Sunday, January 11, 2009

making the mold

This weekend I jumped on my cruiser bicycle and pedaled over to Diana Fayt's San Francisco studio for a tutorial on making molds. Now, I have my man Hector at the factory who makes my molds and produces my bisqueware for wholesale, and he is my true ace in the hole when it comes to running my business. But the problem with producing at that level is the cost. When I decide on adding an item to my wholesale line, it's a big investment. Sometimes, that item may not end up selling so well, but I feel tethered to keep selling it because I dumped a bunch of dough into getting it produced. Or, I might have a great idea for an item, but if I feel it will only sell for a short time because it's trendy or seasonal, then I don't see the value in spending the money on getting production up and running on it. These two issues are things that make me feel a bit stale at times.

I've been considering this problem for a while, and the recession makes this issue even more front and center for me. If I don't want to get outflanked by this economy, I have to sharpen my reflexes and be quick to respond to what is happening. Big, cumbersome money investments into new designs and pieces feels like exactly the wrong thing to do at this moment, but sitting around and making the best of what I have seems slow and plodding. I've been obsessed for the past 3 or 4 months with the idea of making my own molds for items and slip casting them myself. That way I can test out new designs, see how they sell, and if they do great, then I can have Hector take over. If they don't, I'm not all tied down to it because the only thing I've invested is some time. Time is money, of course, but I'm finding that right now I have a little bit more of it because of the overall slowdown in business. And I'm convinced that having some mold making skills will push my work to a new and different level.

Diana knows how to make molds, so she very kindly invited me to her studio to give me a lesson. We spent all afternoon, and a bottle of wine, working on a mold for a new item that I'm in love with right now, but there is no way I can produce each one solely by hand. It makes my neck hurt just thinking about it. I found that mold making really appeals to me. You have to plan ahead, think about how it's all going to come together, and be precise. And the other great thing is that knowing I'm working on acquiring this new skill stimulates other ideas in my brain for items I can make. I used to make such labor-intensive work, which I pretty much gave up on because the effort became overwhelming. But now I can think more about making that one crazy, labor-intensive piece, and then just make my mold for it. I just can't wait to cast the first one!


9 comments:

  1. just so you know folks, the wine is an 'essential' component to making a proper mold. ;-)

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  2. I am now, where you seem to have been: investing in a subcontractor. I'd love to be more hands on right now and screen print fabric myself, but the big investment is the only way I'll be able to make enough fabric to sell wholesale. Hopefully a few years from now, I'll be able to reevaluate my work, time and space and be able to do things for myself a bit more. Good luck with your plans!

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  3. Oh, I would love to have some molds made of some of my pieces...there is one product languishing because it is so dang labor intensive to make....now you've got me all inspired to make a mold of it. Thanks for posting this.
    so, first, I'll go get some wine....

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  4. I would love to learn how to make molds. Can you recommend a book or something?

    michele d.

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  5. It looked like a perfect day- creative, spending a day with a friend and a good bottle of wine. How perfect can it get? I love it.

    BTW- Whitney I posted a corner of your little bird plate yesterday with a link to your Etsy shop. I love your work! I have to go back and read one of your posts. I happen to see a butterfly. Butterflies have new meanings to me.

    Have a golden one!

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  6. Thanks for the information on mold making and the resource to have them made by Hector at Earth Needs.

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  7. The best book that I can think of on the subject of mold making is Andrew Martin's "Essential Guide to Mold Making and Slip Casting", published by Lark books and can be found at Amazon.

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  8. I wish I could hop on my cruiser and come and learn mold making as well. The wine drinking is definitely a bonus. Sadly I think the 1000 plus miles would kill me...

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  9. Thanks for the info Whitney.

    michele d.

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