Yes! I accept commission projects seasonally, usually 1-2 large projects per season, either wood art or ceramics. Contact me via email (nevesceramics@gmail.com) or social media if you are interested!

General ballpark prices for commissions (in USD):

Clay pendants, 150+

Clay sculptures, up to 8 inches, 400-1200+

Pipes, up to 7 inches, 500+

Small pyrography, ~4 inches, 150+

Medium pyrography, ~9 inches, 250+

Large pyrography, ~12+ inches, 500+

Payment is expected up front, work will begin immediately after. Deposits or 'slot' style commissions are not taken. If you have discussed and agreed on a commission & start date with me, I will contact you shortly before I begin to take payment. Payment plans can be used for all US residents via the shop pay feature of shopify (this website uses shopify).

If we have agreed on a project and start date, but you need to cancel your commission before I have taken payment, this is fine. Please contact me to let me know so I can fill your space with another commission. Price quotes, once given, will be honored then onwards even if the commission is taken a extended time after the quote.

Commission clients may not ask for a refund after the project has begun, due to inability to reuse or recycle materials like clay and wood.

If you are looking to get an art piece that I have not made before, please don't hesitate to ask! I can make many things, even if I have not posted an example online. However, please have an idea or concept(s) prepared before contacting me, as I cannot afford to have my time wasted on hours of helping a potential client develop a concept that they may not be able to afford/I may not be able to produce.

Through the entire process, I will be sharing progress updates and checking in with my clients. Typically for most projects, sketches are made before any work is began.

All works are made with a expected degree of artistic liberty, specific requests are welcome but not always possible. Above all, I value respect for animals and their depiction the highest in my work. Due to the nature of working with natural materials like clay, glaze, and wood, results are not entirely predictable and this should be expected.

Turnaround time varies on the size of project, a custom pendant or tile may only take 3-4 weeks, but larger pieces like pipes or sculptures can take several months to complete.

For ceramics commissions, in most cases, two items will be produced in order to safeguard any possibility of defect in the kiln firings. If both items survive the making process, one will be sent to the client and the other kept by the artist, though the client is welcome to purchase the second.

For example: a client commissions a smoking pipe shaped like a wolf. Two in slightly different poses will be sculpted, fired, and one chosen at the glazing stage to finish and send home to the client. The second unglazed wolf will remain with the artist and may be finished and sold with other stock at a later date.

I use a variety of clays in my studio, primarily a low-fire red earthenware clay (terracotta) which I mixed myself, and a midrange white stoneware clay, also mixed by me. Please contact me if interested in the recipes, I am happy to share.

Otherwise, I use various boxed produced clays like speckled buff from laguna, sedona from amaco, and charcoal from aardvark clays.

For the majority of my work, I prefer to use Amaco brand velvet underglazes. My glazing technique involves multiple layers of underglaze applied and mixed in watered down coats, fired multiple times to build depth.

The wood used for my pyrography comes from a variety of sources, I do my best to source locally and sustainably.

Most of my basswood and some pine wood comes from Foggy Bottom Woodworks, in Wisconsin. Their wood is all harvested in the United States.

Some of my wood stock was purchased locally to me in Mattoon, Illinois from a former sawmill operator. This woodworker took the wood from landscaping dumps, usually offcuts from tree trimming. I have a stock of cherry, poplar, sycamore, and elm wood from this source.

For my ceramics, my main tool is a Paragon brand Caldera XL kiln. This kiln is small and I operate it indoors in my studio.

Otherwise, my main tools are a variety of wooden hand sculpting tools, and Xiem brand modelling tools.

All plaster molds and forms used in my work are also made by me.

For my pyrography/wood art, I use a Walnut Creek Creative Woodburning Tool with Colwood brand tips.

I treat my wood with Tried and True Wood Finish, a sustainable and food safe blend of linseed oil and beeswax. I highly recommend this product.

Yes!

I do my best to use only recycled & recyclable materials when packing and shipping orders. This includes reusing boxes, you may receive an order in an 'ugly' box that has been used to ship something previously.

I use perforated cardboard bubble wrap and paper in almost all my packing, recycled paper materials/cards/etc and I am currently transitioning to using paper tape instead of traditional clear packing tape.

The only exception to this is when packing especially large/expensive/fragile work, I will use a foam packing method which means customers will have a sturdy and reusable package to store/ship the artwork at a later time.

Do you accept orders out of the United States?

Yes! I currently ship internationally to Canada, the UK, all EU countries, and Australia. Please contact me if you live outside of these areas and want me to add shipping to you to my shop.

I have had to suspend shipping using USPS international for packages, due to so many packages lost or taking months to arrive. UPS, DHL, and Fedex options are available instead.

Will my order have tracking?

Yes, all orders will have tracking. I use USPS for all US orders, typically Ground Advantage and Priority Mail.

How do returns and cancellations work?

Returns, exchanges, and cancellations are accepted.
Please contact me immediately at nevesceramics@gmail.com to cancel an order if you have not received a notice of your order being shipped. Cancellations will not be accepted after the order has been shipped.
To start the process of a return or exchange, please contact me by email within 7 days of delivery and ship the item(s) within 14 days of delivery.
The customer is responsible for all shipping costs, which are non-refundable. If the item(s) are not returned in the original condition, the customer will be responsible for any loss in monetary value.
Upon reception, you will be refunded for the item's cost, not including the return shipping fees. 

Can I have signature confirmation to prevent theft of a valuable package?

All packages above 250 USD shipping within the United States will have signature confirmation by default, paid by me, not you! If you do not want signature confirmation, please contact me immediately after ordering.

Stolen, Lost, Or Damaged Packages 

Unfortunately, I cannot offer compensation for stolen or lost packages.
However, I will try my best to offer a discount if the customer wishes to make another purchase.
If you receive a damaged product, please email me at nevesceramics@gmail.com and provide photos of the damaged product to receive compensation.