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Mark Myer | Episode 901
Mark Myer is a taxidermist by day and potter by morning. Mark currently works out of his basement studio creating functional work while incorporating carved patters and 3d printed stamps. Through his work Mark hopes to inspire others to stay creative in their own way, even if it means waking up an hour early.
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Is it important to set aside specific times regularly to be able to keep the creativity flowing?
For me it is. It is definitely something now, I’d be the first one to tell you there are some 6 ams in the morning when my alarm goes off and I don’t get down here but knowing that this is time that I have kind of set aside for this and for me it works better in the morning. Some people it might work better late at night and staying up an hour extra. But for me having this time and it’s not pulling from the family because everyone else is sleeping is time that I can set aside and it’s just me and the clay down in the studio. But knowing that I have that time and knowing that it’s scheduled I don’t have to feel like I missed it if I do miss a morning. I know it’s coming every morning.
Does having a set time take away from creativity?
I think it probably can especially for me I have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I typically don’t get down here. Sometimes if I get down here and don’t feel and the productivity is not there on a Monday morning it can kind of take my whole week and make it less creative or less productive I guess you could say. Maybe I am leaning more towards productivity in that sense.
Does having a schedule for your making help you show up so you don’t have to show up inspired you just have to show up to do it?
Yeah, I would say so. Because then I know what the next step is in the process. But like I said earlier some of that creativity I feel was kind of lacking because I was making the same thing over and over again.
Does having a social media account make you accountable and spur you on to do something creative and to make?
I think that has kind of changed from time to time because early on if I was really focused on having a big shop update or something like that and selling, posting would kind of overwhelm me because people would say, Oh is there stuff for sale. So it was kind of like this catch 22 where I wanted to share stuff I was working on but I didn’t have stuff for sale at the time. But now it’s just kind of bringing people into the creative process and showing them the ins and outs of everything.
Does having a professional attitude and wanting to do it as a pro, does that bring a different accountability in terms of what you are going to be making and how often?
You mean as far as putting yourself our there as a brand and stuff?
Yes.
Yeah, I think that’s where I am in kind of in that weird transition because I am making something completely new. So when I first started Instagram in 2015 I hadn’t made the same vessel twice. I had made all one off pieces. I was still working with the earthenware clay that I learned on in high school and a friend of mine was a roaster at a local coffee shop and showed my work to his boss and she asked, Can you make a hundred mugs? And I was like, I think so. I have never made more than one thing the same size. (laughter) So that really kicked me into the professional side of it and making sure I produce the same thing. It helped me get my ducks in a row.
Five years from now. Where do you see yourself?
I will probably still be making in some sort of fashion. I don’t really know what I will be making because this year really threw me for a loop. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be making candle houses or these little house sculpture things I would have wondered where that was coming from. But once I started opening that door (no pun intended) of building these little homes and kind of that miniature detail stuff, I don’t know where I’ll be in five years. I don’t know if I will making these or it will be something else.
Book
The Artisan Soul by Erwin McManus
Contact
Instagram: @myermade