A Saturday Morning Class Turned Into This! | Hilda Carr | Episode 680

Hilda Carr | Episode 680

Hilda Carr is a potter, teacher, and recently turned author who works from the bottom of her garden in South London, UK. Hilda produces small-batch ceramics with a focus on the carved surface. The pieces Hilda creates are made to be used everyday with the hope that they will turn those seemingly mundane everyday moments, like making your morning cup of tea, into a treasured ritual.

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What’s your favorite carving tool?

My favorite carving tool…do you know what? It’s a really cheap, standard loop tool. Do you know the ones? Just with a wooden handle and a very simple loop of metal. You can get lots of more expensive carving tools at the moment, but that is my favorite.

Oh nice. Who makes it?

Do you know what? I have absolutely no idea. It just comes from my local pottery supplier. There’s no branding on it or anything.

What does your basic studio system look like? In other words, what does the day of a potter like you look like?

Well, it varies massively from day to day. So today for example, first thing I emptied the kiln from a bisque firing. Brought all that down to the studio. My kiln is in my garage not in my studio. So I brought all that down to the studio and I’ve waxed all the bottoms of those pots. They are all going to be glazed tomorrow. And I threw some vases over the weekend and I’ve been checking on those and they are still a little bit tacky. It’s been really wet here recently so things are taking ages to dry. So I am keeping an eye on those and I’ve also been trimming some pieces of work from some students. I had some people into the studio for a lesson. So they throw the pieces and I trim them afterwards for them. So they were dry enough today so I did that. It’s getting to be that time of year where the shelves are getting full and things are getting busy and the kiln is probably going to be on now until December. But it really does change everyday really. With as little admin as possible would be my ideal day, I would say.

How much of your business do you have to devote to the admin part of the business?

I could probably be more organized and not leave my tax receipts until the week before my tax return is due. I could probably be a bit more organized in that sense. It’s not a huge amount. It’s emails from people, particularly with students it’s arranging dates and the admin that goes with that. It’s not a great deal, I don’t know, maybe 5 percent of my time, 10 percent of my time.

Have you systematized any of the process? For instance, the students where you have a calendar that is just set up and it’s first come first serve? In other words do you have anything systematized so you don’t have to do the work of it?

No, I don’t. I do it all in a notebook where I have a calendar and I mark in the slots that way. I did start off doing more of an atomized thing but our lives are quite busy I guess, sort of family life and stuff that I found things to be changing quite a lot and then I would have to go back onto the website and adjust the dates and the times. Actually I prefer to deal with it in a person by person basis.

And do you think it’s easier to do it that way because you are a one person shop?

Yes, definitely. And also people like to hear from a human, don’t they? If people have given me their money and put their trust in me and want to come here for a lesson, I like to get back to them in person and say, Hi. Thanks for booking, this is what it is going to be like and what works for you?

How important on your budget is the teaching aspect of what you do?

So it’s definitely increased. I haven’t been doing the teaching part that long. It’s only been… it couldn’t of been two years. So that’s definitely built up. So it does contribute a substantial portion now. They are one off lessons. People don’t come here for a regular weekly class. Because of the size of the studio I can only have two people in at any one time. People come for an introduction to throwing, sort of like a pottery experience. They come here for a few hours for something new, rather than a course of lessons. It’s the kind that’s popular for gifts. So even the last few days I have had a few coming through for Christmas presents, which is good.

What has the book done for your career so far?

I guess it’s given me a lot more confidence. I would say would be the main thing. And I don’t know, I think maybe things will pop up in the future and I’m not sure yet. I guess I am reaching more people than I would have done before. You know, you have your Instagram followers and it can be very much of a bubble. So it’s nice to have something that pushes me beyond that bubble a little bit and I think the book has done that.

Did the book help ceramic sales?

Yes, I’d like to think so. In fact one of the pieces that I’ve designed as the project for the book is now my best selling piece. I think it’s call Honeycombed Mug. I designed it as a project for the book and now, yeah, it’s been really popular. But it is a funny thing, I am trying to sell these mugs to people or you can buy my book and learn how to make it yourself and save yourself a bit of money. So perhaps it wasn’t the wisest choice.