Things have had a big shake up here at Wren Pottery HQ. I made the very big decision to leave my shared studio space at the end of November 2025. The main reason for this move was to reduce my outgoings and minimise my anxiety...
As you probably know, I'm a part time potter, I have a job five days a week at a local charity which is balanced alongside a young family. Plus I try to make time to see friends and family, be that locally or in other parts of the South West. The anxiety of not spending enough time in the studio was always hanging over me, it was a mix of not making the most of my money spent on rent, but also just wanting to be in there, potting. Then on a weekend when I would get in there, I would really enjoy it, but soon crave to be back home with my kids and husband. I just always found it really tricky to balance life.
The problem with leaving a studio space is then trying to fit all of your potting stuff into your house... luckily I have a very supportive husband and we realised that our small conservatory could fit everything in, we just needed to reorganise it. Some of my potting stuff was already in here as I already kept all of my finished pots, market supplies and postage supplies, so I just had to find space for my glazes, tools, clay, pots in progress aaaaaannnnnd my wheel!
The new space is working well for now, I've even had a new year rejiggle as in November/December it was just a case of cramming everything in. But now I have a proper set up with space to walk and put in progress pots, alongside all of my equipment. I'll share some snaps of the space on Instagram soon. The problem I have is when summer comes, the conservatory will be too hot. So that's a problem whirling around in my head at the moment.
There are obviously pros and cons to my big move:
Pros -
solo potting - I love chatting to my studio buddies but when I'm making, I find it really hard to concentrate if I'm not on my own!
cheaper - no rent to pay
always accessible - I can check on my drying pots any time, day or night by just walking out of the kitchen, game changer
Cons -
less space - the old studio was huge with a massive workbench in the centre of the room and tons of shelves to dry pots on
no pottery friends - it was always lush to catch up with the other potters in the studio and get advice/talk about recent wins/failures/life going-ons, but I just need to make some effort to keep these connections going out of the studio
more moving of pots - I don't have a kiln so there will be more packaging up and driving my pots to get them fired, not ideal, particularly with greenware (un-fired pots)
Time will tell if I've made the right decision or not, and things might change in my life and I may decide to go back but for now, this feels right. Not having the concern over spending enough time in the studio hanging over my head has been amazing.
Would love to hear if you've made any big life/business changes in recent months and how you're finding them so far.
Tracey x