Ceri White
Ceri White is a ceramic artist and member of Perthshire Artisans. She now works out of WASPS Creative Exchange in Perth.
Getting Started
Ceri’s self-employment journey began when the tile-making studio she was working at closed, prompting her to start out on her own: “In two weeks I had bought the equipment, taken over the studio lease and was off making decorative tiles of my own without a pause for reflection,” she says.
The Enterprise Journey
Moving to Perthshire from Leith 20 years ago, Ceri joined a local community of artists, and says it was the best thing she ever did: “In the blink of an eye, I'd made friends, the wider creative community got to know my name and found myself in at the start of a number of creative-led initiatives.”
More recently, another game-changer for Ceri was to move into WASPS Creative Exchange studio complex in Perth 4 years ago. “It gave me an immediate creative, vibrant community of like-minded professionals I see every day; it's enabled me to go for bigger shows and generally kick things up a notch,” she explains.
One example of this occurred at the end of last year, when Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums bought three of Ceri’s pieces for their Archive Collection through their modern acquisitions programme.
“Aberdeen was the city I studied in at Gray's School of Art, and my dad was an Aberdonian himself so the connection really means something to me,” says Ceri.
“It is a beautiful museum, with a fantastic collection and I spent hours in there as a student, never having a clue that future me would have a presence there.”
Support Along the Way
Ceri feel all her creative friends have helped her hugely along the way, describing them as a support network she could tap in to. She also really appreciates her customers and social media followers.
“GrowBiz—mainly via its creative arm, Perthshire Artisans—has been great this past year,” she adds, “really raising my local professional profile and connecting me with likeminded creatives.
“Being part of Perthshire Artisans is definitely getting my business out there and filling some gaps that I don't cover myself through social and print media. It's good to know there's a professional and community safety net for advice and networking.”
Looking to the Future
Ceri is hoping that at some point she will crack the elusive work/life balance, describing the “admin avalanche” as her hardest business challenge, and a working equilibrium as the main thing she would like to achieve.
“Honestly, I will be happy to continue with a building my profile, making and selling work I can be proud of that people enjoy, but without giving myself regular burn-out.”
She also has lots of advice for anyone looking to start their own creative business:
“Don't undervalue your work or yourself. Enjoy the main aspect of what you do because you'll probably be spending long hours doing it.
“Ask for help from your community and any advisory bodies like GrowBiz or Business Gateway. Take what you need from these things to fit yourself.
“Be your own biggest fan. Why not? You should love what you have to offer as much as anyone.”
