Why Buy Handmade?

“The Value of Buying Handmade vs Mass Produced products is known to those who value the creative spirit and support the artisan, the craftsman, the entrepreneurs providing quality over quantity.”

-J. Sterling

When you make a piece of art, you leave a part of yourself in it. An artist takes a certain amount of pride in something they have made from start to finish. For me, I take a chunk of clay and turn it into an object that people can use on an every day basis (sometimes non-functional pieces as well). Handmade objects are so much more personal than something from a corporate store. Yes, maybe ceramic dinnerware at a corporate store (Target, Walmart, etc) is cheaper, but no two handmade items are exactly the same and there’s a significant value to that. Every handmade item you purchase is one-of-a-kind. Variations in color, glaze, texture, form, size, grain, etc occur in every individual piece. That’s the heart of handmade art.

To those with Type A personalities—you know who you are. If you prefer every dish to be precisely the same size, guess what? There are actually potters who share your tenacity towards order and cleanliness, too!

Small, locally owned businesses have an eye for detail and a desire to improve on what they make. If something does not pass the owner’s approval, it often wont be sold; which means you’re getting the best for what you are paying for!

Handmade is green! It takes less energy than a mass production assembly line.

Technology is making it possible to replace skilled workers with machines so it’s important support a tradition of skilled work.

I continue to hope that more and more people are willing to be educated about the value of an item that is made by hand.