Tag: shop local

A blessing and a curse

I’ve been making and selling hand built pottery for almost four years now, and along with the global pandemic came more time to spend playing with clay and being creative.

As a self-declared introvert, I have to admit that I wasn’t upset when the local art & craft fair, the Royal Bison, announced that they would be moving the sale online for the foreseeable future. It was so much easier to list my items on the web shop and stay in my sweatpants all weekend, sleeping in and doing whatever I wanted, then packing orders on Sunday, rather than chatting with customers and smiling (sometimes awkwardly) for four to seven hours for three days in a row.

Time changes everything…

Fast forward almost two years and six online markets later, I could not be more excited that the Royal Bison was finally going to be hosting a market in person again! It was to be a hybrid format, with vendors being able to choose to be online, in person, or both – it would be a lot of work, but I opted for both as I really wasn’t sure what to expect. As I began to prepare my work and table set up in the weeks leading up to the sale, I realized how out of practice I was with the process, but also how much I had missed this side of selling my work. When coming up with a display and figuring out how best to show my items, a whole other part of my brain woke up, and ideas that had been percolating in the back of my mind for so many months frantically began bubbling to the surface. This visual, tactile, interpersonal side of the market experience had been neglected for so long, and I found that I couldn’t wait to put my ideas together and get to share them with other people – in real life – and see the reactions generated in real time, face to face! I wound up building a completely new display for my table (in the week before the market…) and the feeling of accomplishment and pride that I gained from this was something that I hadn’t been able to enjoy in such a long time. Check out my reel for a little BTS of the display build here!

A full heart

Being a part of the maker community here in Edmonton has allowed me to grow in so many ways over the last few years, and having the opportunity to once again share my work with human beings in person has reminded me of just how important it is to connect with people face to face. Seeing people directly in front of me touch and experience my work is like nothing else, and visiting with the other vendors – people who I don’t necessarily know well, but with whom I share so much – filled my cup in a way that I hadn’t even realized was needed. I felt such an overwhelming joy to be connected with these people and renewed passion for what I make. Our human need for physical interaction and a sense of closeness with others has become so very clear over the course of the pandemic, and it was amazing to witness the first IRL Royal Bison fair in almost two years with fresh eyes and endless gratitude, as well as a deep respect for the individuals who worked so hard to make it happen in a safe and incredibly successful way. Click on through for a sappy post about this fantastic weekend. 

If you missed the first round of the in-person Royal Bison, you can check it out this coming weekend for another great opportunity to safely shop local and support some of the incredible creatives in our city! Happy holiday shopping everyone 🙂