One Month at the Mud Shop

By Daniel DooreckOctober 22, 2024

All photos by my friend Justin Chung @justinchung

Some Nice Thoughts & Some New Products

Things Connect In Weird Ways

Some things find connection in weird ways, and I want to touch on this idea for this later - month's newsletter from the Mud Shop. It's 8 AM today, on a Tuesday - technically my day off - but I dont think ive taken one since late August. East LA is finally cooling down, and the mornings are very special. Fog rolls in early in the day, covers up, makes the studio dark and moody, then sun breaks through. The lettering on the windows we painted reflect and create shadows, beaming against the Doug fir wall we worked so hard to put up in my new store.

Earlier this month we bought tickets to see my first live music show in Los Angeles, The War On Drugs. It feels like an old school band nowadays - Adam the head singer is older and fatter than his album cover pics reveal (truthfully, so am I) - but they actually only kicked off in the early 2010s. I listened to them kind of at the start of the pandemic when I was a mid 20s kid hustling in Toronto. The Hollywood Bowl is a very special place. We brought John and Vinny's and drank a bottle of wine my friends from Highcamp Wines in Paso Robles sent me. The sunset was insane, along with the music. Day to day, I have music playing at all hours; either in my headphones or in my studio. On the car ride to the post office, or to a coffee shop to meet a client. It's been a while, but roadtrips were an obvious place for this, but, again, it's been a while. The first song they played was An Ocean in Between The Waves. My first thoughts, is that, "wow, I actually know ever word to this song". My next realization was that "I've never seen my right leg do this". It was bouncing up and down along with my hand tapping at such a high velocity. I listen to music all the time, but couldn't tell you one lyric or the song name of most artists, but for some reason The War On Drugs is one that I know, like religion. Their next song was Red Eyes, and I cried. I didn't let Peyton see my tears because my body was so cracked up in my chair leaning forward engaged in the music. I cried again when Under the Pressure played, again when Eyes To The Wind, and for sure Harmonia's Dream.

My story is complicated, I've lived a lot of lives. I have succeeded, failed, felt miserable and helpless, only to find this vocation that feeds me spiritually, and provides for my house. It's really a blessing. I graduated from college with a degree I knew I was never going to use, actually working full time at night just to build a resumé. 10$ CAD / hour. I moved to Toronto at 22 only to work for 12$ CAD an hour making chicken buns, but gratefully found my space in wine and hospitality - it was my first place of true purpose and intrigue. If you've read my story somewhere on the internet, I still own those flashcards, and still could tell you some pretty obscure facts about a wine list. I opened my first restaurant at 26, with no experience and even less connections, only to feel helpless at someone willing to take advantage of a young kid. It built me up though, and showed me how hard and savage the world of independent business is. I wonder if this is actually true, but I would pay money now to have that experience again. I would have crushed that guy, (not to be mentioned) if I was the person I am now. To wrap this together, every stage of this life and each experienced gained, I listened to The War On Drugs. In the car, on the way to work, at the restaurants, working out, reviewing flashcards. My fondest memory was bicycling when I was 24 across Toronto on Dundas West, blasting Nothing to Find on my corded headphones, after working 13 days in a row at the restaurant on Dundas West where I sunk my teeth. Someone stole that bike from a post outside of the police station off of St Annes Street two years later. But this is why I cried when I saw the War On Drugs live in Los Angeles, almost a decade later.

My friend Chanel Miller, a popular children's book writer, came by the studio and I told her I don't write or journal to outlet my thoughts. Her eyes are already big and bold, but when I told her this they almost fell out of her head onto my studio floor. I suppose, this newsletter is my outlet. I keep it PG, and certainly hold back as my personal life and its privacy is important to me, and Peyton. But thanks for reading this. This buildout, along with the success of a small pottery store in East LA has been exceptionally emotional, tedious, difficult, rewarding, and all in all the best experience of my life. I feel invigorated just thinking about. Living in this ghetto ass world where the society you live in, people, and the value of our dollar constantly try to set you back, its really nice to see that having a storefront and playing mom and pop shop is possible, especially in LA. I paid back my investment into this space in 8 days. EIGHT DAYS. Im only a cup maker, a messy potter in an organized studio, built with soul. Please come visit, we sell flowers now on the weekends. Keeping flowers alive is now the hardest part of my job, but it makes the shop so beautiful. Thank you.

-d

My friend Justin Chung has seen me through all my spaces. The left photo is my first garage studio, shot by Justin in 2022. The right, last week in 2024.

Last Workshop of the Year

Things have been exceptionally busy. Special projects, international collaborations, new wholesale clients. I got my first one in South Korea - more on that soon.

I have one an upcoming Tumbler Workshop on the 2nd of November. It's my last of the year, sorry to say, but it's just too busy for me right now. I'd love to see you there - heres a link

Some products I Like

Some products I love - click the picture to link directly to the page :)

My biggest job these days is just managing inventory. Website orders, in store purchases, wholesale. I dont make a lot, but we work really hard. I have some stuff In stock so if anything fancies you, jump on it before my Christmas rush takes me out lol