Local potter finds niche in corporate gift giving

by Carrie Groves

SBJ Contributing Writer

For more than a decade, potter Judy Hirsch Ulam of Springfield has been selling her wares at street shows and to shops and galleries in the Midwest. Customers often purchased her richly colored, handmade items to give as gifts, and that set her to thinking.

The mugs and vases, customers told her, often ended up on people's desks at work. Tired of the long road trips and the heavy labor of lugging boxes of pottery and display materials from art show to art show, Judy began to consider selling directly to businesses and business owners, people who often need to present gifts to employees or other businesses.

As she explored the idea, Hirsch Ulam discovered that many businesspeople don't have the time to shop for gifts, or need to shop before or after traditional business hours. Because she works from her studio rather than a retail shop, she can accommodate the odd hours, and sees customers by appointment at their convenience.

Showing from her studio offers advantages for her, as well.

"I'm spending more time in my studio now that I'm off the selling circuit," she said, "and that means I have time to explore new ideas and experiment with new forms and glazes. I don't have to wait for a convenient time to start something that intrigues me. My work can stay fresh. And when customers come, I find that there's something about visiting in a potter's studio that quickly breaks through the business formalities and lets you create a casual space for discussion."

She added, "I've met so many analytical business minds who clearly had an artistic side. When they don't have the time to express that part of themselves, I hope they can find a piece of my work that expresses it for them."

Giving a handmade gift, Hirsch Ulam said, expresses a level of warmth and personal involvement that a commercial item from a retail store might not convey, adding that displaying and using handmade items helps to humanize the workspace.

Her husband, who keeps one of her teapot sets on his desk at work, has said it's one of the first things his clients notice when they enter his office and it helps eliminate the sterility of the office environment.

"It helps make people feel more comfortable when they are in the presence of objects so clearly formed by another human hand," Hirsch Ulam said.

Hirsch Ulam offers a line of mugs, teapot sets, serving platters, vases and bowls for her business clientele. A coffee set is in the planning stages. The product line changes periodically, as do glaze colors and applications. Twice a year the potter holds an open house in her studio to display her latest work.

She said she finds this to be a very satisfactory way to serve her customers, adding that there are not yet enough venues in Springfield where crafts lovers can readily find handmade work.

Hirsch Ulam is a member of the Business Builders Breakfast Club, which meets Thursday mornings at the Gallery Bistro. The club is a business networking group whose members use each other's services and help promote each other to the community.

She said she hopes to develop a long-lasting relationship with the members of the group and said she believes presenting herself as a businesswoman will encourage other business people to purchase handmade gifts for giving.

"Just as it's good for a community to patronize local merchants, I believe that it's important for the local business community to support regional artists and craftsmen, " she said.