The Small Business Spotlight: Black Oak Art
In this "Small Business Spotlight," presented by American Bank, Austin Meek of Waco Business News highlights Jonathan Martin of Black Oak Art.
Mugs from the Black Oak Art studio. Every piece is handmade; these are similar to the popular “Magnolia” mugs Black Oak makes for Chip and Joanna Gaines.
[0:33] If you walked into Black Oak Art without your glasses on, you might mistake it for Santa's workshop. Dozens of scurrying employees pull yards of bubble wrap and spray thousands of packing peanuts, making sure that clients mugs, bowls, and plates arrive safely before the holidays. Katie Beamon leads the fulfillment team at Black Oak and admits this is particularly crazy time in the warehouse.
"We also do custom dishware so some customers, they want their bowls by Thanksgiving or by Christmas. It makes a lot of sense so I try to work hard to get their stuff out."
All this activity - locals artists gainfully employed for 40 hour weeks, customers eagerly awaiting that perfect place setting - well, it almost didn't happen.
"My name is Jonathan Martin and I own Black Oak Art which is a pottery business, a wholesale pottery business. We also have a retail shop downtown that my wife and I run called ‘Gather.’"
In 2008, Jonathan and Sara had just moved back to Waco and were living on Colcord avenue with their 1-year old son. Jonathan was looking for a creative outlet and loved working with clay, but it was definitely more hobby than business.
"Black Oak was after schools and weekends working in a garage making pots."
Eventually his wife grew frustrated with a garage full of massive earthenware, so he shifted to making a smaller item that ultimately brought his breakthrough: mugs. He first sold them to Jill Mashburn, then-owner of Common Grounds, and she bought a run with the CG logo emblazoned on the side.
Some of the different colors Black Oak offers for their popular mugs.
"That was kind of the first real foothold into…and even for me, the ability to say, "‘Oh, there’s a business in here. There’s something that people want, there’s something that I'm making that people want."
Jonathan was selling about 20 mugs per week to Common Grounds. Soon after, he got a call from Joanna Gaines, asking if he'd make mugs for gift baskets that she and her husband would put in their flipped homes. Jonathan fired up the kiln and delivered the goods but didn't get a reorder. In fact, he didn't hear a peep from Joanna until about five years later, when Joanna mentioned to his wife that they'd inked a TV deal, were reopening their shop on Bosque, and wanted to carry Black Oak products. The problem? Its discouraged and drained owner had all but shuttered the business.
“Yeah, that’s kinda a long story but I actually hadn't been making mugs. I had gotten tired. We had three kids by then and what was my hobby had kinda turned into a really low paying job because I didn’t know much about business wasn't charging much."
Jonathan adjusted his pricing and sent the first 50 mugs to Joanna. She loved the product so much that 50 a month turned to 50 a week, which turned to 100 a week, which turned to 250 a week...and then the Magnolia Silos opened.
“And they said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna open the Silos and we’re probably gonna need closer to like a thousand [mugs] a week.’
“Yeah so it’s been kinda a crazy ride but whatever it is now - like I said, I can’t keep track - it’s five or six years later and we’re still selling pots.”
Currently, Black Oak Art sells about 1200 mugs a week to Magnolia, in addition to pitchers, vases, and wall pockets that are then sold by the company.
That working relationship has largely turned Black Oak into a production studio, about which Jonathan has no complaints. But he did notice some of his employees, who are artists in their own right, weren't challenged creatively by simply fulfilling purchase orders for Magnolia. He was also receiving an unprecedented amount of requests for custom work that simply didn't fit the Magnolia mold.
Colored slips with a glossy coating are used by Katie Beamon for the pottery she creates in the Black Oak Guild.
"What we came up with is this idea of kinda gathering those artists together. And really the idea of encouraging them to become better artists in themselves and we call it ‘The Artist’s Guild.’ And what the Guild does is they handle those commissions."
Back in the warehouse, Katie Beamon is a proud member of the Black Oak Guild. She started her career in painting and only began working with clay about five years ago. The structure of the guild allows her to share collaboratively and grow alongside her fellow artists and co-workers.
"I know like there’s some people who work purely on the front end, so they assemble. They never get to glaze their pieces. So I’ve had the opportunity to show people how to glaze pieces which is kinda hilarious because I don’t know how to throw anything. But I know how to finish a piece and make it look good and ready for a kiln firing."
Whether they're making a one of a kind piece or the same mug over and over, the artists under Jonathan Martin's tutelage are learning the rigors of the creative life.
”Here they spend all day honing their skills. We have some of the best potters around in here now just because they’ve exponentially increased the amount of time they’ve had in the studio since they were in college."
This "Small Business Spotlight,” co-produced by Waco Business News and KWBU, first aired on Friday, December 6, 2019, in Episode 76 of Downtown Depot on 103.3 KWBU-FM Waco.