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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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Kiln firing 24 January 2023

I just opened the mini kiln, and welcomed 8 new cups to the world.
Some of the cups are decorated with an experimental woodcut transfer process.

This is a significant firing, because it is the FINAL FIRING for this season. I won’t be making any more pottery until Summer 2023.

swipe or use arrows to see all the pottery

  • handmade cup with woodcut underglaze transfers of goat
  • handmade cup with woodcut underglaze transfers of goat and sheep
  • handmade cup with woodcut underglaze transfers of goat and sheep
  • handmade cup with folk art style cardinal surface design
  • handmade cup with folk art style cardinal surface design
  • handmade stoneware cup with folk art surface design of a horse and country house
  • handmade stoneware cup with folk art pig and flowers surface design. there is a heart inbetween the two pigs
  • handmade cup with folk art style decoration of goats and plants

If you’d like to see them (and more) in person. They will be on display this friday (jan 27th) at the Pendleton Art Center – Cincinnati.

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2023-01-21 Kiln Opening

I had a small kiln firing last night (8 cups – 1 plate)

Here are the results!
Use the arrows or swipe to see them all

  • handmade stoneware oval plate with sheep dog chasing sheep surface design
  • handmade stoneware cup with bear taking photos of bunnies design
  • handmade stoneware cup depicting fox taking photos of sheep
  • handmade stoneware cup with bear having a tea party design
  • handmade stoneware cup with fox and hound surface design
  • handmade stoneware cup depicting chickens with yellow background
  • handmade stoneware cup with dog making pottery surface design
  • handmade stoneware cup with terrier and yellow cat surface design
  • handmade stoneware cup with goat woodcut surface design

It’s really hard to get an idea of what a 3d cup looks like from a photo. A video with a 360 view is a little bit better. Seeing them in person-and being able to pick them up and drink from them is still best.

For your reference, I sell cups for $45 and plates for $75. They are only available in person NO ONLINE SALES. You need to pick them up to ‘know’ if it’s the right pot for you. You can find them either on my front porch, or at my studio at the Pendleton Art Center on Final Fridays and by appointment.

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Friday Night Throwing pots

First time I’ve been in on the wheel for 2023. (yes, this is my idea of a wild and fun friday night)

I’ve been working removing pots from the wheel with my hands-instead of using bats. Still smooshing some of them, but getting better!

Will trim and add handles tomorrow. Hope you all have a great weekend!

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screen print clay transfer fail

photo of a screen print studio

The new year isn’t starting out the way I had hoped.

ceramic screen print underglaze transfers

Spent the day making screen print underglaze transfers based on two of my block prints, only for them to be a disappointment. Oh well, will try again another time.

screen print transfer on an unfired stoneware mug

Hope your year is going better than mine!

UPDATE:

Sorry for being a crybaby earlier when my project did not work on the first try. In my experience, neither pottery OR printmaking work perfectly on the first try. Not sure why I thought combining the two would be easy.

After a little more practice, The transfers are a little bit better. Will make more pots and try again later. Thanks again everyone for the encouragement!

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last kiln firing of 2022

I had a very small kiln firing to wrap up 2022.

2022 was a great year for pottery. I learned a lot and made a lot of pots. To end the year, I had a very small kiln firing. Here are the results!

click arrows or swipe to see all the photos