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28 September Kiln Opening

I’m scrambling to get ready for tomorrow’s FINAL FRIDAY AT THE PENDLETON ART CENTER.

I just took a few new pottery pots out of the kiln. You have to come and see them in person, but here’s a sneak peek with some photos. I’m especially excited about the plate. It’s been a while since I’ve made one!

use arrows or scroll to see all the new pottery!

  • handmade pottery plate with 2 opossum surface design made in kentucky
  • handmade pottery cup with 3 bears drinking coffee or tea on the surface design
  • handmade pottery with a cat and dog enjoying music on the surface design
  • handmade pottery cup with fox and chickens made in kentucky
  • handmade cup with rainbow farm surface design made in kentucky
  • handmade pottery cup with bunnies and turnip surface design
  • handmade cup with sheep design made in kentucky
  • handmade pottery cup with sheep and dog running made in kentucky
  • handmade cup with opossum design. made in Kentucky
  • handmade cup decorated with an opossum made in kentucky

hope to see you tomorrow! I’ll be at studio #400 on the 4th floor from 5-9pm.

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10 Sept Mini kiln opening AND some news

9 new cups came out of my mini kiln today, I’m super excited to show them off!

Swipe or use the arrows to see all the cups in the slideshow.

  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with chickens on the surface design
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with a bear drinking from a cup sitting under a rainbow
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with a yellow cat taking photos of birds on the surface design
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with flying pigs eating apples from a tree
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with a yellow cat making pottery on a wheel on the surface design
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with a goat jumping towards a rainbow
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with a yellow cat taking photos of birds under a rainbow on the surface design
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with 2 cats that love cups
  • folk art pottery wheel thrown cup made in kentucky with a yellow cat under a rainbow design

it can be hard to get the idea of what a 3d object is like from photos (even when i take 4 photos at different angles) so here’s a short video with a 360 view of each cup

This coming weekend (16 and 17 of September 2023) is going to be a great time to visit Old Washington (Maysville, KY) We are having the Simon Kenton Festival, and as part of the festivities, I’M GOING TO HAVE MY NEW STUDIO IN WASHINGTON HALL open to the public.

Artist, Ken Swinson, standing in front of washington hall in old washington ky with cups in his hands

I haven’t announced the new studio until now because it’s just a work space, but this weekend, I’m going to give a FREE hands on printmaking activity, and will also have some of my pots on display. You might know that I don’t sell pottery online because i want you to come see it in person and hold it in your hands before you decide to buy one or not ($50 each).

The address is 2111 Old Main Street, Maysville KY. To get to my studio, take the second staircase by Lil Jumbo’s Coffeecompany, and I’m upstairs across from The Rewind Books and Design.
Hope to see you then!

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Mini Kiln opening: 4 September 2023

Hope you all are enjoying this Labor Day! My big labor day festivity was opening my mini kiln and bringing 9 new cups into the world

Hope you like opossums, because 6 of the 9 cups feature north America’s only marsupial

swipe or use the arrows to see the whole gallery

  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
  • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson

i don’t sell cups online, but these (and more!) will be on display + sale at my studio in Washington Hall during the Simon Kenton Festival in Old Washington 16 and 17 of September. Hope to see you there!!!

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pottery 24 August 2023

I just opened the kiln and have 9 cute little cups to share TOMORROW at the Pendleton Art Center in Cincinnati.
Cups are all wheel thrown and hand carved/painted. In person sales only-you must hold it in your hand before you can decide-no dibs-first come, first served 5-9pm.

See you tomorrow!

swipe or use arrows to see all the cups

  • folk art pottery cup with fox and chickens kentucky
  • folk art pottery cup cow
  • folk art pot bear throwing pottery cup kentucky
  • folk art pottery cup goat with corn
  • folk art pottery bear cups
  • folk art opossum pottery cup
  • folk art opossum pottery cup
  • folk art pottery flying pig
  • folk art pottery bunny
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Some of my workshop pots with Mark Errol’s Colored spots technique

two shelves with colorful pottery cups. 2 framed linocut prints are hanging over the shelves

It’s been an action packed August so far. After 2 weeks making pots at Arrowmont (instead of painting) – i decided to re install a couple shelves at my studio at the Pendleton Art Center. If you have been looking for some pottery, I’ll have some new ones on the 25th at Final Friday.

If you’d like a better look at my mini test firing of the cups I made at Mark Errol’s workshop-using his technique. swipe or click the arrows in the slideshow below

  • a colorful cup with rainbows and rain clouds
  • a white cup with a bear playing banjo-rainbows in the background
  • a colorful handmade cup with water, rainclouds and birds
  • a colorful cup with rainclouds rainbows and birds
  • a colorful cup with lots of blue and a rainbow
  • a colorful cup with clouds
  • a colorful cup with clouds
  • a colorful cup with birds and rainbows
  • A red stoneware cup with white slip and a goat decal

Thanks again Mark for all the new surface design techniques! Was happy to see that your clear looks great on the red clay body I’m currently using.

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Workshop with Mark Errol and special guest Kathy King

Greetings from Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts!

I just wrapped up an amazing workshop learning from two of my pottery heroes (Mark Errol and Kathy King).

group photo of happy students posing in the Arrowmont clay studio with superstar teachers, Mark Errol and Kathy King.

It has been a dream come true meeting them and seeing Mark and Kathy’s work in real life. –sorry, photos on the internet just aren’t the same.

artist ken swinson posing in front of a salt fired kiln with a pile of bisque pottery displayed inside it

I have been on a pottery break, and can’t tell you how good it felt to have my hands back in clay for 5+ whole days. i ended up making 34 pots (that’s a lot in comparison to my normal speed)

Every workshop I have taken at Arrowmont has been an incredible experience. It’s a perfect environment to push my creativity to places I could never reach by myself. The bears of Arrowmont make it a magical and special place.

two baby bears playing in a tree. A human bear (artist Mark Errol) watching from the kitcher porch at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

If you are in the Knoxville area, Mark and Kathy have a group exhibit, “Zero Lucks To Give” on display at the Arrowmont Gallery in Knoxville for the month of August. I was really thrilled to see their work in person and add these two cups to my collection!

photo of two cups by mark errol and kathy king. they are displayed in front of a mirror, so you can see a few sides of the pottery. A poster promoting their exhibit is also in the background

My heart is bursting, i’m so grateful to those who have made this experience possible for me!!! Thank you! Thank you! thank you! Stay tuned, i’ll have more to share soon.

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Gallery of the month – website changes

I recently removed my online gallery which archived over 20 years of my artwork.

From now on, this gallery is going to change every month, and will include 12 hand picked artworks.

Here are a few examples that I picked for the month of July
Click any of the images (or use the menu above) to see the whole JULY GALLERY

folk art abstract style country painting of 3 cows by a lake with a house in the background
folk art abstract style painting of pigs and a cow in front of a barn with the american flag by kentucky artist ken swinson
folk art abstract style painting of a man selling watermelon from the back of his truck

click any image to see the whole gallery for this month

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New Painting – Under The Pear Tree

abstract folk art style painting of a goat standing under a pear tree. A bird is standing on the goat's horn talking to another bird standing in the tree.

it’s been awhile since I’ve painted on canvas, so I’m super excited to show off my latest acrylic painting:

Under the Pear Tree 14″x34″ Acrylic on canvas.

The Original is not available until tomorrow (Friday 28 April 2023) from 5-9pm at The Pendleton Art Center, but signed cotton rag archival prints are available online now. Click the image for more details.

Hope to see you tomorrow!