2011-2012 was another wet season, with almost no need for hand watering. The garden thrived and I used newspaper, and mulch to lay out new beds and planted another ten roses. We had two further floods, with mop up work alleviated by allowing the grass to grow over the gravel carpark. There is now more to mow, but I don’t have to spend days carting wheel-barrow loads of gravel back up the hill again after heavy rain.
Visitor numbers were equivalent to last season, setting a likely pattern for future years, with many familiar faces paying repeat visits and bringing or sending their friends. Potters who visited us this year included Marianne Cole, Chris Cremer, Ralph Jeffress and Maisie Perez. A class of art students from Bega High School spent an educational morning with us. Sales through the online shop continued to grow and our Facebook page came into its own as a way of communicating with customers and fans.
The exhibition proved to be a winner, with crystalline glazes being the most popular when it came to sales. David and I got enormous pleasure from the wood-fired pieces in the foyer as we passed to and fro each day. A giant Stewart Scambler bottle that had spent several years with my sister in Perth before we dropped it off at Pack and Send for the trip East ended up being bought through the online shop and making the trip back to Perth again – perhaps one of my most difficult wrapping challenges to date.
Again, we spent more this year on buying new work than we made in sales. Our accountant looked at us with sad eyes as he handed over the company tax return for us to sign. It is true that we will never be rich and famous but what a good life we lead, and what beautiful things pass through our hands!
Nice wrap-up Judith … would love to see more photos of the property! Will get to visit one day, when life is a little freer and we can just hit the road when we would like to. (I’m assuming this will happen one day).
Love that you bought more than you sold … collectors at heart.