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Madison Potratz | Episode 914
Madisen Potratz is a potter based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who earned a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison is the founder of Good Art for Good, a pottery business with a mission to support nonprofits and charities in her local community.
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How many out buildings do you have to be able to run your studio?
Two primarily. One is larger and I keep my glazes in there and the kiln is in there. Prior to it being my glazing and firing studio it was kind of a wood shop and auto garage type thing. My grandpa worked on old cars and he fixed lawn mowers and he also did a lot of welding so that was kind of his maker space, his shed. Then the old refurbished garden shed, which is more of an eight foot by twelve foot tiny house structure, that is where I do all of my throwing during spring, summer and fall. And my third area where I do a lot of my work and clean up is the hose spigot next to my house because my two out buildings do not have water. Which doesn’t really work for a potter’s studio. I do have all these wonderful spaces but they don’t quite fully work together efficiently yet. That is one of my longer term life goals.
Have you done any shows on your property?
Not yet. That’s another big life goal of mine because aside from pottery my full-time job and my other undying love and hobby is gardening. I have a massive vegetable . I have a giant garden with all kinds of flowers and I have a big shade garden so eventually once I have more time to get those gardens under control, because it’s a lot of work for one girl, then I think it would be so fun to have on site event or sales or anything like that.
You have two galleries that carry your work, how often do you need to provide shipments to them?
I would say about quarterly. And I don’t send very much work there. Maybe twenty pieces at a time. So if I do that math that is about 80 pieces per year that I will send to those galleries or those shops. So somewhat consistent, yeah.
How often do you do an Esty update?
About every other month. I try to do it monthly but sometimes things just get away from me. I am a part-time potter.
Do you have people from Instagram directly asking your for pieces? Do you sell them pieces directly or send them to your Etsy page?
In cases where the two galleries, they ended up finding me on Instagram by using hashtags. But sometimes people will reach out for specific pieces that they have seen in my feed and most of the time I just tell them if they are not following me, Well, you should follow me because then you will find out when I put out new work. I have generally learned over the years not to make things on commission because it puts kind of a pressure on the pieces I am making if it doesn’t fully meet what they had in mind. I generally tell them to wait to see what I make and if they like it they should get it.
Are you an introvert?
Yes, I really am. I mean I can talk to people just fine. I think it is a valuable skill to be able to make conversation and make small talk with people. It helps with sales and helps build relationships and make friends. There’s a lot of good reasons to talk to people but I also gain so much just being by myself and my own thoughts. I can be more creative and just generally happier. I am happy as a clam living in my own world. Then again I am grateful for the people in my life and I value them.
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Etsy: goodartforgood
Instagram: @goodart_forgood