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Pictures left to right: Claudine making inlay tiles, Mark working on a moulded bowl.

Claudine Cecil took the plunge last year and opened her studio in Burwash Common for the first time together with potter Mark Smith.

Their story is an inspiration and testament to the old saying that you get out what you put in. Claudine's success story begins a mere three years ago. Her college days might have been some 30 years ago, but after just one year refreshing her skills through the local adult education classes at Wadhurst, she was not only demonstrating her skills at fairs, schools and medieval re-enactments, but showing her work in no less than 26 shops. Specialising in traditional techniques such as inlay tile-making, Claudine is much in demand, and last year her diary was crammed with 59 events, including folk festivals and farmer's markets.

The decision to join SEOS in 2006 with Mark seemed a logical step - they had been collaborating for some time* as Claudine fires her work in Mike's kiln in nearby Mayfield. Having made the commitment, they then decided the only thing to do was, in Claudine's words, to make the most of it. Opening her garden as well as the studio proved such a success that they stayed open for an extra week, and welcomed nearly 300 visitors. Claudine is very clear that it was personal effort that made all this happen. They developed their own publicity, sending leaflets to everyone they know, as well as the local press, and they personally delivered a hundred guides to outlets in the area. Claudine also recommends making and putting up as many signs as possible. She added a large word to describe the art medium on show, in this case POTTERY, plus the distance to the studio, so casual visitors, especially those not familiar with the SEOS logo could instantly understand what was on offer.

This attention to detail certainly paid dividends. As well as individual commissions, spin-offs for Claudine have included an article in the NFU magazine, a 2-day/5-week course at Magdala House in Rye and even two lectures for horticultural societies. In August 06, Claudine "took another plunge" and passed her assessment to join the East Sussex Guild of Craftworkers. Claudine has learned from her work at various public events that more than just showing the finished work, demonstrating the action draws visitors in and curiosity soon dispels any shyness. Her final piece of advice is never to let a visitor go without leaving an address!

Mark Smith's story began a little differently, 30 years ago. After failing a ceramics A-level he effectively taught himself through the time-honoured path of experimentation, or as he puts it "playing around with clay". Meeting Claudine at the Adult Education classes, their shared horticultural background and interest in medieval influences drew them to work together, and over 18 months they developed their own range of work, Claudine providing the artistic influence matched by Mark's technical knowledge. This combination successfully rose to the challenge of a recent commission to design and make a large solar-powered 'Green Man' wall fountain.

Mark describes the commitment to joining SEOS as a defining goal at which to aim, especially considering they had no studio at the beginning of June 06! Mark's interest in digital photography and computer graphics meant he could produce extra posters and flyers, a point which he stresses -- "you need to be seen!" Mark feels that until he participated in SEOS, he had tended to shy away from "the selling side of things", but the experience gave him the confidence to take a more commercial approach: "The success from last year has inspired me to build our own website and to participate in more public events. The Open Studio is all about promoting and hopefully selling your work, so you need to take off your artist's hat, put on your salesman's hat and go for it!"      * Visit their website at www.claumark.co.uk