I was software developer in a past life. Working with virtual things for so many years I lost the connection between the work and product. The first ceramics course I took was a revelation, making tangible things with my hands. The first object was a glass. It was ugly as ..., one week later I was drinking wine with my ugliness.
It was not the best wine I drank nor the best glass to drink with but using something that I created in my hand was sooo good. I don’t have to tell you. You all know the feeling. So my ceramics journey began nearly 6 years ago.
And I was hooked to making things with ceramics.
As most of us I did not have a personal studio for a long time. Studio came way later :) I spent many years trying to feed my hunger for information through courses and books. I wanted to learn and learn. But learning new things have an awful side effect. When you learn anything new you want to try it and see for yourself. My experimental mind soon became a problem in group classes. I was desperately in need of a studio of my own.
At last I pulled the triger. It was a bliss to have my studio. I was able to create to my heart’s desire. Cups, mugs, decorative objects every day was a new exploration. I tried all the techniques I heard of or watched on Youtube. After hundreds of trials and a lot of perspiration, more and more people begin to show interest in my creations. And one day I got my first big(ish) order.
It was hell and heaven all wrapped into one. I loved making ceramic ware but it was too very stressful. I had to discard one kiln load of plates because glaze ran and fused to my shelves. Later I learned the company changed the glaze formula. Live and learn :).
At the end I was able to deliver the order. But just and it took years of my life.
This experience thought me that I had to be able to control most of the production steps. So I delved into glaze mixing, mold making, etc.
Being a maker in heart I filled my studio with tools a small contraptions. Every new addition made my process more streamlined everything I learned made me more curious. Day after day my productivity rose and rose.
Until one day I was not able to keep up with daily chores, production steps, glaze tests, kiln firings, etc.
My table was filled with production charts, glaze recipes, glaze tests, receipts, and another million things. As an army of things, I had to do in a day begin to seem overwhelming. Doing things was not the problem. I loved making ceramics, testing new glazes, making molds for impossible forms. Keeping a well-oiled schedule and keeping all the information in one place was becoming the main problem.
During the day I spent quite amount of time for searching pieces of information. I could not keep track of which glaze recipes were successful and what additional steps I should take. I did know for sure when I will be able to fulfill the batch production run.
I did not know if I was going in line with production or I was late. Attending to fairs and setting up boots takes a major programming.
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Even though I work twice as much I always thought I might have forgotten something that will bite me later.
Not knowing was a constant stress and I could not take it anymore. It was obvious that I need a solution and fast.
Since I am good with computers I have created many excel sheets, reports. But having many things was not a solution. I also wanted to be able to access the information over the internet so that I could make decisions when I was not at the studio.
Enters studioPractice. I created this web site:
Web site is not complete at all, But helped me tons till now. I hope to complete missing parts asap.
Happy days and make lots of beautiful ceramic.:)
Tolga Öçal
