Hustle, Shows, Wholesale, & Web | Wendy Wrenn Werstlein | Episode 461

Wendy Wrenn Werstlein | Episode 461

Wendy Wrenn Werstlein came to clay as a second vocation. For 10 years Wendy taught high school biology were she worked to cultivate in students a desire to explore the world while also encouraging scientific inquiry. Wendy finds these two skills served her just as well in the studio. Wendy left teaching and returned to the classroom as a student at Haywood Community College completing an Associates Degree in Professional Crafts. From there Wendy moved to Floyd, Virginia and worked as an apprentice to Silvie Granatelli, studio potter. Wendy now lives and works in her studio/home on the Blue Ridge Parkway, building a life as a studio potter in Floyd, Virginia.

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What has been your greatest accomplishment since 2011 when you went out on your own?

My greatest accomplishment I think is the improvement in my work. Just better craftsmanship, I hope better surface design that matches the forms. That is something tangible and something I can see that is important to me. The work itself continues to improve and I have seen that change quite a bit in the last seven years.

What is one of the things that you are frustrated with from the last seven years?

Gosh, just one? Frustration… I think I like to have a formula for things and I haven’t come up with a formula for how this works really well. So I am learning patience, I am learning to think on the fly more but those gifts have been a result of the frustration, of giving up some of that control. I would like one plus two is three and it doesn’t always work like that at a show or with a form or with firing. You know, you open the door and it is not exactly as you thought it would be. Maybe it takes you a couple of days to see, Oh that glaze looks really great in that really hot spot and I didn’t know that before. That frustration I think has been helpful but not necessarily pleasant in the moment.

Do you think running a business is as easy as running a formula?

I think it is important to have some of those procedures in place, but it is also important to be ready to think very fluidly to deal with unexpected events. There was a period of a couple of months in the sprint where I couldn’t get the porcelain that I use. So I had to get another porcelain and throw with that and test the glazes for a few months until I could get back to what I was using before. That threw me for a loop but it was good. I’m back to what I was using but I benefited from having to be flexible around finding another clay body and making sure glazes look okay and then picking up with the work again.

How do you keep track of your expenses and finances? What is your financial tracker that you are using?

Well, Quick-books is helpful. I also have every receipt that I have ever gotten and I keep those year by year. And I put them into categories. It is the same thing Quick-books does but I like to do it myself as well. Quick-books can generate the charts and graphs and ship the data off to your tax guy at the end of the year.

Do you have a tax person that you use or do you do your own taxes?

No, I have a tax person that I use and he, thank goodness for several years has wanted to trade pots for the tax work.

What has been one of your most memorable sales that you had at a show?

Two things come to mind. One is I did an outdoor retail pottery show last year and it was the first time that I had a line. Like people were waiting in line. I could not check them out fast enough. That was great. The second thing that comes to mind is, so I have an outdoor booth that ‘s wood that I made with a friend of mine and it travels really well. My indoor booth I designed with another friend of mine who works in steel. So this booth is heavy and it still fits in the car but we designed it together and it has this very industrial look, very unlike my work. And when I set that booth up and I have the right amount of time, I feel like it looks sleek. And it looks nice, and the work pops, because it is very different than the booth itself. I just love that I got to design that with my friend and that they were able to forge it and create it based on the conversations we had. So that was exciting.

What is one the worst thing that has happened at a show or in your booth? Any disasters?

Again, two things come to mind real quick. One was when I was an apprentice and I was with another apprentice and we did a show in Annapolis, Maryland and it was just the hottest day ever and we were on asphalt and nobody was there. It was fun to be there with her but that was a time when I thought I was going to get sick from being so hot. The other one was at an outdoor craft show and we were set up downtown and the wind kicked up and tents started flying and pots started falling . I just grabbed the tent and hunkered down and I had to either hold onto the tent or start moving pots down. I lost a fair amount of work but I kept the tent.