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00:00Our country is full of incredible makers dreaming of turning their talent into money-making careers.
00:07It would mean everything to be able to do this full-time.
00:10So, with a team of fantastic professional mentors...
00:14I know your talent and I know what you're capable of doing.
00:16I run a one-of-a-kind boot camp, showing them how to do just that.
00:21Perfect.
00:21My proudest moment, I'll go share that.
00:23Yes.
00:24Now I'm on my way to catch up with those who have made their dreams come true.
00:28Hello.
00:28There he is. Hello, mate.
00:31I'll be hearing about their amazing achievements.
00:34I've been able to put down a deposit on a house.
00:35This is my full-time job.
00:37And finding out how much money they're making.
00:40A little bit under £40,000.
00:42Around £50,000.
00:43£50,000?
00:44Yeah.
00:44So, join me and meet the fabulous makers who have transformed their lives and made it at market.
00:50You can kind of say I am living the dream.
00:53I think that's fair to say.
00:54That's fair to say.
01:02For a lot of makers who come to my boot camp, their dream is to earn enough money from their
01:08talents to make a living doing the thing they love.
01:11Today, we'll be catching up with two whose incredible skills have transformed their lives.
01:18Later, mentor Sharon will be hearing all about teacher and fluid artist Gemma's success in Essex.
01:24Over about an 18-month period, I had over 200 commissions.
01:28Wow, that's fantastic.
01:30Before that, I'll be checking in with Potter Izzy in south-west London.
01:37I first met her in the spring of 2022 when she came to my business boot camp looking for help
01:43to turn her pottery into a paying profession after giving up her job at an advertising agency.
01:49It would mean everything to be able to do this full-time.
01:52I mean, it's totally my passion, it's something that I love to do, and to be able to spend all
01:58of my time making beautiful pottery pieces for people to have in their homes would be a total dream come
02:05true.
02:06Izzy, to give up a well-paid commercial job, what happened?
02:10That must have been quite a scary time.
02:12It was something that I thought about for a while.
02:14I was in the studio, when I say studio, I mean the garden shed in my parents' house, making pots
02:21on a wheel, but I was loving it and I just thought, if I can't give up now and try
02:27to make the dream happen, then when can I do it?
02:30To find out if Izzy had what it took to become a successful full-time potter, I gave her three
02:36challenges.
02:38First was making a volume piece, something she could produce quickly and sell for an affordable price.
02:44Izzy chose to create a set of candlesticks, priced at £28 each.
02:49Standing 10 centimetres high, they were decorated with different coloured glazes.
02:56First of all, I'm going to make the base of it, and then I'm going to very loosely build up
03:02the form with the two different tiers, the disc tiers that are around the form, and then I will create
03:10the opening that the candlestick will sit in.
03:14I press my fingers into the clay to create the shape.
03:34It's a little bit wobbly, it's just come off centre slightly, so I'm just taking a little bit of the
03:40moisture away from the clay.
03:43To help Izzy become a full-time potter, I teamed her up with Florian Gadsby.
03:48Hi.
03:49Hi.
03:50How's it going?
03:51One of the country's top ceramicists, Florian has millions of followers on social media, ensuring any new work he releases
03:59sells out in minutes.
04:01Izzy's chosen a candlestick.
04:03They're very good objects to make quickly because they require very minimal finishing.
04:06As long as she throws the opening accurately, then they should be fine.
04:11So I think it's quite an intelligent choice, it's different, and I think they're an object that I imagine people
04:15would buy multiples of.
04:18While Izzy was fully focused on her volume item, I grabbed Florian to chat through her second challenge.
04:25Before she arrived at my boot camp, I asked her to bring along a high-end, pricier piece.
04:31She chose to showcase a 10-piece serving set with an asking price of £320.
04:39I think it's really interesting, you know, the idea of having all these pots that you can lay out yourself
04:43and fill with food, and then, you know, you'll have a nice meal around.
04:46At the moment, they're all kind of one beige colour, and I think if she was moving forward into making
04:50it, you know, a more sustainable business model,
04:52I think it could be something that's quite fun if people are able to choose, you know, have a few
04:56of a different colour, or they can even customise entire sets.
04:59Izzy was hoping to get £320 for the whole set.
05:02How many pieces is it? Ten pieces?
05:04Yeah, a lot for the money.
05:05It's, I think, a bargain, and, you know, she's thinking about how they interlock, how she can combine them and
05:10make different combinations,
05:10so she's putting quite a lot of thought into it.
05:15Back in the pottery studio, Izzy had moved on to making the second of her collection of candlesticks.
05:22Making the body was a quick process, but making the space that would hold the candle was a precise job.
05:29I've done a lot of testing to now I know exactly the millimetre that it needs to be measured across
05:36the diameter of the opening,
05:38so that then, accounting for shrinkage in the firing, and when there's a glaze on there, it will snugly fit
05:45a candlestick, a standard candlestick in there.
05:47I know that I want it to be 2 point, about 2.7, which, luckily, it actually is.
05:55I've done it by eye.
05:56That actually has never happened to me before.
05:58Lots of practice, I see.
06:01Izzy repeated the process for the third and final candlestick of her collection.
06:06The next bit of the process is for them to dry out very slowly over a couple of weeks.
06:11Once they've dried out, I might give them a once-over with a sponge or a sanding pad just to
06:17make sure that there are no rough edges,
06:18and then I put my maker's mark stamp in on the bottom, and then they are ready to be fired.
06:27Excluding drying, firing and glazing time, Izzy's candlesticks took around 15 minutes per piece to produce.
06:35With material costs of £18 for the free, she priced them at £28 each.
06:41I feel like you make these really quickly.
06:43Yeah, I mean, how long does it take you at the moment?
06:46Between 10 to 12, 15 minutes or so.
06:49OK, so, I mean, the only thing I might say is, if you were to push this and really try
06:54and make them as more of a volume piece,
06:56you could try and get that to five minutes or less, three minutes per piece.
06:59Yeah.
07:00Three minutes?
07:01Well, you know, there are things you can do to help speed up the process quite dramatically.
07:05Yeah.
07:05Maybe making a jig that you can insert into the soft clay to make the well faster.
07:10How about the price?
07:11They're quite a bespoke object.
07:13You know, they're table centrepieces, so I think people are probably going to buy a couple.
07:18So, yeah, I think it's fair.
07:20Both of Izzy's first two challenges got her a thumbs up from Florian and I,
07:25and for her final task, I asked her to make her favourite piece
07:28to see if the product she relished making the most could also make her big money.
07:35Izzy chose to make a plimp, a large bowl on a pedestal foot.
07:39It was something that could be used as a centrepiece for a dinner party or a large fruit bowl,
07:44and was priced at £180.
07:47First of all, I just have to check that this large patty of clay I've got is the right size.
07:54So I've made these before and I know what it should be.
07:57So we need 28 centimetres, which is about right.
08:00And now I'm going to open up the middle.
08:07After opening up the centre of the clay,
08:10Izzy's next job was to raise the walls to create the bowl.
08:18This is where I use the mirror to really check the form and the shape of the bowl
08:23as I'm pulling it out.
08:26Now I need to measure the width of the bowl now that I've shaped it out a little bit,
08:31which is pretty bang on.
08:35I want to make sure that they're all the same size across
08:39because then if I'm making a batch of them and selling them,
08:41then all the customers will be getting the same.
08:45Izzy was making good progress on her final piece,
08:48but she was keen to talk to Florian about marketing her work.
08:52Something that I know I need to develop is finding an audience for my work.
08:57And I know social media can be brilliant with that,
09:00but is there any other ways?
09:04Or would you say social media is the best way to do it?
09:07Or do you go through stockists?
09:08I think stockists can be really, really good.
09:11You just need to find some that you really love
09:14and you think your work would sit into their range of products.
09:17You want them to be relatable to you
09:19and you want to actually really like the person.
09:22If you don't get on well with the person you're selling with,
09:24it's not really going to work.
09:26After chatting to Florian,
09:28Izzy headed straight back to her potter's wheel
09:30to work on the base of the bowl section of her plinth.
09:34I'm going to trim off all of this excess clay here
09:37and shape into a nice rounded bowl.
09:40I really love this bit.
09:42It's very soothing
09:43and I love seeing these ribbons of clay
09:46come out of the turning tool.
09:50Having trimmed off the excess clay,
09:53Izzy scored the bowl in preparation
09:55for joining it to the pedestal.
09:59That works well, I think.
10:00Now I've got this lovely concoction of slip,
10:04which is water and clay,
10:06but I've added in a little bit of vinegar as well,
10:08which hopefully will make the two pieces
10:11stick together a little bit more.
10:13And now I'm going to lightly place it on
10:17because I want to just make sure that it's centred.
10:20That looks good.
10:21The last final little small step
10:23is just to use the vinegar and the slip
10:27just to go around the edge
10:28to make sure that all of these little small gaps
10:31are filled in.
10:32After that, dry it really slowly
10:34for maybe two weeks or so
10:36because I want it to dry nice and slowly,
10:38prevent any cracks,
10:39and then it will go in the kiln for a bisque firing
10:42and after that I would glaze it
10:44and it would go in the kiln for a second firing
10:46and then it would be finished.
10:49Izzy's plimp finished with a tasteful green glaze
10:52was a real statement piece.
10:55It had a make time of two and a half hours
10:58and an asking price of £180.
11:02They're a nice statement piece.
11:04You know, they sit on the table,
11:05they're the centre of attention,
11:06but I think there are a few things
11:08that I think we could improve on.
11:10I think glazing on the bottom near the foot,
11:12the ring, it's not quite at the bottom,
11:15you know, a little bit up,
11:16and I think there could be maybe a motif
11:17or a finish you could add
11:19to make it finish around the bottom
11:21a bit more comfortably.
11:23Yeah.
11:23And then just things like the underside,
11:25I know you said it took you two weeks to dry them,
11:27so we could talk about ways of artificially,
11:29you know, drying the underside
11:31at the same time as the rest of the pot,
11:32just to speed things up.
11:34What about the price?
11:35It's quite a sculptural piece,
11:36it's a centrepiece, I think it's fair.
11:39To help Izzy make it as a full-time potter,
11:42we gave her an action plan to take back to London.
11:45First, she needed to promote herself on social media
11:48to boost her profile and draw in potential buyers.
11:52Next, she needed to work at producing her pieces quicker.
11:56And finally, if she was going to collaborate with a stockist,
11:59she needed to find one she liked and could work with.
12:05For the next two months,
12:07Izzy had Florian's continued support
12:09as she worked to get her business off the ground.
12:12And she started by visiting his studio
12:14to get his top tips on promoting herself on social media.
12:18Welcome to the studio.
12:20Oh, wow.
12:21This is it.
12:22This is it.
12:24Florian talked me through how he captures his footage in the studio.
12:27So he showed me the equipment that he uses,
12:30the software he uses when he's editing his footage,
12:34and also gave me an insight into how much he posts on social media
12:38and how he writes the captions of his posts as well
12:41to really keep his audience engaged.
12:44So that was all really useful.
12:45Izzy also worked on developing her collection
12:48to include different colours.
12:50I've been thinking a lot about glazing
12:52and developing a range of glazes.
12:55So my next port of call will be doing a batch of glaze testing
12:59to see what I like
13:01and see what works well with different clay bodies.
13:04Up until now, I've just used the same old white stoneware,
13:07which has served me really well.
13:09But actually, I think it's time to see what else is out there
13:12and do some testing for clays as well.
13:15Izzy threw herself into acting on every suggestion we gave her.
13:20And two months later, she came back to see us with impressive news.
13:24I made £5,200.
13:27No way.
13:29Wow.
13:29Stop.
13:31Yeah.
13:31It's amazing from this point in your career.
13:34It's an awful lot of money.
13:36I can't quite believe it.
13:38Even after taking off her costs,
13:41Izzy was well on her way to having a fully-fledged pottery business.
13:46Just over three and a half years later,
13:48I've come to her studio in south-west London
13:51to see how she's built exactly that
13:53and how much money she's making now.
13:56Izzy, hello.
13:58You OK?
13:58Good, thanks.
13:59Welcome.
13:59Come in.
14:00It's good to see you.
14:02Izzy's set-up has moved on a lot since I last saw her.
14:05This place is absolutely beautiful.
14:08How has it come about?
14:09You started in your parents' shed, didn't you?
14:11I did.
14:12Yeah.
14:13So that was my first studio,
14:15and then I moved on to a slightly bigger space,
14:17but I outgrew that, actually, quite quickly.
14:20I'd also decided I wanted to start a teaching business as well.
14:24OK.
14:25I wanted some space to have more pottery wheels
14:27and perhaps some more kilns and just, like, grow in that way.
14:30That's quite different to making, though, to go into teaching.
14:33What brought that on?
14:34I had kind of got to where I had always hoped I would be,
14:37which is being in a lovely studio, making pots.
14:41I had orders from stockists, and I was selling on my website a lot.
14:44That's the dream, isn't it?
14:45It was the dream, and that is what I'd been aiming for,
14:49but actually I was a little surprised
14:51that I started to feel a little bit lonely, actually,
14:54and knew that I needed to make some kind of change
14:57to bring in some more social aspect into my life.
15:02Yeah.
15:03Good on you for actually shifting things around.
15:05Moving into this larger space
15:07shows just how much progress Izzy's made,
15:10but it's great to see she's still making the candlesticks,
15:13which were her volume piece at the boot camp.
15:15They are my bestseller now.
15:18They're what I make the most of,
15:19they're what I sell the most of, both into shops,
15:22but also on my website.
15:24The biggest retailer that I was really excited to work with
15:27was Fortnum & Mason.
15:28Oh, wow.
15:29Who, I know, I was...
15:30That's huge.
15:31It was a bit of a dream come true, really.
15:34It was what I had always dreamt might happen,
15:36but thought it would be much later down the line in my career,
15:39so when that call came in,
15:42I was just, yeah, really over the moon.
15:44Couldn't really believe it.
15:45Having her candlesticks stocked by such a well-known high-end shop
15:49is a massive achievement for Izzy.
15:52At the boot camp, they sold for £28,
15:56but her more polished versions now sell for £34 for the small ones
16:00and £40 for the larger ones.
16:03And they're not the only thing driving her business forwards.
16:06Tell me about the courses.
16:08Which courses do you run?
16:09We do a beginner course,
16:11which is one session each week for five weeks,
16:14and that takes you through the full process of making pots.
16:18And then after that, we've got a developer course,
16:21which is like an intermediate course, so that's ten weeks.
16:24And then we have a few other kind of sessions,
16:26like taster classes, and we have full-day courses as well.
16:29It must be a lot for you to do.
16:31It is a lot, but it's not just me anymore,
16:33because I've got a couple of teachers
16:36and actually hiring a couple more at the moment.
16:39And also I've got some studio assistants
16:41who help me keep everything running,
16:43so it's not only me.
16:45Wow, things have grown so much.
16:47You've now got people helping.
16:48Yeah, it's escalated, for sure.
16:51A growing staff, high-end stockists and courses,
16:55things really are going well for Izzy.
16:58Her five-week beginner courses are priced at £270,
17:02and she charges £450 per person
17:05for the ten-week developer course.
17:07It's great to see her diversifying her business,
17:10and she's set up a mug workshop
17:12so that I can try out one of her courses.
17:16Ready to go.
17:16I'm ready, I'm ready.
17:17Apron's on.
17:18Yeah.
17:19Let's do it.
17:20We start by throwing our clay onto the wheel.
17:23Controlled by a foot pedal and with wet hands,
17:26press the clay down before we start to form an upside-down cone shape.
17:31You want the top of this to be slightly domed.
17:34Or up.
17:34So if you can squeeze the clay and just try and bring a bit of a curve shape on the
17:40top,
17:40because then we're set up to go into our cone.
17:42Yeah.
17:43Very nice.
17:44Yes.
17:44Yeah, lovely.
17:45Lovely.
17:46And you're going to start pushing through the middle of the clay there,
17:49leaning into the side,
17:51and you're squeezing the clay between those two hands and rising them up.
17:55And maybe let's get a little bit more water on your clay,
17:59but looking really nice.
18:01Good.
18:01To remove any air bubbles trapped in the clay,
18:04we push it back down and repeat the process,
18:07before creating a donut shape.
18:09This is looking great.
18:11OK.
18:11You've jumped two steps.
18:13I love it.
18:13Have I?
18:14You have.
18:15This is the advanced class.
18:16No, no, no.
18:17It's brilliant.
18:18I'm all out knowing.
18:19It's brilliant.
18:20Now we're going to compress the base.
18:22So this is the bit that's smoothing out the floor.
18:25Up and down until you're happy that the floor is nice and smooth.
18:31To pull up the walls,
18:33your middle finger is doing most of the heavy lifting.
18:36Gently squeezing and keep on going all the way up to the top.
18:39In one.
18:39Don't stop.
18:40Once you start.
18:40Yeah.
18:41And when you get to the top,
18:42you're just gently going to release the clay from your hands.
18:46Gently come away.
18:48And breathe.
18:49How did you know?
18:52It's a bit of a nerve-wracking moment.
18:54That first pull-up.
18:55I'm thinking, oh, my God.
18:58Okay.
18:59Okay.
18:59This is good.
19:00This is good.
19:01Really good.
19:01Once I've pulled it into something that almost looks like the shape and size of a mug,
19:06Izzy's got a trick to help me tidy up the sides.
19:09We can use one of these kidneys to kind of create a nice straight edge.
19:13Oh, nice.
19:14You're going to have your hand in there in the middle.
19:16Yeah.
19:17And you're really gently pushing the clay, so get a tilt the tool a little bit in, yeah.
19:24And then you can push out at the base, really, yeah.
19:27I think we leave it there.
19:28Perfect.
19:29I'm happy with that.
19:29Beautiful.
19:30I'm more than happy with that.
19:31Yeah.
19:31You should be.
19:33Normally, our mugs would be allowed to dry for a few days, but Izzy has helped mine by
19:38drying it with a heat gun so we can move on to making the handle.
19:42Put this hand just behind here and you're going to push it on and give it a bit of a
19:46wiggle
19:47almost, pressing with your thumb, just to splend those pieces in.
19:53Now, you're going to wet your hand and this very gently, just kind of gently pull down.
20:00After attaching the handle, my mug actually looks like a mug.
20:04I love it.
20:05So do I.
20:06I love it.
20:07I will treasure that.
20:08I really will.
20:08Oh, good.
20:09For a long time.
20:10Good.
20:11Izzy's going to get my mug fired and glazed so I can enjoy a cuppa from it soon.
20:16Aside from collaborating with stockists, which she's been hugely successful with, I'm keen
20:22to find out how much the rest of the advice we gave her at the bootcamp has helped her
20:26to build her business.
20:29Izzy, when you came to the bootcamp, Florian and I gave you an action plan with some key
20:33pointers to try and help you build this business.
20:35One of the pointers we wanted you to work on was your social media to gain a following
20:39and hopefully gain customers.
20:40This was something that Florian really helped me a lot with, actually, and he gave me a
20:45few really good tips around posting more regularly, the kind of content I was posting, telling
20:50a bit of a story behind the making process, and I did see a big increase in my followers.
20:56Did you?
20:57I did.
20:57I'm now on around 44,000.
21:0044,000?
21:01Around that.
21:01And where were you before?
21:021 or 2,000, maybe?
21:04So you've gained over 40,000 followers.
21:07Yes.
21:08Yeah, yeah.
21:09That's impressive.
21:10Thank you so much.
21:12Florian was very keen for you to increase your efficiency and the speed you can make things.
21:17I was making the candlestick holders in about 15 minutes, I think.
21:22Yeah, and he wanted under five.
21:23And he wanted under five, which, honestly, at the time I kind of didn't know if that could
21:28even be done.
21:30Yeah.
21:30Are we under the five minutes, though?
21:31I think four or five minutes is, Hannah, how quickly I'd throw a candlestick holder now.
21:36I'm blown away by that.
21:37Four minutes?
21:38Just from having thrown so many.
21:41Izzy's nailed every part of her action plan.
21:44By establishing a successful teaching business as well, she's gone even further.
21:48And I'm excited to find out how much money she's now making.
21:52Do you mind if we talk figures?
21:54How much is this all earning, you all know?
21:56Based on both the teaching I've been doing and running the business,
22:00and then also my own making, I've made around 50 grand is my earnings.
22:08That's a lot of money.
22:10Yeah.
22:10Well done.
22:11Do you know what?
22:12You deserve every penny of it.
22:13You're making it work.
22:15Yeah, I can't quite believe it because I'm now in a position where I'm
22:18earning more than I did in my corporate job before.
22:21But I love what I do, so I'm, you know, I'm just, I'm over the moon.
22:25That was the dream.
22:27Yeah.
22:27Three and a half years ago, Izzy's decision to leave a well-paid advertising job to pursue
22:32a career in pottery felt like a big leap.
22:35Now, with an income of £50,000 a year from making and teaching after taking off her costs,
22:41it's a leap that's paid off magnificently.
22:44The last three years has been amazing.
22:46It's definitely been a lot of hard work, but I love that I get to work with clay every
22:52day, and it's something that I'm really passionate about, and I'm able to share that with other
22:56people, and so overall, it's been really amazing.
23:05The next maker whose progress we're going to be checking up on is teacher and fluid artist
23:10Gemma from Essex.
23:12She also came to my boot camp just over three and a half years ago, and like Izzy, was hoping
23:17we could help her with a career change.
23:20I'm a teacher, and I've been a teacher for 13 years, and I love it, but it happened a
23:24bit by accident.
23:25I would have really loved to have had a career in art, but when I was applying to university,
23:29I was given some advice from a career advisor who said that there was no chance of making
23:34a career in art, so why bother doing it at university?
23:37So that really set a course for where I am now.
23:40Gemma's work was a wonderful mix of chemistry and creativity.
23:44Using different oils, paints, and water, she created flowing, multi-layered, abstract pieces
23:50and had dreams of it helping her to live a more creative life.
23:54I'm looking to completely change my life.
23:56I'm looking to start again and create a business that will carve out a future for me in art.
24:04To help Gemma make the new start she was hoping for, she was mentored by professional artist
24:10Sharon Walters.
24:12Sharon has collaborated with the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery, and was keen to
24:17help Gemma turn her talent into a successful business.
24:21You can see with Gemma she's actually passionate about what she does.
24:25Her work is so beautiful.
24:27It incorporates nature, and I think she has a great approach to creating unique things.
24:34For her volume piece, Gemma made three sets of Fluid Art coasters on slate, porcelain, and wood, priced at £18
24:43each.
24:44I love the uniqueness of this work. Can you talk me through the process?
24:48Yeah, so this is a base of just a pouring medium, which will dry clear.
24:55So think like PVA glue, that sort of, and when this dries clear you'll be able to see the wood
25:00underneath.
25:00So now I'm building up the different layers.
25:03This paint, I've mixed it already.
25:05So it's got paint conditioner in which creates the fluid movements and also means that they
25:11don't cross over and blend unless I make them blend, which keeps the distinction.
25:16How are you getting on business-wise?
25:17At the moment I think I've got a hobby which pays for itself and gives me a bit of extra
25:23pocket money.
25:23I don't think I've got the makings of a new life yet or a career.
25:29Whilst Gemma pushed on with her volume piece, Sharon and I sat down to talk about her high-end item.
25:36She'd upcycled a small chest of drawers she'd bought for £20.
25:40Decorated with a Fluid Art design, it had a price tag of £200.
25:46I love the idea of using her paint work on a piece of furniture, but I'm not sure that's the
25:52right piece of furniture.
25:53You know what, I completely agree with you.
25:54Yeah.
25:54When I saw the canvases I just thought that would be brilliant on some furniture.
25:58Just not that bit of furniture.
26:00No, not that bit of furniture.
26:00Mid-century cleaner design, slicker, could just be on a piece of plywood set in to a panel or something
26:05like that.
26:06There's a lot more to think about, I think, around the furniture side of things.
26:12Back in the artist's corner, Gemma had reached a delicate stage in producing one of her coasters.
26:19The pipette is going to create a slightly different effect, particularly because this is thinner.
26:25This looks like such a therapeutic process.
26:28It's incredibly therapeutic.
26:30I'm going to manipulate it and move it around, in this case just using a toothpick, but you can do
26:35it with lots and lots of different things.
26:37Allow a certain amount of blending, so you get this kind of marbled effect.
26:43Once Gemma was happy with the design, she gave it a helping hand to set.
26:52The blowtorching is going to just help it to set and also start activating, in the looser paint colours, some
27:00of the cells.
27:01So you can see that one's already splitting, and that one.
27:05And that will continue over the next hour or so.
27:08So how long do they take to set?
27:10To get completely dry before I can put a second layer on, which will be resin, somewhere about two days.
27:15Okay.
27:16Plain resin, which will protect the coaster, but also make it really glossy and really shiny.
27:24Excluding drying time, Gemma's coaster sets had a make time of three and a half hours, material costs of £6
27:30.50, and a price tag of £18 per set.
27:35I actually love coasters. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I really, really love coasters.
27:39And I think these feel like more of a luxury item, but I would suggest possibly having a different kind
27:46of storage for these in terms of your packaging.
27:49If you had maybe a wooden type storage where these could actually sit and be stored in a really good
27:56way, I think that would work really well.
27:58And you could charge slightly more for them that way.
28:00That's a brilliant idea.
28:02I definitely feel that I can learn a lot from some of the feedback that I got, especially from Sharon.
28:08But it was lovely to hear that they liked them because when your heart and soul has gone into something,
28:12it's good to know that that's being reflected and shown to other people.
28:16Sharon believed that with some tweaks, Gemma's first two items had the potential to be popular and profitable products.
28:23For her third challenge, we asked her to produce her favourite piece to discover if what she loved creating most
28:30could win over customers too.
28:32She chose to make a seaside triptych, a painting made up of three separate and in this case, identically sized
28:40canvases showcasing a seascape priced at £130.
28:46This is base coat. This has to be more fluid than the rest of the paint that I'm going to
28:50put on because this is going to be the medium through which everything else happens.
28:54So if this bit isn't the right chemical makeup and isn't the right viscosity, the rest will not behave the
29:02way I want it to.
29:03With her base layer complete, Gemma started to add extra layers of paint.
29:08This is called a Dutch pour, so we're going to essentially cover up the paint and then use the hairdryer
29:16to reveal the paint, which has this poetry with the actual ocean and the sand because the wind would blow
29:24the ocean and the sea spray.
29:28As Gemma's process was so unique, Sharon was keen to take a look.
29:32Hi Gemma. Hi. How's it going?
29:36Really well. Just creating this sea effect, but it needs a bit of manipulation and playing with now.
29:42So I'm going to use my mouth and the straw to kind of move that around and then to move
29:46these around as well.
29:47You can feel the movement in the piece and I love the use of colours in this work.
29:51Thank you. Really love the use of colours.
30:00I think she's kind of holding on to it like, oh, it's a bit experimental and it's, but experiments can
30:05be art.
30:08She needs to place some value on what she's actually doing and believe in herself more.
30:14Gemma's seaside triptych was a beautiful piece of abstract art and she gave it an asking price of £130.
30:21Yeah, I think it's a brilliant piece of work and really exemplifies the work that you've been doing. Just wonderful.
30:26Really well done.
30:27Thank you. How about the price?
30:29I think that's a really reasonable price for an original piece of artwork.
30:33In terms of where you would sell it, I really think that it would do really well in a gallery.
30:37So maybe a smaller gallery type space. By the sea?
30:41Yeah, by the sea. Yeah, you'd get a really good market there.
30:44So useful and just ready and raring to go.
30:48As she headed home to Essex, we gave Gemma an action plan to help make her dream of becoming a
30:53full time artist come true.
30:57First, she needed to work on more luxurious packaging for her wooden coasters to help boost their prices and profits.
31:04Next, we wanted her to contact Seaside Galleries to sell her seascapes.
31:09Finally, she needed to believe in herself and put her art out there to sell.
31:18For the next two months, Sharon supported Gemma as she worked around the clock to get her business off the
31:24ground, starting with contacting galleries.
31:27I've been really inspired by the advice about creating more seascape work and targeting galleries along the seafront for those.
31:36So I've been working on a few new techniques, for example, using resin split with silicone oil to create some
31:43really exciting bubble effects in artworks.
31:47I also have been thinking about how I can make my coaster range more upmarket for shops.
31:52So this is quite difficult because I've been working on a few different styles of boxes, but they do come
31:57out quite expensive.
31:59To try and sell her work, Gemma travelled to an upmarket makers festival in Oxfordshire.
32:04It was a real test of the self-confidence she needed to develop to build her business.
32:10And after the first day, she had good news.
32:14Sold my big triptych, which is great. Really excited about that one.
32:20Also, lots of coasters sold.
32:22Over the next three days, the good news kept on coming.
32:26The coasters have been selling really well and a few smaller pieces of art.
32:30It's been quite a good art day today.
32:31It's sold lots of art.
32:33It's sold out of trays, sold out of small pots.
32:36So it's been really good.
32:39In the eight weeks after my boot camp, Gemma tackled her action plan with real drive and determination.
32:45And when she reported back, she blew us away with her progress.
32:50How much have you made?
32:52I've taken £4,300, which is incredible.
32:55So good.
32:56Well done.
33:00Gemma had to deduct her costs from her brilliant sales figure, but she'd put herself on track to having real
33:06success.
33:08Three and a half years later, lots has changed in Gemma's life.
33:12Almost two years ago, she gave birth to daughter Wren and she's very recently moved house.
33:18She's also been working hard on her business.
33:21And I've asked Sharon to pop along to find out what she's achieved and how much cash she's bringing in
33:26now.
33:27Hi.
33:28How are you?
33:30Good to see you.
33:32Come in.
33:33I can't wait to see.
33:35Up until a few days ago, Gemma was working from her dining room table, but after moving house, she now
33:41has her own studio and it's already looking fabulous.
33:46This is beautiful.
33:47Thank you very much.
33:48You must be so happy here.
33:49I love the space.
33:51How has this changed your practice?
33:53Having lots more space to be able to work on multiple things at once is going to be a game
33:58changer.
33:58I can do big pieces, leave them and then work on other things.
34:01And then hopefully once I'm embedded, have more workshops.
34:05I've done one.
34:06Great.
34:06But in a hired village hall space, which is great.
34:12But the problem is the artwork has to dry for quite a few days, laying completely still.
34:17So you're having to hire a space for a much longer period afterwards while everyone's work is drying.
34:22Here, I'm going to be able to have, you know, 10, 12 people in, leave the work to dry, post
34:27it to them afterwards.
34:29Those things are going to mean that I can step back a little bit from the school side.
34:33That's the long term goal.
34:34Yeah.
34:35After you left boot camp, how did you manage to grow the business?
34:38It was a really steep learning curve.
34:42I had so many commissions.
34:45Over about an 18 month period, over 200 commissions.
34:48Wow.
34:48That's fantastic.
34:50Yeah.
34:50I've been selling everything ranging from kind of 50 or 60 pounds, the cheapest pieces,
34:55right the way up to over a thousand pounds, some of my commissions.
34:59Both Dom, your advice, the kickstart that it gave me made such a difference.
35:04So what pieces are selling the best for you?
35:06Art wise, the smaller pieces, the 30 centimeter, 20 centimeter panels, they're kind of 50, 60 pounds.
35:13And coasters, I was selling them in fours, but I've moved to twos of those and I sell them for
35:19about 18 pounds for a pair.
35:21It's great to hear that the coasters Gemma made for her volume piece are proving popular.
35:27Along with her commissioned work like this triptych, which has recently sold for 385 pounds and the big blue wave
35:34canvas for 442.
35:37She's also been busy developing new pieces and now makes 3D art priced between 80 to 800 pounds, depending on
35:45size.
35:46Gemma's going to show Sharon how she makes one called droplets on petals.
35:51She starts by rolling out air drying clay, wets the board which forms her canvas with water and begins to
35:58create the petals.
35:59The idea is that you essentially see what happens organically with the clay.
36:05You're kind of going to have a bit of a play.
36:08Play with the clay.
36:09Yeah.
36:10I'm seeing kind of how things feel as I'm moving it around.
36:14And because I'm going for petals with water that's going to sit in them, I want it to take this
36:22kind of organic shape.
36:23I'm going to take some parts out and then this is me molding it then to the board.
36:29I have to make these little grooves, which I'll sand down because otherwise the resin and the paint will just
36:33all pour off.
36:34If I want this area to pour paint and resin, then this needs to be lower.
36:39What have been your biggest successes since boot camp, do you think?
36:42I've had successes with major commissions, selling things that are four figures, having people come back, purchase again and again.
36:52Successes like being able to move into the studio.
36:55This is a pretty massive success because being able to run workshops for larger groups of people.
37:00I've got 28 people at the moment on a waiting list.
37:02Fantastic. So good.
37:04But obviously like the biggest success that's happened since I saw you last was I had my daughter.
37:09It wasn't even an art thing.
37:12As the clay needs around a week to dry, Gemma's prepped one that's already dried, sanded and primed with a
37:18water repellent layer, ready for painting.
37:21The next stage is to paint the background, which is this nice kind of neutral colour.
37:29The paint has to be mixed with various different paint conditioners if you want to create different effects.
37:35So imagine you wanted a blue paint to sit slightly on top of a white paint, it would need to
37:39be a different thickness.
37:40So I think I'm pretty much there with the background.
37:43So I'm going to add the colour now.
37:46Do you feel excited with this bit?
37:48I do feel excited, but it's the scary bit.
37:51You can't do this bit again if it goes wrong.
37:53You can lift the clay back up, you can clean resin off, but this is a do or die moment
37:59really.
38:00And here I am peering over your shoulder.
38:02No pressure, Gemma, but just do it really well.
38:05Yeah, just stoke myself.
38:07Gemma, I'm wishing you well.
38:09A combination of pre-mixed coloured paints are poured into a mini tray and then applied to the clay shapes.
38:18She then uses a hairdryer,
38:23straw
38:25and palette knife to move the colours across the canvas to look like petals.
38:30Interesting seeing this process.
38:34Finally, a blow torch helps pop any air bubbles that have formed in the paint.
38:39This will have to stay completely still for a week until it dries.
38:45I've had artworks that I've laid down to dry, gone to bed, go up in the morning and they weren't
38:49completely flat and all the paint's just slid off destroying it.
38:53And all that work's gone.
38:54Yeah, exactly.
38:55To show Sharon the finishing touches, Gemma's prepared another piece that's already dried and adds silicone oil and resin to
39:04create the effect of water droplets.
39:06What the silicone oil does is repels the resin, like water and oil basically, so that it creates this bubble
39:14effect.
39:18After all of the tiny droplets have been placed meticulously, it's going to take a few days for the resin
39:25to cure and after that you have a finished piece.
39:30Gemma's droplets on petals 3D canvas has material costs of £42, a make time of around three weeks and is
39:39priced at £340.
39:41It's great to see her having the confidence to produce new work as well as hearing about all her success.
39:47And I'm keen to find out how the action plan we gave her at the boot camp three and a
39:52half years ago has helped to build her business and improve her bank balance.
39:57One of the things we asked you to do was to maybe upscale your packaging for your coasters.
40:04Have you stuck to that?
40:05What I ended up doing was upscaling for different environments.
40:09So I package them in different ways depending on where they're going to.
40:13But the actual full blown boxes worked out quite expensive.
40:17Yeah.
40:17So I moved away from that eventually, but yeah, I've still taken that message on board and created different packaging
40:23overall.
40:24Another thing that I mentioned to you was that it was really important that you started to believe in yourself
40:29more and to really put your art out there.
40:32It looks as though you've done that.
40:33Having worked with lots of people for commissions now, I have confidence in that process in getting positive feedback from
40:39people.
40:39That's really supported that confidence.
40:42I think when you try something new, it knocks you down a peg.
40:45You have to rebuild the confidence again.
40:47So ebbs and flows with that.
40:50Of course.
40:50I do think even if you don't realize it, you are far more confident than you are.
40:56So it's great to see.
40:57Really good to see.
41:00I agree with Sharon.
41:03Gemma's built her confidence and a business with old favorites, new pieces and workshops.
41:08I can't wait to find out what it all means for her finances.
41:12When you were at boot camp, one of the main things you wanted to do was to make money.
41:17How have you gotten on with that?
41:18Obviously, I had my first year after boot camp, then I had my daughter.
41:22So I've really only returned this year back to full pelt, next phase of the business.
41:28And I'm on track this year after cost to pay myself about £35,000.
41:34That's fantastic.
41:34How do you feel?
41:35I feel delighted.
41:37I was really nervous post maternity because it went so well before.
41:41I was like, you know, the belief thing.
41:45You think, am I the same?
41:47Are people going to buy back into me?
41:49And so after maternity leave, having things pick back up incredibly, it's felt really exciting,
41:56but it's validating that the art has worth, it has worth for me and it also has worth to other
42:02people.
42:04Earning £35,000 a year after costs so soon after returning to work following the birth of her daughter is
42:12a phenomenal achievement for Gemma.
42:14She currently still works three days a week as a teacher, but is on course to fulfilling her dream of
42:20becoming a full time artist.
42:23The last three and a half years have been a bit of a roller coaster post boot camp.
42:28I had the most amazing pickup in business and it was such a steep learning curve.
42:35And since having my baby, I've had to start all over again and coming to where I am now starting
42:40this next phase is just is up from here.
42:43That's how it feels.
42:46Building a creative business takes more than just talent.
42:50You need resilience and ability to think on your feet and a real focus on exactly what you want your
42:55business to be.
42:57Over the past three and a half years, Gemma and Izzy have proved that they've got all of these things
43:02in spades.
43:03And I've absolutely no doubt they'll both go on to even bigger and better things.
43:10Want some help building a business that lasts?
43:13Visit the Open University's interactive guide for practical help to sustain and grow your business.
43:19Scan the QR code on screen or visit connect.open.ac.uk forward slash I made it at market.
43:57When you can see that on the website as well.
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