artists designed. Also a display of our clocks with pendulums all swinging brings a lot of energy to the display wall. We also feel strongly that in this age of digital clocks many kids have never really learned to tell time, and most all of our clocks have numbers.

Customer Experience

How does customer feedback influence your work?

I often ask my long-time customers for suggestions of themes they would like to see on our clocks. An example is our Beach house clock that features a pelican on the pendulum and one of our customers asked if we could do a seagull instead because they didn’t have Pelicans where they are. We are always happy to make changes like that.

Can you share a memorable customer interaction or story?

I have had some customers call or email just to tell me how fun it is to see the smiles and laughter that the movement and fun themes of our work brings to their shops. That is so rewarding when someone just volunteers feedback like that. I have saved some wonderful handwritten notes that some customers have sent to us over the years to thank us for bringing a sense of fun into their shops and galleries. One customer told me there are times when people just want or need something to make them smile and she thinks our clocks and jumping jacks do that.

Personal Insights

What are some common misconceptions people have about handmade businesses?

A common misconception we use to hear in the early days was (what a great hobby it must be a lot of fun not to go to work) Or (you’re so lucky you don’t have to work from 9 to 5) yeah we worked a lot more than that and usually on weekends too. Some people seem to think if its handmade it should cost less.

How do you balance your personal life with running your business?

Well, that’s a good question because we both really love doing what we do that it’s hard to separate the art we make from our everyday life. If we go on a trip, we are always looking for inspiration. We also divide up our everyday household duties like cooking and cleaning and gardening.

Selling to Boutiques and Buyers

How do you prepare your product line or pitch for a boutique or store?

We let our prospective customers know that we are very hands on and that all our work is made from my original art with hand-painted details, and all is hand cut using band saw and finished by Richard in our workshop. We also offer an exchange policy, and we let them know that all the components in our clocks are high quality American made and guaranteed by us. We include a bio in all first orders.

Can you describe your experience with trade shows, vendor shows, and/or craft fairs?

We started our business by doing the Original Calif Renaissance Faires, and adding juried Crafts shows in C and AZ Like ACC, Sausalito, Mill Valley, La Quinta, Beverly Hills, Scottsdale and too many more to list. At some of those shows Gallery and store owners would ask if we did wholesale, but all our work then was one of a kind, hand painted originals. The advantage of having so much experience with the direct buyer at a craft show or Faire is that you get a good idea of what designs are popular with your buyers and this knowledge can be beneficial when you are selling to a store or gallery.

After about 10 years we decided to offer a wholesale line and figured out a way to make our work from high quality prints of my artwork even though I still hand-paint the edges of all our clocks to match. Our first wholesale show was an ACC San Francisco, the next was the Rosen Show in PA, and for many years we also did the San Francisco mart, NY, Las Vegas and of course ACRE. But we noticed the shows definitely were getting less and less buyers and our site on IndieMe was picking up the slack we first joined it in 2004 Both artists and Buyers were beginning to realize that the Internet was a great way to connect and stay connected. Not only was it more affordable for both the artist and the buyer, but it also cut down on our time on the road away from the studio. And the thing we have notice the most in all our years in this business between IndieMe and shows is that the Stores and galleries that we have from IndieMe usually remain our buyers. At shows it was not the case.

What are the most common questions or concerns that boutiques or buyers have?

How well do they sell? Do you sell to anyone in my area? Do you have a Biography. How are they made?

Can you share any successful strategies for maintaining relationships with buyers?

Communicate and let them know you are there for any questions or help. After I get the order, I email a response and once the order is shipped, I send them the tracking info. If it’s their first order, I wait a week to call to ask if all is satisfactory. Also, know your customers’ preferences. Some appreciate emails for communication, and some prefer the phone. We also send emails with new designs and some postcards with the new work and special offers. We like to create a different Christmas card each year to thank our buyers. Occasionally I send an email to ask for feedback and to keep in touch.

What advice would you give to someone looking to break into the wholesale market for the first time?

I would tell anyone looking to break into wholesale to join IndieMe as an emerging artist. Look for other artists that you are inspired by and contact them to see if they are open to your questions. Look for books and discussions on the subject. Walk any wholesale shows that have handmade in America sections. Look for shops and galleries that feature handmade and check them out. See how and where you might be a fit.

Personal

If you weren’t an artist, what career path do you think you would choose?

If I were not an artist, what would I be? As a child my answer to that was, I would be an artist or a nurse because I said I wanted to help people ha-ha little did I know that so many people do thank us for making them smile, but if I were not an artists I would have liked to be a florist. And Richard was a professional musician when I first met him but he said he would have liked to be a Chef.

Tell us about yourself!

Richard and I also still make one-of-a-kind pieces combining his fine woodworking. Inlay work and my painting for a few coastal galleries. These pieces are very labor intensive and so we don’t have them in our regular wholesale line. But for us they keep us energized and excited about coming up with something experimental and different for us.

Do you have any hidden talents?

Hidden talents. I love growing and arranging flowers and over the years did this for several weddings and events. Richards hidden talents are that he can build, make or fix almost anything and he’s a wonderful cook.