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Danielle Whigham | Episode 594
Born in Pennsylvania but raised in Nebraska, Danielle Whigham received her B.A. in studio art from Northwestern College in 2007. While in college, Danielle was able to take advanced classes in ceramics, painting, and printmaking. Over the past two years, Danielle has been starting up a small ceramic studio in her home while also making the transition from full-time mom to studio potter. Danielle has been able to sell her work at several markets across the state and start an online store.
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How important is the dreaming part of it, even if you don’t have a road map but at least having the dreaming part to find the destination?
I think it’s really important. I don’t know if there would be a lot of motivation if there wasn’t that dream. I will be sitting in bed and think of an idea for a new mug, I will sketch it out, we were just talking about leaving post-it notes everywhere, I will put it on my phone, I will put it in my sketchbook and I will hash out that idea and try it. It might be a total failure but there is something about new ideas or something new on the horizon that really keeps it interesting and keeps me motivated. Even though I am not a super concrete planner definitely the dreaming is fun. It is really fun and motivating to me.
Do you share your ideas with someone else and bounce the ideas off of somebody that you trust and love?
My husband, whom I do trust and love. I have some good friends who are creatives in different ways, like writers, so them also. I don’t have a lot of other ceramic friends that I would talk to on a regular basis like in my community but mostly my husband. I mean he’s a big dreamer too so a lot of our conversations are shooting ideas off of each other and things we’ve seen that look interesting or ideas we have. He’s my go to.
Do resolutions come into play for you , like setting resolutions or setting intentions for the year or for the season?
Yeah, a little bit. I thought about, I was just doing numbers in my head, if I wanted to make x amount of numbers a year, I could bring that back to how many mugs I would need to make each year or month. And I thought about putting up: Make 60 or whatever mugs a month. And then it made it feel a little bit like a job. I mean it is a job but it took away the fun a little bit. If I gave myself a somewhat unrealistic goal a month. I talked about some of the ideas I had and I have already pursued applying for an art show and I am going to pursue some of these wholesale opportunities. Other than that, I think because I am still in such a new learning and growing phase I am not setting really hard standards for myself and I think that’s okay right now.
Does that mean that small steps are important to you?
The wholesale are not huge contracts or anything, it’s all little things. But I think it will help get me to where I want to be and just help me figure out what I like to do best. And then if I really love to do wholesale then maybe looking into that more and finding the right buyers and the right shops for me. Or maybe I will go back to doing more shows. I don’t mind going out and travelling. There is definitely something cool about seeing who buys your work and seeing people’s first interaction with it. That, I think, would be missed if I didn’t do in person shows at all. I don’t know, I am just kind of going with the flow right now.
Is keeping it realistic critical?
Oh, for sure. I mean even this Christmas season, thankfully it was past my busiest time, that my daughter just got sick and ran a fever for several days and missed a lot of school and it was okay, I could just stay home with her and take care of her and that is what I want right now. So I think that is why I don’t want to set up something that is has me being unrealistic or feeling like a failure. For example, I don’t schedule fall shows or any thing because I know I don’t get anything done over the summer because my kids are home and that’s okay, that is fine right now. That is a big reason why I am not putting a lot of pressure on myself and it is not really feasible yet.
Does that mean you are wiling to take the risks that you need to?
Well, I I guess I don’t see a ton of risk involved. You know, risk of rejection or..maybe I am not tracking.
Well you are having the risk of taking on wholesale jobs, that is what I was thinking about.
I guess I probably wouldn’t take it on if I didn’t feel like it would work within my current work schedule and right now if I were to take on much more I would probably have to give up a show or give up something that has been on my schedule. And I don’t really know what the fall will look like when my daughter is in school. I thought 2020 would mean going full time but that is not until August.
What is your favorite tool to use in the studio?
The Mud Tools red rubber rib. I should buy six of them but I only have one and it is always a mad hunt for that one little red rubber rib. That thing and my Giffin Grip-I mean trimming is just so much easier with that. I got to meet them at NCECA last year and they were the nicest family. Then there’s the little orange sponge. The little sponges-love them!
The little round flat sponges?
Oh yeah! the little round sponges! I buy massive bags of them from my pottery supplier. Also my dog really loves stealing them and chewing them up, so I go through a lot of them.
Book
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Contact
Etsy: dwhighamceramics
Instagram: @dwhighamceramics