Diana Piñeiro García

I am an architect, a ceramist and recently I started a new career path as a teacher at an art school in Madrid.

Short after graduating as an architect I moved to Madrid and enrolled in a superior technical degree in artistic ceramics. After that, I studied another degree in modelling, moulds and ceramic die making. From day one I knew that this was to be my new path.

My work and the way in wich I face creative challenges are very influenced by both my technical and artistic background. I am very interested in the capacity of clay, especially porcelain, to transform into whatever you can imagine. My ceramic work is mainly made using moulds. This is a very precise and supposedly rigid technique designed for mass production that I use to make unique pieces. I think of them as the product of a non-identical serialization.

Right now, my business is in the initial stage. I need to find the way that works best for me to develop my work as an artisan designer in parallel to my activity as a teacher.

My business objectives are:

My main goal is to find a business model adapted to my profile. I want to develop a profitable artistic activity that complements my teaching career.
I aspire to my business becoming economically self-sufficient in the short term and profitable in the medium and long term.

My learnings from the Crafting Business Programme:

At the beginning of the course, my work horizon had changed in the previous months, and I was not sure how to reorient my project to make it compatible with my new teaching life.

After these intense weeks, with the tools that the different teachers have provided us, I have managed to clarify my ideas and begin to outline the path I want to follow. I have a lot of work to do, but I feel like I have the capabilities to do it.

Throughout the course I realized that I was ignorant of many more aspects than I thought and that the world of the craft business is larger and more complex than it seemed. However, at the same time that I discovered that I still have a lot to learn, I also learnt that if you take it seriously it is possible to become a businesswoman.

My 5 top tips that I have learnt on this journey:

1. If you don’t earn money with your business, then it is not a business, it is a hobby.
2. If you want an artisanal/creative business, you can’t only focus on making things.
3. You are responsible for the environmental impact of your products. Design them taking this into account.
4. Communicating is key. Analyze what you want to tell and how to do it. And then do it. If they don’t know your business, it doesn’t exist.
5. Business success is not in what you sell but in what you earn.