Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Ball.
Hi Ryan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I began my art education at Louisiana Tech University (I am from Baton Rouge, LA). I earned a BFA in photography and a minor in Ceramics. After graduating, I moved to the Twin Cities and worked on and off at 2 different pottery production companies while always making and selling my own work at art fairs and local galleries. I finally went full time on my own business in 2020, and began collaborating with my fiancée Alana Hawley, in another business we named Portray Clay. Together, we produce custom commemorative pots with photorealistic portraits painted and fired on the pottery. I make the forms and Alana hand paints the portraits based on photos from customers.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life as a potter is guaranteed to be challenging. The very nature of clay is to be fickle and ever changing. With that said, I enjoy creative problem solving. I am a very process-focused maker and so I constantly make my own tools and tweak and refine my glaze chemistry. As they say, “necessity is the mother of invention” and I regularly need to find new ways to do things faster and cheaper along with ways to keep my body from getting too beat up. Making pottery is very physical.
The biggest struggle is finding a balance in what pottery to make when, and where/how to sell it to have steady income. What I mean is that the demand is very seasonal. Art fairs only happen half of the year when and if the weather is good. Gallery proceeds are intermittent as well. Then there is a frenzied rush during the holiday season followed by a few months of the painfully slow winter where I encourage my wholesale customers to place orders and try to bolster my inventory for the busy month parts of the year.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I have a lot of pottery production experience. That means I am comfortable making matching sets, custom orders for pieces with specific size requirements, and large quantities. What I love about the potter community is that I get a large number of referrals from other potters and sometimes even help other potters in their studios as well.
I am proud to be a several time Pottery Olympics Champion at the Minnesota Pottery Festival, my favorite art fair of the year in Hutchinson, MN
I offer a range of pottery from mugs for everyday use to large scale, luxury birdbaths for the garden. I take on custom and wholesale orders and sell in many local galleries, listed on my website, Ryanballpottery.com which has links to my social media as well.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The ability to be able to step back and see a project or piece objectively is critical. Most pots I make need to be easily reproduced so the process is just as important as the end product. If the process is too time intensive or uncomfortable, it must be simplified to be sustainable. Put simply, I need to enjoy how I make something to feel good about the object itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Ryanballpottery.com
- Instagram: RyanBallPottery
- Facebook: Ryan Ball Pottery
