I’ve done PLENTY of markets in my time but to have been accepted into The Hepworth Wakefield’s Ceramics Fair, with the reputation it has and the “record number of applicants”, it felt WILD to me that I’d made it into their top 70 potters. And not in an imposter syndrome or ‘wow I’m so lucky’ kind of way, more in a googling ‘what is it called when it’s imposter syndrome but you’re actually shit’ kind of way.
I barely even posted about it in the lead up to the event because I just thought I’ll wait just in case they realise they’ve made a mistake.
I suppose I’ve always been a bit cheeky like that, ‘you don’t ask you don’t get’ sort of attitude! The worst they can say is no – to me applying for a ceramics fair with something that isn’t allowed to be called ceramic... But they didn’t say no, and that’s where the panic started to set in.
I don’t know how many times I checked the wording of my application to check I hadn’t misled anyone and that they definitely knew it wasn’t ceramic – this only got worse on the day I arrived and walked around to find out that I was seemingly the only person there not creating high art mugs and vases. Stunning works that people had poured hours into and put their creative stamps on. I was so impressed.
I was struck by the immense talent of the people in the room, and by that point I had simply accepted that I was there and that I didn’t have time to feel worried about not being good enough because I had a table to set up. I got chatting to my stall neighbours, as I always do. Having a little giggle and offering a hand with the heavy bits. I settled into myself and realised that even if I wasn’t meant to be there, I was going to have a nice weekend regardless.
I was blown away by the people I met this weekend, and the conversations I had with my customers. I love getting to chat about nonsense all day:
I learned from one customer that there’s an International Crisp Festival in Huddersfield which I will DEFINITELY be going to, I chatted to someone else about the engineering of Scampi Fries and how they came to be. I debated about favourite butter brands (of course I was backing the only acceptable answer: Kerrygold), I heard hilarious anecdotes and heartbreaking stories. I saw beautiful displays of friendship. I watched mums and daughters squabble over my last strawberry charm.
I (foolishly) thought the event would be a bit snooty, and that people would look down on my work because it’s not technically ceramic. I use the skills I’ve learned in some ceramics classes (thanks Suzette!!!) but I work with air dry clay as it gives me more flexibility and I can get more precision from acrylic paint than a ceramic glaze. I’m really proud that I was able to offer something a little different and show some different ways of working with clay. But my work has always been air dry clay. I couldn’t have been more wrong about my assumptions and I’m glad of it!
The constant queue around my charms all weekend was testament to the fact that I was meant to be there - all of you wonderful customers were meant to find me this weekend and I belonged in that room. I’ll have to keep reminding myself of that for a while I think.
I was blown away by the people I’ve met and the conversations I’ve had this weekend. The traders were as kind and wonderful as they were talented (shout out to my fabulous stall neighbour Becca Brown). The customers were just incredible and really just understood me. I feel seen in ways I could not have imagined.
Thank you to The Hepworth for having me! I couldn’t be more grateful.