Sarah Beck aka WildfirePottery makes the most beautiful pottery and it’s well worth the visit to her shop.

A little while ago she made these small “I Zibbet. Do you?” plates (to your left) and we think they’re just fantastic!!

The images below are just a sample of the fantastic work she has on offer in her shop.

You can friend, follow and learn more about Wildfire Pottery at the following places:

- www.facebook.com/wildfirepottery.ca
- www.twitter.com/wildfirepottery
- www.rakupottery.wordpress.com

Enjoy our interview with her…

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

   I am 35 years old. I’ve been working with clay since I was born! My mum is a potter (www.beckspottery.com), so I even attended workshops in the womb.  I’ve always loved animals and they show up in a lot of my work. I have over 100 different original designs that I make by hand and almost all of them are animals.   I grew up in the interior of British Columbia (BC), Canada.  We lived in “the bush” and I was always out roaming around the woods and ponds, watching birds and catching spiders, snakes and frogs.  One of my very first words was actually nuthatch (a small bird).  We often saw bear, moose, deer, coyotes and once there was a cougar screaming in the driveway.  We raised sheep, rabbits, pigeons and chickens outside (except when it was 40 below, then sometimes the basement got a bit crowded).  Inside we had a dog and a large assortment of guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, turtles, fish, even a hedgehog…I don’t think there was any animal we never had. Well, we didn’t have cats because of allergies in the family, but I did smuggle one home once.  Now my husband and I only have a dog named Lola, but she’s got personality enough!  I still get out in the woods a lot here on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia where I’ve been living for the past 8 years and there are often moose and fox trotting through the yard so I’m still surrounded by animals.

   What else? I like puns a lot.  I think they are the HIGHEST form of humor.  My whole family is pretty nuts for puns, Dad and I get together and just crack them out.  People hate us at parties.Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?  Well, my life pretty much revolves around my work and I am happiest when creating.  I do love to be outside though.  Almost every morning I walk (or snowshoe in the winter) with three other women, and our dogs.   Usually we hike through the woods and we don’t see any animals because we are too busy talking our heads off.  Girl talk, it can get pretty loud sometimes, especially if you’re trying to talk over crunching snow!   Those walks keep me healthy both mentally and physically.  I have a pottery studio and shop on a busy tourist route, the Cabot Trail, here on the island.  The shop is open seven days a week from June to October, so it can be pretty draining.  It’s great fun to meet all the travelers from around the world and to share the island with them, but I don’t have any other staff, except my husband Paul who is my number one salesman!

   The small community I live in has a lot of other artists with shops along the Cabot Trail (http://glassartisans.ca/studios.htm).  We have basket makers, wood workers, leather workers, glass artisans, pewter, sewing, two other potters, Iron art and photography, quilters and knitters.  It’s a great spot.  We are pretty close so I have a lot of interaction with other artists and that helps to feed my creativity.  Our community has a lot of events especially in the winter, dances, pot-lucks, clothing exchanges, so I keep pretty busy.   I also have a used bookstore in my shop with thousands of books.  I love reading mysteries, especially the older British Whodunnits, so sometimes in the winter I just sit in front of the wood stove in the studio and drink coffee and read Agatha Christie mysteries.  It feels so decadent! My husband has just retired from 34 years as a Lighthouse Keeper.  He was away for a month and home for a month, but sometimes I went out to the lighthouse to work with him.  It’s on a small remote island in the Atlantic, just the two of us out there.  That’s one of the best jobs I’ve ever done, apart from being creative.  I like a bit of isolation.  I think it’s good for people to be alone because we are so connected now with the internet, social networking, texting, etc.  It is healthy to be away from that world and alone with your own thoughts.   Don’t get me wrong though, I love Facebook and don’t let me loose on Ebay!

2. What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?

   Well I already talked about the natural world and animals influencing my work; that’s a huge part of what I do.  My studio is on a hillside surrounded by birch trees and I can see the Atlantic Ocean from my work table.  So that  definitely inspires me.  I also get inspired by the method of firing I use.  I mostly do Raku Pottery, which originated in Japan where it was  a functional form of pottery used in the tea ceremonies. Here in North America, and other parts of the world too,we do what we call “Western Style Raku” which is pretty much purely decorative.  The raku process is pretty dramatic, you pull the glazed pieces out of the red hot kiln, they are glowing and there’s smoke and fire and lots of heat. So I think about the way the clay is going to react to the process. Also the glaze palate that I have inspires me too.  Black and white are dominant in raku; the white glaze gets a nice crackle and the bare clay turns black from the smoke so I try to think of animals and shapes that will look good in black and white.  I love making penguins, they are raku naturals! Puffins are a very popular local bird that also have a black and white theme. Raku is great because you never get the same results twice (although that can be frustrating too sometimes).  Some of the glazes have a lot of copper in them so you can get these great rainbow effects, like an oil slick.   It works well for me because I could make 100 starfish that look pretty similar until I fire them and they are all different.  I have a write-up about raku and pictures of the process on my blog. Looking at the work of other potters inspires me too.  I just spent a week around Asheville, North Carolina, where there are so many great potters and other artisans.  Looking at their work starts my mind thinking in new directions; it’s an injection of creativity.

   

3. What other passions do you have in your life?

   Well I have a degree in Sociology and Archaeology, but I’ve never pursued them as a career. I guess I wasn’t cut out for Academia, but I enjoyed going on digs.  After I got my degree I went to acting school and did a lot of Second City style improv, that was great fun.  However my biggest love outside of pottery (and of course husband, dog, friends & family) is music.   When I was younger I did musical theater and sang in choirs.  I fooled around with a lot of instruments.  Guitar, trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, bass… I tried them all but nothing stuck until I started playing the fiddle about 14 years ago and that’s actually what brought me to Cape Breton.  There is a thriving fiddle tradition here; it has roots in Scotland and Ireland, but is now a distinct style of its own that is loved and played by people around the world.  I came here on holidays with my fiddle, my tent and a backpack, just hitch-hiking around and playing music.  I met my (now) husband who is also a fiddler and thought, “Hmmm, I could live here.  Great guy, great people, great music, island living, what else do I need?”  My family in BC didn’t think it was such a great idea, but now they come to visit for long periods and love it here too.  People are so friendly here, its an easy place to fall in love with.

   At our wedding a couple of years ago we had over 400 people and probably about half of them were musicians; the music and partying went on for 5 days. There are square dances done to live fiddle music all over the island so I try to attend as many of those as I can because I love to dance.  I sometimes even play for them in my community.  We have a big international trad music festival here in the fall called Celtic Colours and for those 10 days I’m not a potter, I’m a fiddler.  My husband and I and some friends often play music together, so we usually perform a few times as a group during the festival.  We were on the Celtic Colours cd put out last year by the festival, my first time as a recording artist!

   You can hear me playing fiddle and piano at http://rakupottery.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/wildfire3.mp3.  If anyone wants to visit the island it is a great time to come, the fall colours are beautiful against the sea and there are concerts all over the island.  Come visit any time, it’s pretty special here.  Hey, I guess I’m passionate about Cape Breton too!

4. Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?

   I look up to a lot of people.  Lots of fiddlers here on the island who are amazing musicians, yet humble and gracious.  My husband, Paul Cranford (www.cranfordpub.com), has worked hard to promote the fiddling tradition here in Cape Breton.  He publishes fiddling books and is so passionate about the music.  He’s a bit of a geek about it really, you can ask him the name of almost any tune you hear and he knows it, and who wrote it in 1795 or whenever!  We constantly have people phoning and emailing asking for his help with the music.   I admire his dedication and his willingness to share his knowledge with others, but shhh, don’t tell, he’ll get big headed! I also look up to my mum in a way because she’s also a potter and the one who got me started in clay.  She has been a potter for over 45 years, so I’m always asking her for advice.  She also has a seasonal shop and studio in BC so we can share a lot of experiences.  She’s 68 now and last year she and some friends walked the Camino Trail, from France to Spain.  They walked over 1200 kilometres in two months!!  I look up to her for that.  It takes a lot of determination to put yourself through something so physical.  I hope I can do something like that some day.  I pretty much look up to the friends I’ve chosen and to my family. My sister and my dad, my cousins, aunts and uncles. They’re all pretty exceptional!  Surround yourself by people you can look up to. I think that’s one of the keys to a happy life.

5. What do you like most about Zibbet?

   I like the Zibbet environment a lot. I think the fact that the site is young is exciting.  I’m new to selling online so I like the thought that I can grow with the site, seeing what works and what doesn’t.  I also am enjoying spreading the word about Zibbet.  I printed off some cards with info about Zibbet and I hand them out to anyone who is interested.  (And isn’t everybody?) It’s fun to think that I can help the site get more traffic and sellers. Word about the site has spread a lot even in the few months that I’ve been on board and I always keep an eye on how many new accounts are selling because it’s a way to gauge the growth of the site.  I like the ease of listing items and I like being able to put links in my Premium shop and facebook and blog widgets.  I even have a little widget with moving Wildfire flames in my shop.  I like interacting with the other sellers too.

   

   I think another thing that is really important about Zibbet for me is that now I have an easy way to manage my online orders.  I often have people who come and visit my shop in Cape Breton on their holidays and then want to buy a birthday present or Christmas gift later on.  They usually email or phone and I’m a bit disorganized and I hate shuffling through bits of papers and emails to sort out orders. Once I washed a credit card number from a phone order that I stuck in my pocket and had to phone the lady back.  How embarrassing is that?! So Zibbet is such a great tool for people in my position.  I can send all those people who inquire to my Zibbet shop where all that paperwork is dealt with. The fees are pretty comparable to what I already pay to my credit card processor.   I just have to package up the order and off it goes.  That is really worth the monthly premium shop fee. Especially since I am working towards a free shop!  FREE I LIKE!

6. What ‘new’ things would you like to see added to Zibbet?

   I would like to see space for one or two more pictures in the listings.  I think the ability to promote within the site will also be good.  I won’t mind putting the money I’m saving in listing fees and commissions towards promoting my work.

7. How do you promote your work?

   I’m lucky because I have a steady stream of tourist traffic driving by my shop in the summer.  A lot of them come and visit.  I honestly can’t keep up with the sales of certain items in my shop in the summer (I’m out of Puffins AGAIN?!!).  So being in such a visible spot helps to promote my business.  Word of mouth is great, I get a lot of repeat customers.  I also advertise together with other local businesses in some regional travel magazines and brochures.  I’m a great believer in group marketing.  Would you rather visit an area with one artist or go somewhere you could spend the whole day browsing through lots of shops?  It’s just like Zibbet; we attract the customers because there’s a wonderful variety to choose from.  There’s also a great resource here locally, the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design.  They really help the artists on the island to spread the word about their businesses and I take advantage of their grant programs to print promotional materials like rack cards and business cards. They have a juried craft fair that I participate in every year which helps to remind locals about what I do and where I am. Juried shows are good because they raise the level of your work in the eyes of your customer and that’s really valuable advertising.

   Online I have a Facebook fan page, a blog, a website (just re-launched last week with a completely new look), I joined Twitter recently and also some online craft groups.  I post photos where I can, like on Flickr and I’m going to be doing some videos of the firing process at some stage, posting them on my blog and youtube.  It doesn’t leave a lot of time for the actual making of the work does it?!

8. How would you recommend other Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com?

   Well firstly try and have good product photos.  I know it’s been said before but it is SO important.  It’s really the only way you have to sell that piece.  You can have the finest work but if the photo isn’t good, you aren’t going to sell it. Try and create a shop that people want to stay in and also come back to.  You can do that by adding links, changing your shop colours (if you have a Premium shop) and by creating a cohesive look with your listings.  I’m playing around with all natural backgrounds in my pictures; using wood, gravel, snow, rusted metal as a back-drop because they fit in nicely with my work.

   The level of your work is also very important especially since the buyer doesn’t have the chance to hold the piece n their hands.  They depend on your quality control, so don’t list something you aren’t happy with, it will save you a headache later.  Think about items that you can make that are at different price points.  Have some smaller items that will have lower shipping fees and have some larger ticket items because, honestly, they are psychologically impressive as they show what you are capable of.  You might not sell lots of those higher priced items but you will sell smaller items because of them. Keep an eye on what sells and what doesn’t so you don’t keep making items that people don’t want.  However, don’t get discouraged if you don’t have many sales at first.  It takes a lot of time to grow a business.  Spreading the word about Zibbet is also important.  Right now I think the site is relying on us to bring in the customers and new sellers.

9. In the future I’d like to be…

   …As healthy and as happy as I am now. I wouldn’t mind if the mortgage was paid off either.  And maybe if a chocolate factory opened next door that’d be ok too.

Tags: featured zibbeter, WildfirePottery