Author: ken

I have been working on a series of cups with saucers.

The saucer is a new form for me, but I LOVE it! it’s relatively flat, so i can approach surface design similar to the way I would a painting or 2d art. It’s not so big, like a plate, where I run into technical problems, like warping, cracking (hopefully!)

one thing that attracts me to functional pottery, is that it is art made to be used; to be picked up, to serve food, it’s a kind of art that can become a part of people’s daily rituals.

I imagine the joy these saucers will bring other people, when they lift their cup, and see the surprise looking up at them from the saucer. THAT IS WHY I MAKE POTS!

Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

Some of the best inspiration comes from playing and having fun in the studio! I was squishing a little ball of porcelain in my fingers, until the clay became a opossum!

I poked a hole on it, and now its a bead! The first one brought me so much joy, I made another! What in the world will I make next?!?!

…once you get to know them.

These weeds were the inspiration for todays pottery design. I think the plant is called chickory. It is blooming EVERYWHERE along the highways (and in my garden) here in Kentucky. I don’t know if it’s a native plant, but it has a big presence this time of the year. I like the idea of handmade pots reflecting the time in which they were made…

This still needs to be fired, once it is, it’ll be porcelain, and the blue will be a deep cobalt color.

Stay tuned to see how it works out!

I just opened the kiln filled with plates, sugar bowls and bowls in stoneware, English porcelain and porcelain. I need to setup my photo booth and get a good photo of each piece, but here’s a sneak peek!

Yesterday, I had a pretty good kiln firing. A couple of losses, and some lessons learned, but also some beautiful pots! This was my first time firing translucent porcelain with the sgraffito technique. It is beautiful. Something you have to see in person to appreciate.

you can visit the gallery and see better photos of each piece by clicking here or the image below

Like all my pottery, it is for sale, but not online. you have to visit my home in old washington, KY; where you can hold them in your hands; to decide which is the right one for you. They are dishwasher/microwave food safe. The design technique is labor intensive and carved by hand. Plates are $80, sugar bowls $55, bowls and the mug $40 each. First come, first serve. They are sitting on my porch and first come, first serve. If you are going to travel a long distance for something in particular, contact me first to make sure it is still available. I wear a mask and have hand sanitizer for safety, and ask one household to visit the porch at a time. Hope you can make it! It’s a nice day for a drive in the country!

My favorite part of working with pottery is surface design! It’s a good thing I love it, because it also takes the most time. Each piece takes at least an hour to carve.

All of today’s designs were hand carved, using a technique, called sgraffito.

Since we are in the middle of the summer season, I have been inspired by one of my favorite summer flowers: the sunflower!

I have started carving a new porcelain clay, and it feels a little bit different from other clays. I found myself carving it a little bit different too. Because porcelain needs a little bet of extra care, I dry these REALLY slow. They might be ready to fire in a week or two. Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

At the beginning of June, I decided to make June a ‘pottery intensive’ month in the studio. Looking back at the month, it was a lot of fun, and I made some really nice pots. I fired the kiln twice. After each firing, i put the pots on the porch, where they sold out in a matter of days.

Pottery Intensive June was a success! You can see a gallery of each kiln load by clicking the thumbnails below:

July is going to be a little bit different. I am going to keep making pottery. But i’ll also take brakes to do some more printmaking and painting too. The big thing for July is that I am participating in the facebook boycot #stopHateForProfit by not logging into facebook or instagram for the month of July.

I am a frequent facebook user, so this is going to be a challenging month for me. One of the bright sides of this boycott is that I plan to give my personal website and email newsletter some TLC, so stay tuned for more art and updates!