1 00:00:00,650 --> 00:00:05,980 Our country is full of incredible makers dreaming of turning their talent into 2 00:00:05,980 --> 00:00:07,040 money -making careers. 3 00:00:07,340 --> 00:00:10,360 It would mean everything to be able to do this full -time. 4 00:00:10,620 --> 00:00:15,260 So, with a team of fantastic professional mentors... I know your 5 00:00:15,260 --> 00:00:16,480 know what you're capable of doing. 6 00:00:16,740 --> 00:00:20,780 I run a one -of -a -kind bootcamp showing them how to do just that. 7 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,700 Perfect. My precious moment. I'll go share that. Yes. 8 00:00:23,940 --> 00:00:28,320 Now, I'm on my way to catch up with those who have made their dreams come 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,020 Hello. There he is. Hello, mate. 10 00:00:30,820 --> 00:00:33,360 I'll be hearing about their amazing achievement. 11 00:00:33,740 --> 00:00:37,080 I've been able to put down... This is my full -time job. 12 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:41,620 A little bit under £40 ,000. 13 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:43,920 Around £50 ,000. £50 ,000? 14 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:45,160 Yeah. 15 00:00:46,900 --> 00:00:53,560 You can kind of say I am living the dream. I 16 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:54,600 think that's fair to say. 17 00:01:02,660 --> 00:01:06,780 Whether they're trying to grow an existing business or turn a part -time 18 00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:11,680 into a full -time career, the makers that come to my bootcamp all want to 19 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:12,760 money from their talents. 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:17,300 Today, we'll be catching up with two in their own studios who have done just 21 00:01:17,300 --> 00:01:18,300 that. 22 00:01:18,540 --> 00:01:23,100 Later, mentor Alistair will be heading to Devon to check in on glass artist 23 00:01:23,100 --> 00:01:25,300 Emmy, who's found worldwide success. 24 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,720 I've got a touring gallery that's taking my work internationally, taking my work 25 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,820 to Singapore, Texas, New York, where I had a sell -out show. 26 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,560 Before that, I'll be visiting wildlife lover Sarah in Yorkshire. 27 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:45,560 I first met her at my boot camp in spring 2022, when she came looking for 28 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,740 to make a career change just a few months after she'd started working with 29 00:01:50,220 --> 00:01:54,460 When the pandemic hit, I was a professional photographer, and obviously 30 00:01:54,460 --> 00:01:55,460 everything just... 31 00:01:56,260 --> 00:02:00,300 The birds were singing and the sun was shining and I just realised that that 32 00:02:00,300 --> 00:02:01,300 what life was about. 33 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,360 I got my hands on ceramics, some clay. 34 00:02:03,940 --> 00:02:08,680 There's nothing between you and the material and it just feels so raw and so 35 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:10,580 natural. It's like you're working with the earth. 36 00:02:12,620 --> 00:02:17,340 To help Sarah make the switch from photography to sculpting, I teamed her 37 00:02:17,340 --> 00:02:20,220 with Belfast -based ceramicist Derek Wilson. 38 00:02:21,420 --> 00:02:25,220 Sarah is really, really interesting because within such a short period of 39 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,460 her work is already at a certain standard. 40 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,340 And I think already, you know, you can kind of see the potential in her 41 00:02:31,340 --> 00:02:32,340 practice. 42 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,920 To work out how Sarah could best make money from her ceramics, I set her three 43 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:42,380 challenges. First up, I wanted to see what she could produce in volume. 44 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,420 And as a nature lover, she decided to make a collection of small bird 45 00:02:47,420 --> 00:02:49,860 priced at 20 to 40 pounds. 46 00:02:50,540 --> 00:02:55,240 each one hand -shaped and decorated with a variety of different coloured glazes. 47 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:01,020 The first step is to take two bowls of clay and then what we'll do is create 48 00:03:01,020 --> 00:03:06,600 like a little pinch pot. So you put your thumb in the middle and then just 49 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,440 carefully going round, create a little bowl. 50 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:17,680 Then you make two of those and then create some score lines on each of them, 51 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:18,760 like a crosshatch. 52 00:03:20,170 --> 00:03:25,830 And we do this because it'll help them stick together so it doesn't come apart. 53 00:03:27,290 --> 00:03:32,870 And then I use a little bit of water just to wet the edges a little bit and 54 00:03:32,870 --> 00:03:35,190 carefully pop them together. 55 00:03:36,330 --> 00:03:40,170 Once that's set, the next step is to shape it into the bird form. 56 00:03:41,090 --> 00:03:45,570 Sarah's birds seemed relatively quick to make, but Derek wanted to talk to her 57 00:03:45,570 --> 00:03:47,710 about making their production even faster. 58 00:03:48,380 --> 00:03:51,780 What's quite important about these pieces is that they all are individual, 59 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:54,320 they all have their own kind of characters. Definitely. 60 00:03:54,860 --> 00:03:59,440 When it comes to producing them, is there an easier way to speed up the 61 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:00,440 production range? 62 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,340 I did think about throwing them as little balls, but by the time I figured 63 00:04:05,340 --> 00:04:11,440 how to throw them and create spheres and do it consistently to make them look 64 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,960 like spheres, it's probably just easier and quicker for me to make them by hand. 65 00:04:16,570 --> 00:04:20,269 They're just nice and easy to form. It's definitely something to look into. 66 00:04:21,390 --> 00:04:26,190 Whilst Sarah continued making her small birds, I asked Derek to join me in my 67 00:04:26,190 --> 00:04:28,230 marquee to discuss her second item. 68 00:04:28,990 --> 00:04:33,370 Before she came to my boot camp, I asked her to make a more expensive high -end 69 00:04:33,370 --> 00:04:37,990 piece, and she decided to showcase a sculpture of a family of hares, 70 00:04:37,990 --> 00:04:39,290 with a metallic glaze. 71 00:04:40,270 --> 00:04:44,430 As there were multiple pieces involving a lengthier production time along with 72 00:04:44,430 --> 00:04:48,750 extra material and firing costs, she priced them at £1 ,200. 73 00:04:49,940 --> 00:04:53,000 They're really lovely. They've got a good energy and they've got a real kind 74 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,440 presence. She's reflecting this kind of character of these kind of animals. 75 00:04:56,740 --> 00:05:00,200 It would be quite nice to see Sarah maybe scale up and to kind of push it to 76 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,420 keep that freedom in her sculpting. To make a big, massive one. Yeah, 77 00:05:03,420 --> 00:05:04,800 definitely. Yeah, I like that. 78 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:06,800 To kind of challenge herself a little bit. 79 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,640 Sarah's hoping to get £1 ,200 for the hair with the two babies. It's probably 80 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,340 just a bit expensive for somebody that's just kind of like getting kind of the 81 00:05:14,340 --> 00:05:15,600 early stages of their career. 82 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,720 Obviously, she doesn't want to be underselling herself, but she doesn't 83 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:24,060 be overselling. a work at the moment as well down by the bluebell woods sarah 84 00:05:24,060 --> 00:05:28,620 was working away on her volume piece and having finished the wet work on her 85 00:05:28,620 --> 00:05:32,820 collection of small birds she brought along some kiln fired ones so she could 86 00:05:32,820 --> 00:05:39,100 move on to the next step he's now ready to underglaze under glazing is 87 00:05:39,100 --> 00:05:43,620 designed so that the color you paint it on is more closely 88 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,560 what it's going to turn out like. And there's other things you can do. You can 89 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:54,480 combine underglaze with glaze and overglaze and luster and the world's 90 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,500 oyster, basically, when it comes to ceramics. 91 00:05:57,140 --> 00:06:01,820 Despite liking the idea of Sarah's birds, Derek was concerned that making 92 00:06:01,820 --> 00:06:05,640 one by hand was too time -consuming for them to be commercially successful. 93 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,220 But here was a man with a plan. 94 00:06:08,860 --> 00:06:12,440 I just wanted to talk about some other production methods. 95 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:17,160 And one idea was to introduce some press moulds, some simple press moulds. So 96 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,640 I've brought actually an example here from a recent project. 97 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,420 So this is actually just a reproduced ceramic spoon. 98 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,160 So for yourself, we would be actually looking at taking one of your pieces and 99 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,840 making a very simple press mould. I like handmade because it's personal. 100 00:06:33,300 --> 00:06:37,250 Would this... a press molding technique do you think it detracts from it a 101 00:06:37,250 --> 00:06:40,990 little bit you can still add characters to these pieces you know they're still 102 00:06:40,990 --> 00:06:45,250 they're still one -off pieces the smaller pieces it would make sense to 103 00:06:45,250 --> 00:06:50,030 them quite similar yeah and then i can spend my time giving them the character 104 00:06:50,030 --> 00:06:55,930 and exactly exactly they're still handmade pieces and individual pieces 105 00:06:55,930 --> 00:06:59,030 still have that the kind of qualities that you're kind of looking for which is 106 00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:01,250 really really important it is important to me yeah 107 00:07:02,090 --> 00:07:07,430 So the moulds, if I can keep the individuality of each piece, then that 108 00:07:07,430 --> 00:07:12,790 make sense to use because it makes the quality more consistent and 109 00:07:12,790 --> 00:07:16,650 people will know more about what they're getting. 110 00:07:17,130 --> 00:07:20,010 Yeah, I think it's got legs. I'll look into it. 111 00:07:21,330 --> 00:07:26,130 Back at her workstation, Sarah applied the finishing touches to her small bird 112 00:07:26,130 --> 00:07:27,130 sculptures. 113 00:07:27,490 --> 00:07:30,690 One of the reasons why I love ceramics so much is because... 114 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,120 You can get lots of different colours, lots of different effects. 115 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,160 It's just getting really creative. 116 00:07:39,820 --> 00:07:44,300 Sarah's joyful ceramic birds took her about half an hour each to sculpt and 117 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:47,020 glaze, and she priced them at £20 to £40. 118 00:07:49,070 --> 00:07:50,070 Derek, what do you think? 119 00:07:50,090 --> 00:07:52,970 I think they look really good, Sarah. I think they have a lot of commercial 120 00:07:52,970 --> 00:07:56,590 potential. The one thing that I would kind of say is that there's kind of a 121 00:07:56,590 --> 00:08:01,550 of variation in them. You know, it might be quite nice to see runs of each one 122 00:08:01,550 --> 00:08:04,970 to kind of like streamline it. Very simple press molds. It will speed up 123 00:08:04,970 --> 00:08:08,150 production and bring some consistency to your practice as well. 124 00:08:08,390 --> 00:08:09,990 Yeah, to help make high volume. 125 00:08:10,290 --> 00:08:13,050 About the price, what do you think? I kind of feel like some of the larger 126 00:08:13,050 --> 00:08:14,830 pieces you could probably go up a little bit more. 127 00:08:15,090 --> 00:08:16,590 Fantastic. Thank you. 128 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:24,540 Sarah gave her first two items her best shot and for her final task I asked her 129 00:08:24,540 --> 00:08:28,160 to make her favorite piece to see if it could become a business building 130 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:34,380 product. She chose to create a head study of a long tail tip priced at 600 131 00:08:34,380 --> 00:08:37,880 800 pounds which she decorated with a metallic glaze. 132 00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:43,159 What I'm going to do is I'm going to build the layers up to start the form of 133 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:45,880 the shape so if we've got a solid foundation 134 00:08:46,910 --> 00:08:52,010 because the clay is still quite wet it just makes it easier when we go higher 135 00:08:52,010 --> 00:08:57,610 if it's all compressed and quite compact you just smush that together to form a 136 00:08:57,610 --> 00:09:00,930 join okay 137 00:09:00,930 --> 00:09:06,930 like so 138 00:09:06,930 --> 00:09:12,610 and then if we press it down again just like we did with the first to compress 139 00:09:12,610 --> 00:09:15,430 the clay what we need to do is just remove this gap 140 00:09:17,699 --> 00:09:22,260 Over the next two to three hours, Sarah built up her sculpture one layer at a 141 00:09:22,260 --> 00:09:26,340 time, carefully blending them together to avoid trapping any air in the piece. 142 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,040 When I'm building the coil, you see the shape? 143 00:09:30,460 --> 00:09:31,880 That's the shape that I follow. 144 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:36,320 So we start off wide and then we go in, out a little bit and then in across the 145 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:41,520 top. And then I can do things like create the little beak and then I attach 146 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:42,520 and on it goes. 147 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:43,600 And then... 148 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,980 I'll put the eyes in last and it just gives it that character. 149 00:09:49,860 --> 00:09:50,860 That'll go in there. 150 00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:56,600 I will leave it to dry for quite a lot longer. Then I would apply a glaze and 151 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,400 then pop in the kiln and fire it to 1240 degrees. 152 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:06,460 Hopefully no disasters overnight and the kiln gods have been kind and that's the 153 00:10:06,460 --> 00:10:07,460 finished piece. 154 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:13,580 Sarah finished off her head study with an eye -catching metallic glaze and she 155 00:10:13,580 --> 00:10:16,380 gave it an asking price of 600 to 800 pounds. 156 00:10:17,380 --> 00:10:18,400 What do you think, Derek? 157 00:10:18,620 --> 00:10:22,600 What's really interesting is kind of the concept and the story and your kind of 158 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:23,600 passion about wildlife. 159 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,760 There's huge commercial viability. There's also room for development. 160 00:10:28,060 --> 00:10:31,420 I know that you're kind of saying that they're head studies, but I kind of feel 161 00:10:31,420 --> 00:10:34,200 like if they're going into kind of gallery pieces for kind of collectors 162 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,500 you need to think about the way that they are presented. 163 00:10:37,940 --> 00:10:41,080 So whether that's kind of like using the plinth or something that kind of lifts 164 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,280 them. And there could be elements where you're kind of carrying on parts, so 165 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,120 you're kind of leaving something for the imagination. 166 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,380 I like that. I can imagine if it's up a little bit higher and it kind of carries 167 00:10:49,380 --> 00:10:50,319 on a little bit. 168 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,620 Yeah. How about the price? Does that fit, do you think? 169 00:10:52,820 --> 00:10:57,340 I feel like starting off lower, a bit lower, until you see how they sell, and 170 00:10:57,340 --> 00:11:00,660 then you can gradually kind of develop and kind of work your price up a little 171 00:11:00,660 --> 00:11:04,260 bit. Brilliant, thank you. Amazing. Well, well done, you. Thank you. Lots of 172 00:11:04,260 --> 00:11:05,260 work ahead. 173 00:11:05,980 --> 00:11:10,580 To help Sarah achieve her dream of becoming a full -time sculptor, we drew 174 00:11:10,580 --> 00:11:12,920 action plan for her to take back to South Yorkshire. 175 00:11:13,460 --> 00:11:17,680 First, she needed to use moulds to speed up the production of her small birds. 176 00:11:18,540 --> 00:11:22,140 Next, we wanted her to scale up her large pieces even more. 177 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,760 Finally, she needed to price her work to sell. 178 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,800 For the next two months, Derek continued to guide Sarah as she worked on her 179 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:35,800 action plan. 180 00:11:35,940 --> 00:11:40,960 She began by scaling up her larger pieces and was keen to show him how 181 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:45,060 on. I've got a rather large something to show you. 182 00:11:48,250 --> 00:11:49,290 Oh, wow. 183 00:11:49,990 --> 00:11:52,530 My goodness. So this is hair part two. 184 00:11:52,930 --> 00:11:54,010 Okay, cool. 185 00:11:54,610 --> 00:11:56,410 And what, does he look great? 186 00:11:56,830 --> 00:12:00,350 I've not finished his head off yet, but... Yeah, he's definitely a nice 187 00:12:03,090 --> 00:12:07,630 She also travelled to Oxfordshire to try and sell some of her work at a high 188 00:12:07,630 --> 00:12:12,370 -end craft festival, including the scaled -up hair, which was priced at 189 00:12:13,010 --> 00:12:14,070 I've got lots of hair! 190 00:12:17,100 --> 00:12:23,180 She's off to a new home. I'm very pleased. I'm going to be sad because I'm 191 00:12:23,180 --> 00:12:24,159 to miss her. 192 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,380 But, yeah, I'm so pleased that somebody liked my work enough to take it home. 193 00:12:29,540 --> 00:12:34,620 And I wasn't shocked, I'll be honest with you. I don't think it's still quite 194 00:12:34,620 --> 00:12:35,620 sunk in. 195 00:12:37,340 --> 00:12:40,640 For eight weeks, Sarah worked hard to build her business. 196 00:12:40,860 --> 00:12:44,960 And when she came back to the boot camp to report on her progress, she had some 197 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:45,960 exciting news. 198 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:53,640 I did make £870, which I was thrilled with. It was just so nice to be able to 199 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:57,980 sell my pieces to people that wanted to buy my pieces. 200 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,000 It's just an incredible feeling. 201 00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:00,919 It's great. 202 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:02,700 It's all very good and very positive. 203 00:13:03,020 --> 00:13:04,019 Well done. 204 00:13:04,020 --> 00:13:08,680 To go from being a novice sculptor to making hundreds of pounds, even after 205 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:13,740 deducting costs in just a few months, was a brilliant achievement for Sarah 206 00:13:13,740 --> 00:13:15,100 a sign of things to come. 207 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,880 Three and a half years later, I've come to an ever so slightly damp Yorkshire to 208 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,100 find out about the success she's had since I last saw her. 209 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:28,640 Ah! Dom! How are you? 210 00:13:28,900 --> 00:13:30,260 Here she is. How are you doing? 211 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:31,479 I'm doing well, and you? 212 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:32,720 Oh, it's so nice to see you. 213 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:34,040 Come on in. 214 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:38,780 The weather might not be too inviting, but Sarah's studio at the end of her 215 00:13:38,780 --> 00:13:42,400 garden with its views of open countryside certainly is. 216 00:13:43,180 --> 00:13:45,020 Can you believe it's been three and a half years? 217 00:13:45,220 --> 00:13:48,400 Oh, I can't. It feels like it's just gone in the blink of an eye. You know 218 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:53,400 I cannot think of a better place for somebody that loves nature to work. I 219 00:13:53,420 --> 00:13:57,020 standing here looking out at that view, it must be amazing. 220 00:13:57,500 --> 00:13:59,360 It really is. And all the birds singing. 221 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:01,560 Surrounded by nature. I am. It's amazing. 222 00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:03,540 Yeah. I'm in my happiest place. 223 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:04,840 Yeah. Yeah. 224 00:14:05,459 --> 00:14:09,860 Sarah's studio is a fabulous place to work. It's where she does her sculpting. 225 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:14,200 But she has another workshop in her converted garage where she does her 226 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:15,200 and kiln firing. 227 00:14:16,180 --> 00:14:18,280 This is the place where I've got the kiln going. 228 00:14:18,620 --> 00:14:22,220 It's all the bigger kilns now. Not just the kiln, kilns. 229 00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:23,700 Things are getting serious. 230 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,240 Things have got very serious. This would be huge. 231 00:14:26,620 --> 00:14:28,300 Has that opened up sort of avenues for making... 232 00:14:28,780 --> 00:14:32,660 bigger sculptures well i started making some bigger sculptures but i found that 233 00:14:32,660 --> 00:14:37,740 they didn't sell as well as the little ones um so i've actually started doing 234 00:14:37,740 --> 00:14:42,320 bigger batches of the small ones okay and filling the kiln and doing it that 235 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,540 instead that must help cost because you're able to get each time you're 236 00:14:45,540 --> 00:14:48,140 this thing up you can actually get more in there well it's more environmentally 237 00:14:48,140 --> 00:14:51,780 friendly as well because i don't really want to be running a kiln on half 238 00:14:51,780 --> 00:14:55,200 because i want to make sure that everything i do has as little impact on 239 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,730 environment as i can And having the bigger kiln and feeling it making more 240 00:14:58,730 --> 00:15:00,550 of the space makes complete sense. 241 00:15:00,770 --> 00:15:04,190 Absolutely. They're so well and good making so many things, but, I mean, are 242 00:15:04,190 --> 00:15:07,830 they selling? They are. So I've been really enjoying myself. They're going 243 00:15:07,830 --> 00:15:11,110 everywhere, up and down the country. They're going to America and Australia. 244 00:15:11,650 --> 00:15:13,850 All over the world. Yeah, so international. 245 00:15:14,390 --> 00:15:15,390 Critters International. 246 00:15:16,970 --> 00:15:21,830 It's great to hear that Sarah's joyful birds are selling so well, and expanding 247 00:15:21,830 --> 00:15:23,450 the range is a brilliant idea. 248 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,660 She's also broadened out the materials she's working with and now makes bronze 249 00:15:28,660 --> 00:15:29,660 sculptures as well. 250 00:15:30,220 --> 00:15:34,920 With make times of several months, including sculpting, casting and 251 00:15:35,140 --> 00:15:40,920 the large pieces are priced at £3 ,000 to £4 ,000 and they're also bringing in 252 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:41,920 international sales. 253 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,520 One of my big hairs, she's gone to live in America and I've just sold a set of 254 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:47,520 three puffins. 255 00:15:47,740 --> 00:15:49,260 Where are all these sales coming from? 256 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,640 I've actually managed to build up a... 257 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:56,520 A collection of people that like to hear from me. A subscriber list, I suppose 258 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:58,900 you could call it. Like a mailing list? Yeah, like a mailing list. OK. Got 259 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:02,980 nearly about 3 ,000 people on that list. And I've actually had the best month to 260 00:16:02,980 --> 00:16:05,400 date. I took £20 ,000. 261 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:10,380 What, in one month? In one month. It was brilliant. That is a huge number. 262 00:16:11,060 --> 00:16:17,100 By any standard, selling £20 ,000 worth of pieces in just one month is a massive 263 00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:18,100 success. 264 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,960 From her small ceramic sculptures to the big bronze works, Sarah's business is 265 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,880 firing on all cylinders, and she's going to show me how she makes one of the 266 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:29,560 bronze puffins she sold recently. 267 00:16:31,060 --> 00:16:35,860 Step one is to make a clay puffin that will be used to create a wax model the 268 00:16:35,860 --> 00:16:37,040 piece will be cast from. 269 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:39,880 We start by rolling out sausages. 270 00:16:40,860 --> 00:16:43,780 What kind of sausage are we going for? Is it a chipolata or a hot dog? I think 271 00:16:43,780 --> 00:16:46,200 it's probably more like a Cumberland by the time we're done because we're going 272 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:47,200 to swirl it. 273 00:16:47,260 --> 00:16:53,440 Okay, I've got my sausage. What we want to do is form a circle and join the two 274 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,200 ends together and that forms the base. 275 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,900 And then we're going to take your sausage and layer it on top. Okay, you 276 00:17:00,900 --> 00:17:02,800 it? Okay, looking good. 277 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,000 That's it. 278 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:06,800 Weld those two together. That's the one. 279 00:17:07,780 --> 00:17:12,280 Just like the bird's head sculpture Sarah created at the boot camp, we build 280 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:14,900 the top half of our puffin one layer at a time. 281 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:17,880 I'm getting the hang of this now. 282 00:17:18,099 --> 00:17:19,099 It's stringy sausage. 283 00:17:19,420 --> 00:17:23,440 And when she thinks the piece is sturdy enough, it's time for me to get hands 284 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:28,359 on. If you imagine the shoulders of the puffin are coming in and then he'll have 285 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:29,660 a little neck and then his head. 286 00:17:30,620 --> 00:17:33,560 Oh, oh, I think I'm a bit heavy handed for this. 287 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:36,720 There you go. What do you reckon? 288 00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:37,940 That looks good to me. 289 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:43,080 After creating the basic shape of the top half of the puffin, it needs to dry 290 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:44,380 before we can go any further. 291 00:17:45,100 --> 00:17:49,540 So Sarah's prepared another, along with a bottom half and feet that are ready 292 00:17:49,540 --> 00:17:50,540 for us to assemble. 293 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:53,120 So we're going to crosshatch. 294 00:17:54,020 --> 00:17:57,340 It creates a surface for them to stick together. 295 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:01,060 It's like sanding it down, keeping a rough surface for a key. Rough surface, 296 00:18:01,100 --> 00:18:02,100 that's it. 297 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:03,480 Right. 298 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,980 Swap over. Give it a couple of squirts. 299 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,320 That's it. And then I'll do the side as well. 300 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,540 Just going to put Dom was here on the inside. 301 00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:17,360 Yep, there you go. Love it. 302 00:18:18,060 --> 00:18:19,600 That's it. So the tail at the back. 303 00:18:20,060 --> 00:18:21,060 There we go. 304 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:22,360 Hold on to that. 305 00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:23,760 I've got his tail, yep. 306 00:18:23,980 --> 00:18:25,600 You've got his tail. Just squash him together. 307 00:18:26,260 --> 00:18:30,880 To secure the two halves of the puffin together, we use another clay sausage. 308 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,500 And then... And then smoosh it. 309 00:18:34,220 --> 00:18:36,160 Another technical term. Gently, gently. 310 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:41,760 That's it. 311 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:43,880 Nicely done. 312 00:18:44,900 --> 00:18:48,580 With the body of the puffin complete, Sarah adds the feet. 313 00:18:49,620 --> 00:18:53,400 It's a good start to a puffin. It certainly is. Definitely puffin -shaped, 314 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:54,199 it? Yeah. 315 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:58,900 After adding the wings and finer details, the puffin is sent to a bronze 316 00:18:58,900 --> 00:19:00,220 company in Lancashire. 317 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,020 There, they separate the wings from the bird's body to make it easier to make 318 00:19:05,020 --> 00:19:09,840 silicon moulds, which they then pour wax into, and after leaving everything to 319 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,100 harden, join the pieces back together. 320 00:19:12,620 --> 00:19:17,400 The wax puffin is then given a ceramic coating before being placed in a furnace 321 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,600 where the wax melts, creating a hollow ceramic mould. 322 00:19:21,540 --> 00:19:26,840 Hot liquid bronze is then poured into the mould, and when it's set, the bronze 323 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,280 is freed from its casing, tidied up and sent back to Sarah. 324 00:19:30,810 --> 00:19:35,610 Who uses a chemical called ferric nitrate and a blowtorch to create a dark 325 00:19:35,610 --> 00:19:37,570 reddish -brown patina on the piece? 326 00:19:38,990 --> 00:19:41,050 Can you see it's starting to get darker? 327 00:19:41,270 --> 00:19:42,690 Nice. There it goes, look. 328 00:19:42,930 --> 00:19:44,070 There it goes, yeah. 329 00:19:44,450 --> 00:19:45,730 Get in there. Yeah, that's brilliant. 330 00:19:46,510 --> 00:19:51,390 To finish the puffing, Sarah sands it and waxes it to give it a lovely shine. 331 00:19:51,830 --> 00:19:54,190 Well, thank you for introducing me to a new technique. 332 00:19:54,430 --> 00:19:56,650 Good fun. You'll be going home and trying that. I will be, yeah. 333 00:19:58,350 --> 00:20:03,210 With a make time of around a week plus a three -month casting process, Sarah 334 00:20:03,210 --> 00:20:06,930 sells her large bronze puffins for £2 ,950. 335 00:20:08,790 --> 00:20:12,750 It's fantastic to see that she's scaled up her work as Derek suggested. 336 00:20:13,150 --> 00:20:17,150 And I want to know if any of the other tips we gave her three and a half years 337 00:20:17,150 --> 00:20:19,310 ago have contributed to her success. 338 00:20:20,670 --> 00:20:24,910 When you left the boot camp, we gave you an action plan to try and help you to 339 00:20:24,910 --> 00:20:25,910 build your business. 340 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,480 One of the things was having a look at moulds to try and speed up your work and 341 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:31,680 hope to make things more efficient. 342 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:36,220 Did you try? I did try them, but when they came out of the moulds, they just 343 00:20:36,220 --> 00:20:38,740 felt really fragile and quite lightweight. 344 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,820 So that's why I've stuck with the hand -making. 345 00:20:42,100 --> 00:20:46,140 Yeah, I feel like you're so attached and so you've got such a personal 346 00:20:46,140 --> 00:20:47,380 connection to your work. 347 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,500 By making one from a mould, you... 348 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:54,320 I guess you've lost a bit of that connection. At least now you know. 349 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,060 tried. It's not for you. Move on to the next thing. Exactly. 350 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,600 Another thing was to work on your pricing. 351 00:21:01,660 --> 00:21:05,100 Firstly, pricing your work to sell and then trying to work on increasing it. 352 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,980 With all of that in mind, have you come to a new price for these little 353 00:21:07,980 --> 00:21:09,200 characters now? I have, yes. 354 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:11,960 They're roughly about the £70 mark now. 355 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:13,320 Are they selling well? 356 00:21:13,580 --> 00:21:17,380 They are, yes. They are? Yes. So it sounds like you've found that sweet 357 00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:23,270 Yes. At the boot camp, Sarah's small birds were 20 to 40 pounds, but they're 358 00:21:23,270 --> 00:21:28,290 more refined, and with material and workshop costs of 24 pounds each, she's 359 00:21:28,290 --> 00:21:29,290 raised their price. 360 00:21:29,810 --> 00:21:34,210 She's also spent that time developing and expanding her product range and 361 00:21:34,210 --> 00:21:38,690 investing in equipment like her kilns. And it's time to find out what impact 362 00:21:38,690 --> 00:21:40,330 it's all had on her bank balance. 363 00:21:41,170 --> 00:21:43,190 Come on then, let's talk figures if you don't mind. 364 00:21:43,710 --> 00:21:45,490 How's this year's accounts looking so far? 365 00:21:45,830 --> 00:21:50,670 There's been a lot of investment involved, but I've paid myself £20 ,000 366 00:21:50,670 --> 00:21:51,629 year. 367 00:21:51,630 --> 00:21:52,630 £20 ,000? 368 00:21:52,770 --> 00:21:57,710 Yeah. And that is purely paying you, taking all of the costs and everything 369 00:21:57,710 --> 00:21:59,010 out, that pure profit? 370 00:21:59,290 --> 00:22:04,150 Yep. So that pays my bills and puts food on the table and means I can go on a 371 00:22:04,150 --> 00:22:10,390 holiday. I am so pleased. It's something that I always wanted as a kid, and now 372 00:22:10,390 --> 00:22:13,110 I'm doing it. I am living the dream. 373 00:22:13,660 --> 00:22:16,820 And you know what? It is thanks to the hard work that you've put in. 374 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,940 Clearly very talented, but you've really worked for it. Thank you. Well done. 375 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:21,939 Come here. 376 00:22:21,940 --> 00:22:23,360 Well done. Thank you. 377 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:28,380 Starting a new career from scratch is a daunting prospect. 378 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:34,180 But thanks to a lot of hard work, Sarah now has a successful and rapidly growing 379 00:22:34,180 --> 00:22:36,580 business. When I look back... 380 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:42,880 But how I first started to what I've been doing, sometimes I have to, like, 381 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,220 pinch myself because it's like, did I really do that? 382 00:22:46,460 --> 00:22:49,680 It's been hard work, but it's also been a lot of fun. 383 00:22:54,660 --> 00:22:58,500 The second maker we're catching up with today is Emmy from Devon. 384 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:05,080 In the spring of 2022, she'd recently returned to glassblowing after taking 385 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:06,740 off to focus on being a mum. 386 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:13,160 I used to think of myself as more of an artist in glass, whereas I'd like to 387 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:18,800 build the skill to be a maker as well as an artist. To combine the two, I could 388 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,500 really do with some guidance on where my target audience is and what I'm making. 389 00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:29,580 To help Emmy kick -start her business, I teamed her up with professional 390 00:23:29,580 --> 00:23:31,240 glassblower Alistair Malcolm. 391 00:23:32,740 --> 00:23:36,860 Based in the National Glassblowing Museum in Stourbridge in the West 392 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,840 Alistair sells his pieces in galleries and museums in the UK, Europe and 393 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:42,840 America. 394 00:23:44,980 --> 00:23:49,760 I really think I can help Emmy. She comes across a little bit timid and not 395 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,440 confident. We need to kind of inject a bit of more confidence so that she can, 396 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,600 you know, stand there proud with her shoulders back and just say, here I am. 397 00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:04,180 Like Sarah, I set Emmy free tasks. And for her volume piece, she chose to make 398 00:24:04,180 --> 00:24:05,180 glass pit. 399 00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:10,530 It was something she created in the hot shop and once cooled, cut the top off 400 00:24:10,530 --> 00:24:15,110 with a diamond saw and then polished to create a beautiful ornament, which she 401 00:24:15,110 --> 00:24:16,550 planned to sell for £60. 402 00:24:18,410 --> 00:24:23,030 I'm picking up a little bit of rod colour, which is cobalt blue, and I'm 403 00:24:23,030 --> 00:24:29,110 to go quickly into the furnace to warm it in. 404 00:24:29,450 --> 00:24:33,290 So I want to melt that. So yeah, that's getting nice and molten now. 405 00:24:34,350 --> 00:24:38,470 With Alistair's guidance, Emmy was hoping to launch her own business. 406 00:24:38,790 --> 00:24:43,230 But it wasn't going to be easy after only recently returning to the craft she 407 00:24:43,230 --> 00:24:45,150 loved following an eight -year break. 408 00:24:45,490 --> 00:24:50,570 I had two little girls, Lily and Daisy, really close together, which was a 409 00:24:50,570 --> 00:24:51,570 marvellous plan. 410 00:24:52,190 --> 00:24:59,170 But unfortunately, Daisy got really poorly really quickly and she was 411 00:24:59,170 --> 00:25:00,390 with a mitochondrial disease. 412 00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:04,420 which was a deteriorative disease. 413 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,280 And I had to become a main carer. She became really medically complex. 414 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,960 And in 2019, Daisy passed away. 415 00:25:14,860 --> 00:25:21,860 And, yeah, so then I've been slowly, as a family, we've been building our 416 00:25:21,860 --> 00:25:22,860 life together. 417 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,620 It was so important to get back into glassblowing. 418 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:31,780 To do something for myself, to be able to build a work life again. 419 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,600 I'm going to use the marver just to point it up a little bit. I'm going to 420 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,500 that nice and warm and then I'm going to blow it and thumb it so I get a little 421 00:25:38,500 --> 00:25:39,500 bubble in the middle of it. 422 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:46,040 I'm going to just let that cool down a little bit before I gather over the top 423 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,040 of it. 424 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:53,140 Gathering is the process of collecting molten glass from the furnace on top of 425 00:25:53,140 --> 00:25:54,840 the colour on the end of the blowing iron. 426 00:25:55,770 --> 00:26:00,230 Whilst it was hot, Emmy shaped it and then gathered more molten glass to build 427 00:26:00,230 --> 00:26:01,230 up her pit. 428 00:26:01,450 --> 00:26:04,770 These are good for the speed challenge because I can make them quite quickly. 429 00:26:08,970 --> 00:26:13,850 And they're neat little things that doesn't take a lot of time to make and 430 00:26:13,850 --> 00:26:14,930 it's got a nice shiny rim. 431 00:26:15,870 --> 00:26:16,870 They're just cute. 432 00:26:17,750 --> 00:26:22,370 With Emmy making good progress with her glass pit, I sat down with Alistair to 433 00:26:22,370 --> 00:26:23,810 talk about her high -end item. 434 00:26:24,940 --> 00:26:29,160 She brought along a piece she called Copo, or Knit One, Purl One. 435 00:26:30,060 --> 00:26:34,500 Decorated with a knitted design, which she sandblasted off to leave a delicate 436 00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:38,240 white enamel pattern, it was priced at £225. 437 00:26:39,460 --> 00:26:44,160 It wasn't cheap, but with a three hour plus make time, along with the material 438 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:48,460 and energy costs involved, I was concerned that Emmy wasn't going to be 439 00:26:48,460 --> 00:26:49,580 make any money from it. 440 00:26:50,220 --> 00:26:53,920 If we're going to make a success of this, we really want to make sure that 441 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:59,040 got the prices right because, you know, if she's looking at 225 in a gallery and 442 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,160 then they're going to take a cut, then it's... Not even going to cover her 443 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,200 And at the end of the day, we're trying to set Emmy up to have a successful 444 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,320 business. Absolutely. And she needs to price her work accordingly. 445 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:09,560 Yeah, yeah. 446 00:27:10,780 --> 00:27:14,620 Back in the hot shop, Emmy's glass pip was quickly taking shape. 447 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,380 Blending the bottom out a little bit more than I would usually, so a little 448 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,340 A little bit thinner. But that's just my critical eye. 449 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:25,380 It's always tricky in a new studio, though. You know, things are a little 450 00:27:25,380 --> 00:27:29,240 out of place and temperatures look different, particularly outdoors. 451 00:27:29,660 --> 00:27:32,920 If you're looking at producing these in volume, what sort of palette of colours 452 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,600 do you like to go for? I can see you're not afraid of colour. 453 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,940 Yes. So I love a good rainbow. 454 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:41,480 One from each kind of turn of the colour wheel, should we say. 455 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:48,000 I like having a combination of two different tones of blue, pink, yellow. 456 00:27:49,290 --> 00:27:50,290 Red, green. 457 00:27:50,530 --> 00:27:53,830 Yeah, yeah. Just paper in the bottom to cool the bottom so it doesn't blow out 458 00:27:53,830 --> 00:27:54,910 too much on the bottom end. 459 00:27:56,110 --> 00:27:59,410 And I'm going to neck it in to create a weak point where I can break it off 460 00:27:59,410 --> 00:28:00,410 from. 461 00:28:01,590 --> 00:28:02,590 Using the jack. 462 00:28:02,910 --> 00:28:04,070 I'm going to pull out the point. 463 00:28:04,410 --> 00:28:06,870 I'm going to use my tweezers to create the shape of the pin. 464 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,520 After being cooled in a special annealing oven, Emmy's pips were cut 465 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,000 diamond saw and then polished. 466 00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:28,120 Each one took her around 50 minutes to make and had a price tag of £60. 467 00:28:30,180 --> 00:28:33,380 Emmy, these look absolutely beautiful. I love that you've brought down some 468 00:28:33,380 --> 00:28:36,140 other examples of different potential colours. What do you think, Alistair? 469 00:28:36,860 --> 00:28:40,940 Well, what a brilliant approach to a volume challenge, really. It's perfect. 470 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,640 It's perfect. She's proven that she can produce numerous. 471 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:46,240 in the same style. 472 00:28:46,500 --> 00:28:50,400 There's a very minute variation in shape size, but that's the beauty of a 473 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:51,339 handmade object. 474 00:28:51,340 --> 00:28:55,400 And they're perfectly within, you know, everybody's tolerance levels. You could 475 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:56,880 easily market this as a set. 476 00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:58,620 You know, it's perfect. 477 00:28:58,900 --> 00:29:03,380 Yeah. How about the price point? It's a good price. In terms of protecting you 478 00:29:03,380 --> 00:29:07,720 for the future, it may be that we need to look at those costings and make sure 479 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,660 that we future -proof them a little bit. Get them out there. Get them in 480 00:29:10,660 --> 00:29:11,980 galleries, shops. 481 00:29:12,180 --> 00:29:13,280 I think they'd sell really well. 482 00:29:13,540 --> 00:29:14,540 Thank you. 483 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:20,060 Both Alistair and I were impressed with Emmy's first two items, and for her 484 00:29:20,060 --> 00:29:24,800 third challenge, her favourite piece, she made what she called her Del Mar, or 485 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:26,040 off -the -sea creation. 486 00:29:27,060 --> 00:29:31,480 Inspired by her coastal home in Plymouth, it featured knitted copper 487 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:36,500 representing fishing nets encased between two layers of glass, which were 488 00:29:36,500 --> 00:29:40,480 cooled, cut and polished and priced at £150. 489 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,920 How long does it take you to actually knit the object you're going to pick up? 490 00:29:45,180 --> 00:29:47,080 Half an hour? It's a lovely thing in itself. 491 00:29:50,660 --> 00:29:55,040 So you have to squeeze it on there so the glass sort of bites into the 492 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:56,400 Yeah. 493 00:29:56,940 --> 00:30:00,420 There must have been a lot of trial and error with this to begin with. So what 494 00:30:00,420 --> 00:30:01,420 can go wrong? 495 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:08,320 Large trapped bubbles, the big pockets are there in the glass, where they're 496 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:09,520 quite adhered to the... 497 00:30:09,870 --> 00:30:13,030 to the glass. It's actually melting slightly fast. Just waiting now. 498 00:30:13,330 --> 00:30:14,770 Just waiting for it to cool down. 499 00:30:14,990 --> 00:30:17,170 I don't want to gather over it while it's too hot. It's unstable. 500 00:30:18,130 --> 00:30:23,030 Once it had cooled, Emmy gathered her second layer of molten glass and encased 501 00:30:23,030 --> 00:30:24,530 the knitted copper wire mesh. 502 00:30:26,570 --> 00:30:31,630 After being cut and polished, Emmy's Del Mar piece had a price tag of £150. 503 00:30:32,850 --> 00:30:35,370 I love it. It's certainly a desirable object. 504 00:30:35,570 --> 00:30:38,470 I think really we could do with some exquisite photos. 505 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,100 so that we can kind of then start to showcase what we're doing online. 506 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,580 What about the price point? I think the price could be a little bit higher, 507 00:30:45,660 --> 00:30:49,280 particularly if we're going to be retailing these through a gallery. If 508 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,920 take a cut, we've got to think about how much is left over and whether that's... 509 00:30:53,230 --> 00:30:56,350 something we need to think about increasing the price on them as a 510 00:30:56,550 --> 00:30:58,350 Is that where you think Emmy has the best chance of selling? 511 00:30:58,570 --> 00:31:02,390 You can run around trying to do a lot of retail shows and try and sell direct. 512 00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:06,750 We can attempt to try and set up an online store and retail that way. 513 00:31:07,170 --> 00:31:11,230 But either one of those routes will keep you extremely busy, and so it may be a 514 00:31:11,230 --> 00:31:16,650 good opportunity to sort of delegate some of the retail to galleries. 515 00:31:16,890 --> 00:31:17,890 Yeah, I completely agree. 516 00:31:18,070 --> 00:31:20,850 It's going to free up a little bit of time to spend time with your family. 517 00:31:21,620 --> 00:31:23,000 And get in the workshop. 518 00:31:23,260 --> 00:31:25,940 Absolutely, yeah. Because that's the love, isn't it? That's why you do this. 519 00:31:25,940 --> 00:31:26,779 Absolutely, yeah. 520 00:31:26,780 --> 00:31:31,600 We can maybe look at boxes with branding so that the whole marketing looks like 521 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:32,960 it's a very special package. 522 00:31:33,420 --> 00:31:36,620 You know, I've got ambitions that we're going to be aiming for some very high 523 00:31:36,620 --> 00:31:40,860 -end retailers for you, you know, so that you really do shine. 524 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:48,160 After an eight -year break from glassblowing, Emmy excelled in every 525 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:49,160 she was given. 526 00:31:49,230 --> 00:31:51,710 and it was time for her to build a business from her work. 527 00:31:52,090 --> 00:31:55,990 To help her do that, we gave her an action plan to take back to Devon. 528 00:31:56,790 --> 00:32:01,030 First, she needed to get some top -notch photos taken to show off her work. 529 00:32:01,590 --> 00:32:05,130 Next, we wanted Emmy to get some luxury packaging for her pieces. 530 00:32:06,030 --> 00:32:09,410 Finally, she needed to find some galleries to sell her work in. 531 00:32:12,750 --> 00:32:17,470 For the next two months, Alistair continued to support Emmy as she worked 532 00:32:17,470 --> 00:32:18,550 advice we'd given her. 533 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,040 Starting with sorting out her packaging. 534 00:32:21,780 --> 00:32:24,620 So I just started doing a video and the doorbell rang. 535 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:26,920 And my boxes arrived! 536 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,620 This is my recycled tissue paper. 537 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:34,880 This is pink. 538 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,900 And these are my boxes that I'm going to be wrapping my pics and my Del Mar in. 539 00:32:43,660 --> 00:32:47,000 I got beautiful black. 540 00:32:48,110 --> 00:32:54,250 sturdy gift boxes that are going to have the pink tissue paper inside. 541 00:32:54,650 --> 00:32:59,530 And then I have some logo -branded stickers so you know who it's from. 542 00:33:00,270 --> 00:33:05,170 Having sorted her packaging, Emmy found some galleries to stock her work. She 543 00:33:05,170 --> 00:33:09,370 also took her pieces to a makers' fair, which helped her make a decision about 544 00:33:09,370 --> 00:33:10,430 the shape of her business. 545 00:33:10,990 --> 00:33:11,990 Alistair was right. 546 00:33:12,150 --> 00:33:15,910 It was really hard to find balance with my girls. 547 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:22,220 and my husband to be away for that amount of time on a regular basis. 548 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:28,260 It doesn't make sense when I could be putting my work in a gallery where it 549 00:33:28,260 --> 00:33:34,880 well and those people can do that for me so that I'm not spending lots of time 550 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:35,880 away from home. 551 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,480 In the eight weeks after boot camp, Emmy threw herself into building the 552 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,650 foundations of her business. And when she came back to give us an update... 553 00:33:46,650 --> 00:33:47,850 had encouraging news. 554 00:33:49,190 --> 00:33:52,810 I've sold £1 ,255 worth of my work. 555 00:33:53,070 --> 00:33:54,070 Really? Really. 556 00:33:54,310 --> 00:33:57,590 You should feel really confident about making some more approaches to getting 557 00:33:57,590 --> 00:34:00,490 more galleries, you know, and I can see, for instance, you get yourself in 558 00:34:00,490 --> 00:34:03,410 another ten galleries and all of a sudden you're reporting to Domini, 559 00:34:03,410 --> 00:34:06,470 made £10 ,000 of sales, you know, because you're more than capable. 560 00:34:07,370 --> 00:34:11,050 I love Alistair's optimism and he was spot on about Emmy. 561 00:34:11,630 --> 00:34:16,190 Even after deducting her costs, she'd proven she had what it took to build a 562 00:34:16,190 --> 00:34:17,250 money -making business. 563 00:34:23,510 --> 00:34:28,210 Fast forward three and a half years, and I've asked Alistair to visit her on a 564 00:34:28,210 --> 00:34:32,750 farm on a slightly grey and drizzly day in the Dartmoor National Park in Devon 565 00:34:32,750 --> 00:34:36,429 to find out what she's up to now and how much she's making. 566 00:34:36,790 --> 00:34:39,210 Hi. Hello, lovely to see you again. 567 00:34:39,550 --> 00:34:40,750 Come on in. 568 00:34:41,230 --> 00:34:45,730 This place isn't her usual workshop. It's the home of a pioneering community 569 00:34:45,730 --> 00:34:51,310 project aiming to reuse waste glass by combining cutting -edge technology with 570 00:34:51,310 --> 00:34:52,310 traditional methods. 571 00:34:54,550 --> 00:34:56,090 So tell me about this. 572 00:34:56,350 --> 00:35:01,930 Ian Hankey, master glassmaker locally, is retiring and he's given me this 573 00:35:01,930 --> 00:35:04,770 sustainable glass studio to manage. 574 00:35:05,110 --> 00:35:10,440 Wow. Wow. I mean, I follow Ian, and so I know this is groundbreaking stuff. 575 00:35:10,780 --> 00:35:11,780 Yeah, absolutely. 576 00:35:11,940 --> 00:35:18,840 It's groundbreaking research into melting down waste glass to make it a 577 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:23,320 product. At the moment, it's running on propane, and I'm working in association 578 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:29,780 with the farmer, Andy, to transfer over to methane gas produced by the cows on 579 00:35:29,780 --> 00:35:34,160 the local farm. Wow. So the ultimate goal is to produce carbon -neutral 580 00:35:34,540 --> 00:35:35,540 Yes. 581 00:35:35,820 --> 00:35:40,000 Taking over this established business will provide Amy with an extra income 582 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,860 stream, but I want to know how she's getting on with her own work. 583 00:35:44,860 --> 00:35:47,420 How's your existing business going since boot camp? 584 00:35:47,770 --> 00:35:49,950 It's going really well. It's grown ridiculously. 585 00:35:50,250 --> 00:35:53,170 We've got some nice repeat customers that keep coming back, which is lovely. 586 00:35:53,410 --> 00:35:54,410 It's a real compliment. 587 00:35:54,530 --> 00:35:59,030 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I've got a touring gallery that's done fantastic 588 00:35:59,030 --> 00:36:00,430 me. It's taken my work internationally. 589 00:36:00,790 --> 00:36:05,750 It's taken my work to Singapore, Texas, New York, where I had a sellout show. 590 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,060 Of all the pieces that you produce, which are the best sellers? 591 00:36:09,500 --> 00:36:12,280 So I think my Pips and my Del Mar are the best sellers. 592 00:36:12,660 --> 00:36:16,940 You've made them in the hundreds now, do you think? I think so. Wow, okay. 593 00:36:17,940 --> 00:36:22,820 It's fantastic to hear that Emmy's Pips and Del Mar pieces are selling well and 594 00:36:22,820 --> 00:36:24,280 driving her business forward. 595 00:36:25,180 --> 00:36:30,560 Since I last saw her, she's raised the prices of her Del Mar pieces from £150 596 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,760 £160 plus, depending on size. 597 00:36:34,090 --> 00:36:36,810 And her glass pips from £60 to £80. 598 00:36:37,350 --> 00:36:39,510 She's also developed a new product. 599 00:36:41,210 --> 00:36:45,490 Over this year, I've done a lot of side quests that have led to new ideas, which 600 00:36:45,490 --> 00:36:49,630 have been fantastic. I did fisherman knitting with a project of the local 601 00:36:49,630 --> 00:36:54,550 museum. And I've started knitting sea creatures and encasing them in the 602 00:36:54,690 --> 00:36:58,550 And I'm in the same methods as I've used my Del Mar, but just light development. 603 00:36:58,870 --> 00:36:59,870 Wow. 604 00:37:00,180 --> 00:37:05,860 Emmy sells her new knitted sea creatures for £280 and back at her regular hot 605 00:37:05,860 --> 00:37:09,400 shop half an hour away, she's going to show Alistair how she makes one. 606 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:15,700 Having collected clear glass on a blowing iron, she starts building up the 607 00:37:15,700 --> 00:37:16,700 colour. 608 00:37:17,700 --> 00:37:23,700 I've just put a little bit of shard colour on there and I'm having to use 609 00:37:23,700 --> 00:37:27,540 marver just to smooth it back in, so I've heated it in in the reheating 610 00:37:27,540 --> 00:37:28,540 and I'm just... 611 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:30,480 Moving that colour back in. 612 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:38,080 And getting it to a nice shape because in a moment I'm going to put some trails 613 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:39,920 on it which will look a bit like seaweeds. 614 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,420 Emmy's friend and assistant Holly drizzles on trails of colour. 615 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:48,760 Yeah, go on. If we're quick enough. 616 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:52,580 It's so nice watching other people work. 617 00:37:57,839 --> 00:38:02,180 Next, she puts the piece back into the reheating chamber, then repeats the 618 00:38:02,180 --> 00:38:07,000 process and rolls it over her knitted copper octopus to incorporate it into 619 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:07,979 glass. 620 00:38:07,980 --> 00:38:11,200 Just making sure that all that is stuck on there properly. 621 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,380 Yeah, because we want it to adhere to it. 622 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,280 And I want to kind of even it up a little bit because it does end up 623 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:21,760 As long as I haven't got any massive indents, I shouldn't get any massive 624 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:22,760 bubbles. 625 00:38:22,980 --> 00:38:26,220 I've just got to let that cool down a little bit before I gather over the top 626 00:38:26,220 --> 00:38:27,220 them. 627 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:28,720 I think he's good to go. 628 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:33,960 After collecting more molten glass from the furnace over the top of her knitted 629 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:38,380 octopus, Emmy shapes the piece again and then blows it to make it bigger. 630 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:39,980 Right, now that moves. 631 00:38:41,420 --> 00:38:45,600 It's at this point that this process gets really tricky because the colours 632 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:50,100 all pulling in different directions while the copper's absorbing the heat at 633 00:38:50,100 --> 00:38:51,098 different rates. 634 00:38:51,100 --> 00:38:55,600 So it's quite tricky to then get a nice round object. And as I blow it further 635 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,740 into the piece, the copper distorts the bubble as well. 636 00:38:59,500 --> 00:39:03,260 So I have to go gently to start off with because I don't want to blow too hard 637 00:39:03,260 --> 00:39:08,100 into the end before I'm ready. 638 00:39:08,700 --> 00:39:14,020 To get her piece to the right shape and size, Emmy continually reheats, shapes 639 00:39:14,020 --> 00:39:16,740 and blows it. I see your octopus in there now. 640 00:39:17,100 --> 00:39:18,100 Can you see him? 641 00:39:18,380 --> 00:39:20,120 He looks quite well -faced, actually. 642 00:39:20,780 --> 00:39:21,780 It's not too bad. 643 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:26,180 It does stretch out with the glass, but I don't want to blow it out so far that 644 00:39:26,180 --> 00:39:29,160 it distorts too much because I don't want the wire to start to pull apart. 645 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,700 Once Emmy's happy with the finish, she cracks the neck off with the help of a 646 00:39:34,700 --> 00:39:41,620 diamond saw and heats the end so she can mould and smooth 647 00:39:41,620 --> 00:39:42,960 it into a rounded rim. 648 00:39:43,660 --> 00:39:44,660 There you go. 649 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:45,840 Yeah, I love it. 650 00:39:46,220 --> 00:39:49,760 I love the fact that you've pushed your glassmaking skills as well as developing 651 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:54,000 a new concept, so it seems like the right way forward. 652 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:59,440 To finish, Emmy knocks the piece off the rod and leaves it to cool in an 653 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,160 annealing oven for a few days before polishing it. 654 00:40:03,300 --> 00:40:09,100 With material and hot shop costs of just under £135 and a make time of around 655 00:40:09,100 --> 00:40:13,240 four hours, the knitted sea creature is priced at £280. 656 00:40:15,650 --> 00:40:20,670 It's clear Emmy has come a long way since we last saw her. And in addition 657 00:40:20,670 --> 00:40:24,710 sorting out her packaging, I'm keen to know what role the advice we gave her 658 00:40:24,710 --> 00:40:26,890 three and a half years ago has played in that. 659 00:40:27,670 --> 00:40:31,890 Emmy, when you came to boot camp, we gave you an action plan. One of the 660 00:40:31,890 --> 00:40:35,050 we asked you to do was to get some professional photographs done, and I 661 00:40:35,050 --> 00:40:36,650 did that, but did you find that useful? 662 00:40:37,330 --> 00:40:41,790 I think they were fundamental, really, to my success, and I think having 663 00:40:41,790 --> 00:40:46,180 those... Photos on my website really made a difference to my marketing. 664 00:40:46,460 --> 00:40:51,320 Another thing we wanted you to do was to contact some galleries and retailers so 665 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:55,340 that they could represent you, allowing you to get on with the creative stuff 666 00:40:55,340 --> 00:40:57,580 and free up your time. Did that work out OK as well? 667 00:40:57,920 --> 00:40:59,320 Yeah, it went really well, actually. 668 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:03,340 You know, it's fantastic having those galleries representing you because 669 00:41:03,340 --> 00:41:07,000 who wouldn't necessarily see your work go to those galleries. 670 00:41:07,300 --> 00:41:11,140 It's fantastic to have that money coming in on a regular basis. 671 00:41:12,090 --> 00:41:16,090 Emmy couldn't have worked any harder over the past three and a half years 672 00:41:16,090 --> 00:41:18,830 building her business and taking on a second one. 673 00:41:19,350 --> 00:41:21,770 But what does it all mean for her bottom line? 674 00:41:22,250 --> 00:41:27,890 I know we were aiming to turn a passion into a sustainable business, but are you 675 00:41:27,890 --> 00:41:30,650 actually making enough money to survive as a glass artist? 676 00:41:31,030 --> 00:41:35,590 So I'm definitely able to make a living. I earn about £25 ,000 a year. 677 00:41:35,890 --> 00:41:40,770 I know that this process had the ability to give you a leg up and you just 678 00:41:40,770 --> 00:41:41,770 needed that. 679 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:48,420 uh that help so to hear that this process has elevated you to the point 680 00:41:48,420 --> 00:41:53,960 you're selling at that level it's just magic to my ears prior to boot camp i 681 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:59,460 selling in a few places and glass was just about paying for glass and the boot 682 00:41:59,460 --> 00:42:05,430 camp made the world a difference to to my business Every maker dreams of being 683 00:42:05,430 --> 00:42:11,450 able to sell their work, but to make an income of £25 ,000 a year after cost is 684 00:42:11,450 --> 00:42:12,450 life -changing. 685 00:42:12,610 --> 00:42:17,250 And with a new second business on top, things are only going to get bigger and 686 00:42:17,250 --> 00:42:18,250 better for Emmy. 687 00:42:18,710 --> 00:42:23,330 The past three and a half years have been wonderfully overwhelming and just 688 00:42:23,330 --> 00:42:28,110 beyond what I thought I could achieve. Now I have an established business and 689 00:42:28,110 --> 00:42:32,390 I'm making money doing something that I love and want to continue doing forever. 690 00:42:33,390 --> 00:42:37,710 When they came to my boot camp, both Emmy and Sarah weren't selling their 691 00:42:37,710 --> 00:42:43,550 pieces. Thanks to a few key suggestions and an awful lot of hard work, they've 692 00:42:43,550 --> 00:42:47,710 now got brilliant growing businesses and very bright futures indeed. 693 00:42:50,450 --> 00:42:52,050 Inspired by I Made It at Market? 694 00:42:52,290 --> 00:42:56,750 Go behind the scenes with The Open University to discover bonus interviews 695 00:42:56,750 --> 00:43:01,090 exploring new insights into how makers have sustained and grown their 696 00:43:01,090 --> 00:43:02,090 businesses. 697 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:08,900 Scan the QR code on screen or go to connect .open .ac .uk forward slash 698 00:43:08,900 --> 00:43:10,320 I made it at market.