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Josh Edgar | Episode 474
Josh Edgar served in the U.S. Army for five years before beginning his journey into college in 2013, receiving his BFA in Ceramics from the MUW in 2017. Josh is primarily a wood fire potter, currently residing in Austin, TX. Josh tries to harness natural forces and aesthetics in his work, utilizing texture as a main component of his pieces.
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How do you get to know and find your target audience?
That’s a good question. I’ve found that my audience is mostly not college-aged kids like me , well I say college-aged kids but I’m almost 28. My senior year in college I was sitting and trimming, and I had a girl, who was in a different clay class, and she said, Who would ever buy that? I sat there and said, That’s a good question. I don’t know. Hopefully somebody. So what I have been trying to do with my work is not so much catering to a general audience. I feel like my work is very specific in the textures and the colors and just the way I make my work. I want the people to buy my work that have that connection to what I am doing. I fell like my audience finds me a little bit.
Have you written out a business plan?
Not really. Not a set in stone one. I was just kind of riding the waves with it up until a couple of months ago. As much as I like selling things online I would like to interact with people at art fairs so right now I am planning for next year as for as my “break out” and hitting all that stuff.
How are you getting to know that people that are actually buying your work?
Some of the people I talk to on Instagram mostly. A lot of people comment saying they like it. I actually had a sale the other day where I realized I knew the person. I had been following them for years.
How are you going about building a fan base?
It has kind of just been growing steadily. My Instagram didn’t really take off until I was an undergrad and I started wood firing. I started noticing that my wood fire work was getting a lot more attention that my electric or gas fired stuff. So that is why I just started focusing on wood fire specifically. The fan base that I have I am very grateful for, it kind of blows my mind every time I open my Instagram. I am very self-critical and I do see people liking my stuff and it makes me really happy. It feels like the work I am putting into it is paying off.
How are you making it easy for your fans to connect with you?
I try to be as open as possible about everything. I do live streams on Instagram for three or four hours where I just work on my stuff and talk. I was avoiding doing the live stream stuff but one night I just decided to do it and then I got a few viewers and it just kind of built up from there. At the wood kiln here people mention that they like my live streams. I think I get a lot of random people that I probably wouldn’t ever get on my Instagram through my live streams. I think getting out of my shell of being afraid to put myself out there and get my work out there. I think that has helped more than anything really.
How important is it to follow up on people’s comments on your work on Instagram?
I don’t have a huge following on Instagram so at this point I try to respond to every single comment. Just because if you are taking the time to look at something online and leave a comment then I feel like it is my duty to respond. I want to talk to people and if they have critiques or whatever I love responding and talking back and forth. I hate when I see people have a bunch of comments and they are never responded to. If you are taking the time to connect with me then I should take the time to connect with you.
What is your pricing formula? How do you come up with your prices for your work?
That’s a good question. I try to price it mostly on time. I wouldn’t say I really have an hourly rate. My wheel thrown pieces don’t take as long as my other pieces. So those are usually the higher priced ones and it takes a while to carve those out and get them the way I like them. I would say that combined with the size. So if it’s a mug it’s obviously going to be cheaper than a bowl.
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Contact:
Instagram: joshedgarstudios