Studio potter and ceramic artist, Kristen Kieffer, makes handmade pottery, decorative porcelain and functional ceramics in her Massachusetts studio, as well as leads workshops and sells online at Etsy and Big Cartel.
Here are some of my faves from our wicked awesome autumn jaunt to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The MFA recently opened a new wing for arts from the Americas, so many of my pix are from there, but as usual, what I’m drawn to are diverse materials, time periods, shapes, and styles, which will filter into my work in various ways over time. Enjoy!, and see more influence, pictorial posts here. (Hover your cursor over any pic, or click each, for more info.)
After a year of testing, I’ve settled on six new glaze colors, and have begun to debut the first of the three for 2012: Aqua, Pear* and Periwinkle. The new colors compliment and contrast with my current palette (mostly by being more vibrant). The image below shows three of my current palette (Honeycomb, Cornflower blue and Frost) nested in the three new colors (Pear, Periwinkle and Aqua). A new, light green is coming up soon!
* Name pondering for Pear/Yellow Pear is happening on my FB page here.
These are the twenty great artists I spent the first week of 2012 with at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (where I was an artist-in-residence 15 years ago!) for a Ceramic Surface Forum. Jason Burnett brought us all together to spend five days making, conversing and laughing (lots of laughing) side-by-side in the studio. It was a wonderful way to start the New Year. Thanks to everyone for a fun and inspiring week! Hover your cursor over each image to see its maker, and see the full list of artists in our group below.
Ceramic Surface Forum 2012: Amy Santoferraro, Martina Lantin, Kathy King, Julie Guyot, Andy Sloan Jackson, Chris Pickett, Justin Rothshank, Meredith Host, Magda Gluscek, Susan Feagin, Mark Errol, Matt Nolen, Jason Bigge Burnett, Pattie Chalmers, Chandra DeBuse, Tom Bartel, Kurt Anderson, Dustin Farnsworth, Ronan Kyle Peterson, Phil Haralam and me. Yay!
Fellow potter and blogger Ben Carter asked me to write a guest blog post for a new series he’s calling Turning Points, “where artists discuss the effect historical ceramics has had on their studio life.” I don’t post as often as I’d like on my own blog because my thoughts don’t flow as easily as a line of slip-trail, so it was fun to have a writing assignment about specific pots I enjoy, and how objects of influence inform my work. Check out my blog post here, and the latest from Ben and his studio in China by following his blog here! ~Thanks, Ben!
‘Honeysuckle mugs’ in-progress by Ben Carter.
I have some lovely new pots posted in my online shop and gallery store for the holiday season. I can’t compete with the big-box stores’ price cuts enabled by mark-ups or the online discounters’ free shipping deals with their bulk accounts, nor do I think you expect me to or actually consider those my competition. I can offer you handmade porcelain pots intended to bring a little elegance with a touch of merriment to your everyday. I do offer high quality ware and solid crafts[wo]manship. And I will send you a handwritten note of appreciation on one of my postcards when you do buy from me online, now for Cyber Monday and any day after. Everyday luxury and excellence year-round is what I have in stock. Thank you for perusing handmade and independent. XO KK
