2024 will hold a few firsts!
The first year of employing w-2 workers for an entire year. My first year applying systems and structures learned in Holly Howard’s Business Growth for Creative Entrepreneurs class (I could could GUSH about her class). My first year implementing a work from home day (so I can keep those systems and structures in place). This all amounts to a need to create and keep boundaries around certain parts of my personal and professional life. As biz has grown and I've added some beautiful humans to the studio, I find myself managing and administrating a LOT more. So taking time and space for this kind of work to happen makes more time and space for the magic, the creative time, the thing that truly moves it all forward.
This year will be full with commissions, too!
There are some exciting projects ahead! Some I can speak of, some I cannot! Well, not yet. One thing I can tell you is that there has been a lot of problem solving and a bit of engineering to make a few parts fit into place and that is fun and hard and exciting! If you’re not familiar with my commission work, take a look here. Commissions are projects initiated by my clients - homeowners, interior designers, non-profits, and art consultants. Often I am inventing an entire new work of the client, based on the needs of the space, the theme, and the project budget. The image above represents my process of whittling down a color pallet for a client. A lot of drafts and planning go into these artworks before they are in production. Sometimes an existing work sells to a client, but often this is new work that is getting made. I love sharing photos in the studio. Oftentimes, I don’t see these projects in person! Wild, right??
We’re doing a pottery refresh all year!
We made some moves to freshen our offerings last year and we’re going to keep that momentum going!! Last year we introduced the Juniper collection, our always available and ready to ship collection of your favorite pots in your favorite colors. We’re going to weed out a few pieces to make room for some new pots for you to love! These pots will be available in your favorite color pallet too. Watch for seasonal drops featuring new styles and colors throughout the year, starting next month! Want to make sure you’re caught up on our latest offerings? Join our newsletter for the latest news.
Finally, we’re exciting to announce an Open Loop initiative coming soon!
If you know me and my biz, then you know I take every chance I get to make my business more sustainable and less impactful on the planet. We use all non-plastic packaging materials, we use multiple rinse buckets to wash less raw material down the sink, and started a recycling initiative to get more stuff recycled from our studio. This year, we have in the works an exciting project that incorporates the concept of Open Loop recycling to transform our clay waste. I can’t say much yet, but the molds are being cast right now! Watch for more news on this coming as soon as possible!
While I’m sure there’s more to say, I’ll leave it at that for the moment. Now it’s time to get started. Happy 2024!
xo,
Lauren and the beautiful humans at Lauren HB Studio