The Peter Holland Story

The main aim of this website can be summed up in a few words by Peter:

"My aim is to encourage people to enjoy the creative satisfaction involved in clay sculpture and also to give fine china collectors a unique window into the china industry (not to mention some inside tips).

Along the way, I try to pass on as much generally useful information I can muster. There are over 600 pages to this site - I guess some of it must be interesting!".

What others are saying:

Go to the Gallery Pages for more examples of Peter's Work

HOW I MADE MONEY FROM BITS & BOBS OF OLD CHINA .....more

Peter Holland - Career Biography

Skip to the interesting "How I Done It... Story"

Before going into the world of ceramic sculpture as a professional, Peter worked with retailers Jaeger and Liberty of London, England in sales management and buying.

At the same time, making time to pursue his interest in clay sculpture, Peter's sculpting talents were first formally recognized during an exhibition of his work at the Royal Miniature Society in 1993. The maximum of five sculptures were accepted by the RMS.

It seems a big step from this first small success to switch careers to a sector in which he had no background and no formal training. However, Peter was prepared to follow his instinct - that small voice in the dark - to wherever it might lead.

The tale of how he was eventually commissioned by the likes of Royal Worcester, Wedgwood, Coalport and Royal Doulton to produce work for them is a story in its own right... see below.

How I Survived....

The 'Selling Myself' Ordeal

I am a self-confessed bimble-bumbler.

What's one of those?

Verb:- To 'bimble-bumble' is to potter around in a most un-dynamic way forgetting what happened 30 seconds ago, but remembering with scary detail the name of everyone in your class at primary school.

Noun:- A person who appears a bit woolly, but has an alter ego which is sharp as a tack - only they keep forgetting where they put the tack.

We bumblers are notoriously bad at 'selling ourselves'. To have to write a thrusting CV for a dynamic job interview would be akin to having a root canal filling.

The biggest mistake we can make ... is to ignore the rules of "self promotion"..... because selling ourselves is very very easy when we know how. A bumbler armed with the ability to self promote is a dangerous weapon indeed. Another way to become a dangerous bumbler is to be building your own website:- here's an example of what works

Now a question...... Do you have a song to sing?

On the subject of singers and Italians... let me give you a case study of one razor sharp bumbler.

Italian immigrant Dino Crocetti a.k.a. singer Dean Martin - was the most laid back character you are ever likely to witness. Did the king-of-cool have to 'Sell Himself'?

Never in a million years did he do that... did he? He was too drunk most of the time anyway..... wasn't he?

Think again. In his teens the only way he knew to get money was to fight in underground bare knuckle bouts (the original 'Fight Club'). He often fought until he was unconscious.

Good job he discovered he could sing because the slurring wasn't to do with the drinking, because he hardly drank at all, and preferred to go home early to his wife and kids rather than hang out with the hard drinking celebrity circus. The 'whiskey' was in fact apple juice.

The laid back tipsy hard drinking Rat-Pack image was all a calculated stage presence.

Martin was a shrewd investor and, upon his death, was revealed to be the single largest minority shareholder of RCA records.

Why am I going on about a crooner, when this is supposed to be about me? ....

I mention him because we all need an example to follow, and he is one of my heroes.

He sings:

...let us bumblers do what he says and 'hug' the rules of 'Selling Ourselves' like the 'lazy' ocean hugs the shore, just as he did.

Why should we do this?

....In order to make money from our own little interests and hobby horses, of course.

I do not know what your passion is, so all I can do is tell you how I applied the rules of "Selling Myself" (there are seven of them in all) to my own situation.

I wanted to mess around with clay - I figured it beats working for a living.

..... So you need to think of how you can apply these rules of self promotion to your own circumstances, whatever they may be.

Below I list these seven rules for your information and use lots of motivational superlatives to try to get you going!

If you want to know all the details you can buy my ebook - just the simple story of how I used the rules to transform myself from a complete unknown who had never touched a piece of clay to one of the most collected figurine artists in the UK, with little more than a couple of months of salary put by to keep me afloat in the meantime.

Most people who know me would say I was a laid back character - hardly capable of remembering my own name, let alone 7 rules of anything. Always ready to make a quip or play a prank, how could I organise myself to attempt such a serious feat?

My first thought was to let the 'powers-that-be' within the hallowed halls of the prestigious famous companies know that, even if they had never heard of me, and I seemed a bit relaxed about life, they would find me the most professional artist they would ever deal with.

I vowed I would never:-

..... throw an artists hissy fit.

I would ALWAYS meet a deadline

I would always follow the 7 rules of 'Self Promotion' I had recently read about.

To know the full story, please go ahead and read my story. My book contains the full story, if you feel so inclined and costs £7.00 GBP (UK sterling) to buy - which comes in the format of a PDF download (simple and universal).

TIP:- Keep the transcript on your computer, print out the extracts you need. OR... send the pdf file to a quick-print shop for easy printing out.

Here's the 7 important rules of 'self promotion' I followed, in all their glory (at last) and a summary of what's in the 7 chapters:-

This is my real story...

Some More Pointers

Here's a little note I wrote to myself.

I didn't make a note of where I got it from:-

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but greater minds rise above them. Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Disappointments are to the soul what thunderstorms are to the air.

But surely a hobby or interest, should be kept for fun and relaxation?" I hear some people say. Yes, but imagine the world that Dale Carnegie talked about:

So, What Is Holding You Back?

Your interest, passion, hobby (or niche market as it is known in some circles) can be harnessed to provide significant benefits to you in monetary terms. You just need a structure and a set of easy step-by-step instructions to guide you on your way.

As Socrates said:- "Let him that would move the world, first move himself."

Change your thoughts and you change your world.

Remember, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity and, in my case eighty percent of success is showing up".

The price is £7 GBP (UK Sterling)

If you don't like my story and it doesn't help you I'll give you your money back.


My word is my bond.....


If you would like to get hold of a copy of this book, and are thinking about buying it, get a sample chapter before you commit to buying.

Just fill in the form below with no obligation.....

HOW I MADE MONEY FROM BITS & BOBS OF OLD CHINA .....more

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