Emerging Makers: Market Ready Course - Image 2

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Emerging Makers: Market Ready Course

$1,140.00

Take your ceramics from studio practice to a confident, market-ready offering.

Led by Sue Cant and Josephine Townsend, this course is designed to support early-career ceramic artists ready to take the next step in successfully making and selling production pottery. Covering branding, photography, pricing structures, market applications and sales skills, this course also offers invaluable networking opportunities and connection with a community of aspiring makers.

This in-depth course aims to develop a cohesive body of work, refine an artistic voice, and build the practical skills needed to present and sell work professionally.

Date:	Saturday 11 July 2026
Time:	Weekend intensive and weekly sessions - see description for full details
Teacher(s):	Sue Cant & Josephine Townsend
Location:	Workshop 1 (weekend intensive) & Workshop 2 (weekly sessions)

9 SPOTS LEFT

Description

Moving from making for yourself to making for a market requires more than good pots. It calls for clarity of direction, consistency of output, and the ability to communicate your work with confidence.

This comprehensive program, led by Sue Cant and Josephine Townsend, is designed to support early-career ceramic artists ready to take the next step in successfully making and selling production pottery. Combining creative development with practical business skills, the course provides a structured and supportive framework to help you build a sustainable and professional practice.

The program begins with a two-day intensive, followed by six in-depth sessions delivered across ten weeks. Together, these components allow time for reflection, making, testing and refinement, ensuring your ideas are not only developed but embedded.

Throughout the course you will:

Develop a cohesive and commercially viable product range

Clarify your artistic identity and market position

Learn to price your work sustainably and confidently

Produce professional-quality images of your work

Build a clear and achievable marketing strategy

Prepare and refine a competitive market application

Gain confidence in presenting and selling your work

You will be supported through peer critique, practical exercises and real-world case studies, with both tutors bringing complementary strengths across making, exhibiting, retail practice and mentoring.

Phase 1: Weekend Intensive (10 hours)

11 July – Day 1: Creative Direction & Positioning
Focus on defining your artistic voice and understanding your audience. You will explore how to develop a cohesive range, identify key products, and establish clear professional goals for the year ahead.

12 July – Day 2: Business Foundations
Build the practical framework that underpins a sustainable practice. Topics include pricing, branding, writing about your work, marketing fundamentals, and assessing your readiness for market participation.

Phase 2: Fortnightly Thursday evening Studio Sessions (6 x 3 hours)

23 July – Session 1: Refining the Range
Peer critique and practical feedback to strengthen your product line and production approach.

6 August – Session 2: Professional Photography & Visual Identity
Learn how to document your work clearly and consistently, developing a strong visual language.

20 August – Session 3: Writing & Market Applications
Prepare your artist statement, bio and application materials with clarity and professionalism.

3 September – Session 4: Financial Review & Profitability
Revisit pricing and cost structures to ensure long-term sustainability.

17 September – Session 5: Marketing Implementation
Develop a tailored marketing plan, including content and promotion strategies.

1 October – Session 6: Market Simulation & Sales Skills
Test your presentation in a simulated market environment, building confidence in selling and customer engagement.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will have:

A cohesive, production-ready body of work

A sustainable pricing structure

A refined artist statement and professional bio

High-quality images of your work

A completed market application

A clear marketing and content plan

A considered stall display approach

A 12-month professional development strategy

Participants will be supported to apply to a market of their choice, with guidance from tutors.

What Past Participants Say

“I found this course extremely valuable… Sue and Jo have vast experience and knowledge to impart, and were always on hand to answer questions and give advice.”

“So much more than just getting ready for a market… an essential learning experience that provides a framework for building your pottery business into something more than just a hobby.”

“Both Sue and Jo were extremely generous with their time… giving lots of encouragement and basically holding our hands all the way.”

Facilitator Bios:

Josephine Townsend is a ceramic artist working from her home studio in Canberra. She has a busy retail practice, with a number of stockists in and around Canberra, regular markets, and sales from her studio. She also exhibits regularly, enabling her to explore more complex ideas, forms and surface designs, such as her coloured inlaid porcelain (nerikomi) work. Her nerikomi work is all about colour, pattern and expressing the precious qualities of porcelain; the delicacy, the luminous translucence and the pure colour response.

 Josephine is an active member of the Canberra ceramics community. She teaches term classes and workshops at Canberra Potters, and other as well as supporting new makers, through market ready courses and mentoring.

 She has been working with clay since the late nineties. Her full time art practice began in 2016, after finishing careers in teaching and the public service. 

Sue Cant is a Canberra-based ceramic artist, educator and mentor with a strong track record of supporting makers to move from ‘making for self’ to making (and selling) with confidence. She has led and taught across Canberra Potters’ education program for over eight years. Sue brings a practical, studio-grounded approach shaped by years of teaching, exhibiting, and professional development work. With a background in tertiary education and arts management, and as co-author of Small Fry: Play (ABC Books/HarperCollins), Sue understands how to structure learning so that creative practitioners gain not just inspiration, but clear, achievable next steps.

Alongside her ceramics expertise, Sue brings strong digital media marketing and photography skills, helping artists present their work professionally and coherently. She supports makers to develop websites and social media profiles, refine their personal branding, and build a consistent visual language across markets and online platforms. From pricing and product storytelling to stall design, imagery and audience engagement, Sue mentors artists to align their creative voice with a confident public presence so they leave with a coherent body of work and a viable plan to take it successfully to market.

Notes: This course is designed for early-career ceramic artists who are committed to developing a professional practice and are ready to engage seriously with the process of making and selling their work.

Participants should have an established making practice and be willing to complete work between sessions.

Course Syllabus

CANBERRA POTTERS
Emerging Makers: Market Ready Program Syllabus

Format: 1 x Weekend Intensive (10 hours/2 days of 5 hours) + 6 x Three-Hour Sessions

Duration: 12 Weeks

Level: Early-career ceramic artists committed to professional practice development

Outcome: Participants complete the program market-ready, and are supported to apply to a market of their choice

Program Overview

The Emerging Makers: Market Readiness Program equips ceramic artists and potters with the creative, professional and business foundations required to develop a sustainable practice. The program focuses on building capability rather than simply preparing for a single event.

Develop a cohesive and commercially viable product range
Price work sustainably and confidently
Articulate a clear artistic identity
Produce professional documentation and imagery
Develop and implement a marketing strategy
Prepare and submit a competitive market application
Present and sell work professionally

Learning Objectives

Define a clear artistic identity, brand and market position
Identify and understand target customers
Develop a cohesive and production-ready product range
Price work using sustainable cost and profit structures
Produce a refined artist statement and professional bio
Learn the skills to create professional-quality product images
Develop a individual marketing plan to meet your goals
Assemble a complete and competitive market application
Demonstrate effective stall presentation and sales skills
Establish a 12-month professional development plan

Course Structure

Phase 1: Weekend Intensive (10 Hours over two days)

Day 1 – Creative Direction & Positioning

Artistic Identity & Purpose: Defining values, influences and positioning
Understanding Your Customer: Demographics, motivations, product evolution and buying behaviour
Range Development: Cohesion, hero products, entry and anchor price points
Professional Goal Setting: 12-month growth planning

Day 2 – Business Foundations

Pricing for Sustainability: Materials, labour, overheads and profit margins
Branding & Artist Statement: Writing clearly and professionally
Marketing Fundamentals: Customer journey and content planning
Market Readiness Audit: Presentation, payment systems, packaging and insurance awareness

Phase 2: Six Three-Hour Sessions (Delivered Over 10 Weeks)

Session 1 – Refining the Range: Peer critique and production planning

Session 2 – Professional Photography & Visual Identity

Session 3 – Writing & Market Applications: Application pack preparation

Session 4 – Financial Review & Profitability

Session 5 – Marketing Implementation: Promotional and content calendar development

Session 6 – Market Simulation & Sales Skills

Participant Expectations

Attend all sessions
Complete assigned tasks between sessions
Present work for peer critique
Submit final market application draft (simulated or actual)
Demonstrate readiness through market simulation
Participate in group What’s App and ongoing mentoring sessions with tutors

Final Deliverables

Cohesive, production-ready ceramic range
Sustainable pricing structure established
Refined artist statement and bio
Professional product imagery
Completed market application
Marketing plan, content and promotional calendar
Stall display plan
12-month professional development strategy

Terms & Conditions

Refund Policy – Classes & Short Courses:

Class fees will be refunded, less a 10% admin fee, if cancellation is notified more than 10 business days before the first class date.
If less than 10 business days’ notice is given then a refund, less 10%, will only be given if the place can be taken by another student otherwise the full fee is forfeited.
Please view your booking as a commitment to attend.
Classes cannot be transferred from one term to another or one year to another.
If a class is cancelled due to lack of enrolments, 100% of your class fee will be refunded.
All changes to bookings and refunds incur a 10% administration fee.
Canberra Potters will not issue refunds for missed classes or missed emails. Please ensure you have saved the following Canberra Potters emails to your contact list.
Canberra Potters is a teaching facility and students attend our classes to learn about pottery. Imperfect, broken and cracked items are part of the learning process. We do not provide refunds for work that cracks or breaks while drying, during firing or in general class activities.