It is a wonderful surprise to be on the cover of Clay Times (Jan/Feb issue) for the exhibition “Celebrating 10 Years of Clay” at the m.t. burton gallery in NJ concurrent with NCECA in Philly. Thank you to Matt Burton for sending the image and Clay Times for choosing it!

♥ Valentine’s Day is coming ’round the corner, and in celebration I will be posting a few pendants each day this week to my online design store (like the lovelies below) for you to give something special to your someone special. ♥

KiefferDesign.etsy.com

This trailer is a sneak preview of my soon to be released DVD Surface Decoration: Suede to Leatherhard with teasing glimpses of all eleven chapters. Watch the clip and then read more about all the excitement on the DVD page.

There are a handful of questions that I am asked at every workshop: “How do you know when to dart?”, “How do you make your feet?” and “How do you get the stamping to line up?!”, for example. The answers to those are fairly straightforward: practice, carving and practice.

I’m teasing with the one-word answers, but alongside those simpler, technical how-to questions are toughies like “How did you find/get/develop your style?”  I love deep questions in workshops, the ones that are about being an artist.  Those conversations are a big part of why I enjoy teaching. Workshops are a great forum for learning techniques and discussing quandaries like personal style, not for picking up “style tricks”.  There is no sincere short answer to the style question during a workshop or in this blog (though “practice” is part of the answer).

A few years ago, while attending a national clay conference (NCECA), I heard a lecture* that essentially encouraged the current generation of makers to look not to the former generations’ work for ideas, but rather to their influences. He stated that the prior generation, the WWII-era makers, looked at things (nature, gesture, history, architecture) not other people’s pots.  He expressed wonderment at a potential future in ceramics with artists referencing only the preceding generation.  This observation was profound to me.

To oversimplify with an example, if I like Linda Sikora’s work, rather than imitating her forms and surfaces, I could begin to develop my own voice by researching what has influenced her work. By delving into the handfuls of objects, cultures and periods that have defined her style, my own work could become unique rather than simply referential. Who I am as a person and maker will affect how I respond to the exact same historic European porcelain pitcher that inspired her. That’s not to say I can’t appreciate, admire and buy her work, but I am more likely to find my own voice by looking at what is behind her pots rather than just looking at her pots.

So that is one of the anecdotes I tell in a workshop to begin to explain how one might develop a style. I honestly think if an artist sets out with style as the goal rather than as a byproduct of making what he enjoys based on what inspires him, he will fail. (Though I’m sure there are artists who receive recognition this way, I don’t think they are happy, respected artists.)

Style is the amazing culmination of everything an artist has experienced, loves and is, manifested in an object. I touch on the wide range of things that have shaped my own work (and style) throughout this blog**, and also discuss them in my Bio and Statement.

The images in this post represent some of the details—based directly on my influences and interests—I feel make my work unique, my style signatures: slip-trailed shapes that look like rolled fondant; ornate stamping; two-part cup handles;  and Kanthal wire as form. Forms like my Corset series, surfaces like my satin color palette, and even an actual signature, like my name stamp (below) are also part of that design “signature”.  The best compliment I receive about my work is, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”  What I bring to the pots is something no one else has: my touch, my eye, my mish-mash of interests and my passion.  That’s style.

* I’m sorry to say I don’t remember the speaker for that 1998 Dallas/Ft. Worth NCECA slide lecture.  If someone knows, please drop me a note.

** You can click “Influences” under “Search My Past Posts by Category” in the right column, or here to see and read more about mine. Note that this post will come up first, so scroll past it to read others.

Check out the new DVD page here, folks!  It provides an update, but most importantly for now features some tantalizing comments by some outstanding ceramic artists who HAVE seen the DVD. Take a read, send me your email address to receive the availability update, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From top left, First row: Bobby Silverman, Gertraud Möhwald, and Magdelene Odundo;  Second row: Hans Coper, Viola Frey, Sam Chung and Gary DiPasquale;  Third row: Andrea Gill, Jeanne Quinn, and Mary Barringer;  Last row: Jason Green and Alan Caiger-Smith.

Visit Part I here to see not only the first grouping but also what I mean by “love” (vs. influence).  I enjoy putting these love montages together and hope to do one every so often.  I welcome you to leave a list of your all-time favorite contemporary clay artists in the comment section.

These and several other lovelies are available at my online store. Visit www.KiefferCeramics.etsy.com to peruse some pots. A rooster tumbler or rabbit nesting bowl set may be just what you have been searching for as a gift or for yourself in the New Year!

There are also a variety of elegant pendants available at my online design store: www.KiefferDesign.etsy.com.  A dozen new ones were recently added.  Perfect for that small, thinking-of-you gift.

First row, left to right: Mark Rothko painting No. 22, 1949, 1920s Chicago Transit Authority poster, and Bev Hisey Reflective Folk Cushion;  Second row: autumn leaves, Andrew Zuckerman bird photograph and my warm-toned glazes;  Third row: Berlin Festival of Lights, Dave Jordano Storefront Church photograph and a Sevres potpourri vase;  Fourth row: Andrew Zuckerman Masked Lovebird photograph and my cool-toned glazes;  Fifth row: Hindu (Holi) Festival of Colours, JollyBe Chrysanthemums wedding cake, and peacock;  Sixth row: Cole & Son Dorset wallpaper, botanical print and Felissimo’s Colored Pencil Set;  Last row: KiBiSi chairs and a Viola Frey figure.

Oh, how I love color.

I suppose most everyone enjoys color, but if there were a 1 to 10 rating for color love, I would be at a 9 or 10 on the scale. I envy synesthetes and think about color throughout my day, in and out of the studio. I have a similar response to color that others do when they eat a piece of chocolate—that little butterfly feeling of yum.

Darks.

These tumbler images (above and below) represent the myriad of ways the nine colors in my palette can be placed together to give a completely different color feel.

Lights.

One of my grad school (MFA, Ohio U. 2001) professors, Joe Bova, recently commented to me that he believes “color is the most personal element in art”.  I certainly took a lot of time considering my color palette when I switched from high-fire soda (a more limited inherently glossy palette) to mid-range electric where the options are delightfully and overwhelmingly limitless.

Fruity.

I spent several months testing glazes to find both the color and quality (“breaking” satin vs. glossy) that best suits my work and me.  There were several determining factors.  The first and most important is that since I spend more time around my work than anyone else, I wanted colors I enjoy.  I also wanted colors that work well together, that compliment each other.  Finally, I wanted a palette that gives my collectors options: some people prefer neutrals, some prefer brights, and I have both as well as what’s in between.

Autumnal.

Because my work is predominantly monochrome*, I don’t think it’s as recognized for its color because an individual piece isn’t particularly colorful (i.e. having multiple colors).  Though I am currently running some new tests to add stripes and dots of patterned color, “colorful” in my pots comes from their proximity to each other.  I love seeing which colors my customers pair, mix and match when they buy 2, 4 or 12 pieces.

Neutrals.

All of my glaze colors are warm-toned, meaning that even the cool colors (blue, purple and green) have yellow undertones.  The names I have given the nine colors are Ivory (an off-white that looks almost like leatherhard porcelain), Frost (the super pale turquoise that looks a bit like a celadon), Honeycomb (a pale, warm yellow), Lime (a fruity yellow-green), Rosa (a salmon-y, mahogany pink), Cornflower blue (a rich lighter blue), Grape (a warm, plum-y purple), Caramel (a very yummy gold brown) and Blackberry (a deep wine, purple-y red).
Naturals.

On most forms, the satin glaze is the most visible, but the interiors are lined with a glossy version of the outside color, so I really work with 18 glazes.  Some forms, like my bowls and serving pieces, reveal more of the glossy color.  I like the contrast of satin to shine, so in addition to keeping the food surfaces functional with a glossy glaze, it is an aesthetic choice too.

Romantic.

Choosing glaze colors is not like picking out paint (potters will sardonically laugh and nod at that statement) because there is chemistry, elemental change and heat involved.  Red and blue does not necessarily make purple in the clay world.  My color palette came from having a sense of colors I wanted ( a green, a purple, a red—one of the hardest colors to “get” in ceramics, etc.) and then testing to match that expectation with the possibilities paired with my clay, cost of materials, firing temperature and application, not to mention aesthetic goals.  As my husband would say, it’s tricky business.

Cools.

I gather inspiration for color from everywhere.  There are my “usual” sources (period clothing, Art Nouveau prints, Islamic architecture, etc.), but there are also more obscure suggestions for color, like the images at the beginning of this post.  Right now I’m liking the blue in the shadows of the snow, the transitional green from light to dark inside an avocado and I keep thinking of that orange that was in a room my husband and I stayed at in Iceland six years ago.

Festive.

I believe the color in my work is one of several elements which makes my pots unique.  I agree with my professor that color is personal, a way to relay an emotion or spark a memory.  It’s a fascinating subject.

*I tend to use one color or two similar colors on a piece because I feel this best shows off the form, where multiple colors tend to divide the form. Imagine a woman wearing a purple shirt, blue belt and yellow pants next to one wearing a purple dress.

Left: Altered, darted and footed.  Right: Cut and defined lip/neckline.

Left: All four in-progress.  Right: Handles and further definition.
The first two ladies complete with their slip-trailed deco.

I began this Corset series around six years ago (a story I’ll delve into at a different time) and though I don’t actually make them often, they have become somewhat of a signature form. This vessel idea began as corset-like, becoming more literal before morphing into something I think of now as more akin to upholstered furniture than vintage undergarment.

It was gratifying to spend the last week and a half (not at my computer) making some pots I just felt like making. The four are now complete and drying slowly in anticipation of joining other smaller pots yet to be made for a bisque firing.

The images above show some of the stages in the making process, minus the most dramatic image (because it didn’t occur to me till later to document it). These begin as straight-sided cylinders…subsequently altered, darted, built, added on, refined, defined, slip-trailed, slip-sponged and carved.

I am very pleased to announce, share or repeat that the Worcester Center for Crafts is re-opening this January!  Some of you may know about its closure, but I am now delighted to report that Enameling, Glass, Metals, Photography and CERAMICS (both wheel-throwing and handbuilding) studios will all begin classes the week of January 18th.

And after a year “off” from where I taught for over seven years, I will be back teaching Wednesday mornings and evenings! This news is nothing short of miraculous.  Please show your support by joining WCC’s email list here, taking a one-day workshop, attending exhibitions in the gallery, buying handmade in the gift shop, volunteering for events, and of course, signing up for a class the week of Thanksgiving!  Our community has much to be thankful for!

www.KiefferCeramics.etsy.com

I’m posting new work here, now and over the next couple weeks
for your holiday-purchasing-from-home pleasure!
Thank you for buying and giving, elegant and handmade.
www.KiefferCeramics.etsy.com