Sawdust and Clay

08/31/2026

If you were planning to preorder your pumpkin, this is your last chance! Pumpkin presale ends 9/1. Head on over to sawdustandclay.com before they are all gone!

08/27/2026

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

When the parts of your creative business that used to work…don’t seem to be working the same way anymore, what do you do next?

I have some thoughts.

The next issue of Studio Builder goes out tomorrow.

Studio Builder is my biweekly journal about the real-life lessons of building a sustainable creative business.

Subscribe free at the Studio Builder link in my bio. Artists deserve to thrive.

08/26/2026

When something that used to work stops working, doing something can feel a whole lot better than doing nothing.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.

Issue No. 3 of Studio Builder goes out Friday.

Link in bio

08/24/2026

They’re back—just in time for fall.
Our handmade ceramic pumpkin presale is officially open! Choose your favorite color, and we’ll create a one-of-a-kind pumpkin just for you. Each one is individually shaped and glazed, so no two will ever be exactly alike.
Presale closes September 1, and quantities are limited. Orders will ship September 15–25, with local pickup available in Holly Springs.
Shop the full collection at sawdustandclay.com.

08/13/2026

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I would tell a maker who is still working completely alone but hopes to grow beyond themselves someday.

Because when we first started hiring, I think we assumed adding people would solve a capacity problem.

And it did.

But there was something we hadn’t really considered yet:

Adding people doesn’t automatically create structure.

When it was just us, we could get away with figuring things out as we went. Once other people were depending on us, that became a lot harder to do.

We’ve learned a lot since then—sometimes by getting it right and plenty of times by figuring it out as we went.

And looking back, I think there are things we could have started doing long before we were ready to hire that would have better prepared both the business and us for the team we eventually built.

That’s what I’m digging into in Issue No. 2 of the Studio Builder Journal.

It goes out Friday at noon.

Comment BUILD and I’ll send you the link to join us.

Remember… Artists deserve to thrive.

08/10/2026

Mug Shot Monday — custom edition.
If custom branded mugs are on your holiday wish list, now is the time to get them on our production calendar.
These aren’t mugs with a logo slapped on them. Each one is handmade in our studio and designed to feel like an extension of your brand — from the clay and glaze to the shape, handle, and custom medallion or resist.
They make pretty incredible client gifts, employee gifts, merch, and retail pieces… and they’re the kind of thing people actually keep using long after the holidays are over.
Our holiday production schedule is filling up, so if you’ve been thinking about a custom mug order, send us a message and let’s start designing yours.
Because your logo deserves better than another water bottle.

08/07/2026

There are days when sitting at my desk still feels like I’m not working.

I can spend hours planning production, reviewing orders, working on marketing, or scheduling our team—and look into the studio at the end of the day and think, But what did I actually make?

That’s a hard feeling to shake when you’ve built a career around making things with your hands.

But I’m learning to measure productivity differently.

Sometimes the most valuable thing I can make isn’t a mug.

It’s a plan that keeps six people productive.

It’s enough space in our production calendar to say yes to an opportunity.

It’s a marketing campaign that fills that calendar.

It’s a system that keeps an order moving even when I’m not the one touching it.

I’m still a potter.

But building a sustainable creative business has required me to expand my definition of what my work actually is.

And some days, the work looks a lot more like a laptop than a pottery wheel.

Studio Builder is where I’m documenting what we’re learning along the way. If you’re building a creative business of your own, you can join the Journal through the link in my bio.

Remember…

Artists deserve to thrive.

07/31/2026