After a massive 12 weeks away I will on October 11 finally be able to get back in to the studio! Cue the celebrations! Of course this also means that I will have a lot to get done in the lead up to Christmas with lots of markets planned on top of pre-lockdown orders to fulfil. Add to all of this that Australia Post is probably running on fumes at this point…If there’s anything you want in time for Christmas, my recommendation would be to order sooner rather than later, and to pick up in person if possible. In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll probably be in the studio…
What’s Happening
More COVID disruptions
Sydney is currently going through another round of COVID-related disruptions, and LouiseM studio has been heavily effected by these changes. As the studio is located in the Inner West Council, and I live in the highly restricted Canterbury-Bankstown Council area, I am unable to get in to the studio because crossing council boundaries for work in not allowed for non-essential workers. Much as I love my job I wouldn’t dream of trying to frame my work as essential. What this means is I am restricted to working at home, and as my kiln isn’t at home there isn’t a terribly large amount of work-related tasks I can complete at home. Unfortunately it looks like the making of Hardenbergia pieces for the flora range will be impacted, as well as Flannel Flower pieces. Hopefully I don’t spend all of spring in lockdown!
Any orders placed through this website at this time will be delayed. If the piece is in stock, I am able to get occasional drop-offs from one of my studio partners, so it will be delayed, but only for a week or so. Any items that need to be made will be delayed to the end of lockdown plus an extra few weeks. Once I get back I will be working as fast as I can to get everything out to everyone as quickly as possible, but there will most likely be delays.
One thing to be grateful for though is that my kiln, which had been broken for approximately a month prior to the lockdown has been fixed, and I am very fortunate that my studio partners have been working their way through firing my back-log of pieces. And so we wait, and we hope, and we try to embrace the down-time. Things at home have never been neater or better organised!
COVID-19 and my small business
The world is gripped in the panic of COVID-19 and it affects us all in some way, large or small. I am lucky enough to be young, healthy and living in a country that decided to take action relatively early, meaning that I don’t know anyone who has caught the disease, nor am I likely to sicken significantly if I did happen to catch it. How it affects me is how it affects my business.
Being the owner of a creatively-based small business means that my income is never steady, but after 8 years of trading I am starting to get a feel for the pattern of things. And what is happening now is not normal. A tentative assessment of my loss of income (required for government assistance) has put that number a reduction of 80%. It is huge. And although I acknowledge the privileged position I find myself in, compared some of my colleagues in other, less-easily-quantifiable creative roles, I know the next few months will be a struggle. I am fortunate that I am eligible for government assistance, but what happens next is murky and uncertain. I will be attempting to use my extra spare time to prepare for a brighter future that I’m not completely certain of the timing of. I plan to still be around, making ceramics after this is all over, but really who can predict the future?
So I’ll be hunkering down in my studio, elated at the extra time available to spend devoted to pursuing new projects and freedom from the usual grind, but also bereft without my usual jammed schedule of making, markets and classes. Being human often involves a complex tangle of contradictory emotion, so I’ll know it’s pretty normal to feel these two things simultaneously and that I’m not alone in these thoughts. Knowing that we’re all in it together has become rather comforting. If you still have a job: please support struggling local business wherever you can. The appreciation isn’t endless, but it is immense.
Lastly, stay safe out there. Much love, Louise
New website in the works
Hello everyone, I know I’ve been promising it forever, but I’m finally getting a move-on with my new website, and here it is, in it’s very rudimentary beginnings. In addition to a gallery and information about what I do, I am also hoping to add a shop function. Thanks for your patience, and in the mean-time you can still visit my old site www.whitefinches.net