I heard the call for green, and after much testing, have responded with this new, light, mint-y, spring-y green, my fourth new color for 2012. I’ve also been working on new forms (batter bowls and teapots with saucers, both with stripe-y underbellied handles inspired by this teapot), and playing with familiar forms, per my usual tinkering (clover cups, bowls, vases, and flower bricks). These lovelies and many more have been, or soon will be, added to my Etsy shop and Gallery store for spring shopping and gifting. I love spring, and I sure love color, so it’s fun to see my studio in bloom!

Click each event above for more details, or drop me an email
for more information to me at KiefferCeramics@gmail.com. Hope to see some of you!

The Pottery Invitational Show & Sale at the Worcester Center for Crafts (where I have coincidentally been teaching adult classes since 2001!) is April 27th – 29th! I’m so pleased to be a part of this great two and a half day exhibition and sale that was curated by fellow potters Hayne Bayless and Hannah Niswonger. The show comprises a fantastic group of twenty-two studio potters from New England who will be standing side-by-side with their work for the weekend, making this an exceptional event! Visit the link to read all about events within the event, details, and times here. Artists include Kirsten Bassion, Maya Machin, Hayne Bayless, Michael McCarthy, Dan Bellow, Hannah Niswonger, Dwo Wen Chen, Tom O’Malley, Marty Fielding, Rob Sieminski, Naoko Gomi, Brian Taylor, Louise Harter, Kate Doody, Robbie Heidinger, Sam Taylor, Diana Thomas, Jim Lawton, Tom White, Jeffrey Lipton, Adero Willard, and myself. It’s a must attend event for my fellow New Englanders!

From the top, in reverse chronology: 2001-present, Artist-in-Residency and teaching at the Worcester Center for Crafts with Tom O’Malley. 1998-2001: Graduate school at Ohio University with Brad Schwieger, Joe Bova, Chuck McWeeny, Boomer Moore, and Vince Burke. 1997-98 Artist-in-Residency at the Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts with Pete Pinnell and Bill Griffith. 1996-97: Artist-in-Residency/Assistant at Plum Tree Pottery with John Glick. 1995-96: Internship at Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum with Bryan Van Benschoten. 1993-95: Undergraduate school at the N.Y.S.C.C. at Alfred University with John Gill, Andrea Gill, Val Cushing, and Steve Rolf. 1991-93: Associate degree at Montgomery College, Rockville with Bob Devers, Don Montano, and Kevin Hluch.

For me, mentors are artists/ aesthetic coaches/ professors/ advisers/ career counsellors who I worked with for a couple days to several years; who offered me crucial support, guidance, and constructive criticism; and who influenced me as a maker, full-time artist, and instructor. I could spend pages posting quotes and sharing how each of these artists helped me ‘in the moment’ and over the years, but for now I thought it would be nice to pay a pictorial tribute. (I’ll have to do another post of peers, friends, and loved ones who I also consider big influencers, trouble-shooters, and butt-kickers.) Ironically, I don’t believe that what an artist makes can offer any real clues into how they teach and critique, but I’m lucky that I’ve had such an amazing collection of thoughtfully talented givers help me who are equally talented makers. I’m fortunate, and very appreciative.

Just a quick note with a fun collage of my plates to let you know about two upcoming shows. At the Penland School of Crafts Gallery in NC, I’ll have plates in their Artist Plate Exhibition, March 20th – May 6th, which features “a collection of artist-made dinner plates and related insights about food.” On the other side of the country in Seattle, for the four days only of NCECA, I’ll have plates in the La Mesa Exhibition with Santa Fe Clay at the ACT Theatre, March 28th – 31st. This annual exhibition with a place setting each by 150 potters is sure a sight to behold.

If you understandably can’t attend either, you can always check out the plates available in my online shop here, and see more of my exhibition schedule here.

Next up, Memorial weekend, May 26th, 27th, and 28th, I’ll be close to home for this shorter, three-day hands-on workshop at Snow Farm in Williamburg, MA.

If you’re raring for a five-day hands-on workshop, I hope to see you in the Catskills July 12th – 16th at Sugar Maples in Hunter, NY. And finally, September 29th and 30th, I’ll be out in Lawrence, KS for a two-day demonstration at Bracker’s Good Earth Clays.

If you’d like me to come to your area and there is a venue nearby where workshops are offered, please do pass along my information as that’s frequently how they come about! As always, you can see where I’m teaching and exhibiting next with links for more information on my Schedule Page, as well as review the full list of my hands-on and demo workshops into 2013 on my Workshops Page. Hope to see you!

interest. I’m on it, and either you are too, or I’m guessing you’ve never heard of it. Technically it is yet another ‘thing’ to do online, but it’s different (really!), and I’m completely addicted and want you to be too. Actually, it’s perfect if you’re someone like me who frequently bookmarks images into folders to your browser, which you can only see if each one is opened. So! Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board. A place for you to ‘pin’ what ‘interests’ you, thus ‘Pinterest.’ You have your own page where you can have as many pinboards as you’d like on which to pin images you find on the web, repin favorite images others have pinned, and upload your own new images in whatever way strikes your fancy.

I use Pinterest primarily to bookmark influences for inspiration, organize images for future blog posts and Power Point presentations, and minimally to dream about home renovation ideas and fashion purchases (which also inspire pots). Plus, I’m an image lover. Who doesn’t like pretty pictures of fabulous objects?

I’ve been ‘pinning,’ as they call it, for about six months and seem to have accumulated 20 separate pinboards of interests with over 900 images, including Form & Pattern, Color, Couture, Oldies but Goodies, Interiors & Objects, Props to Props, as well as three different ceramics boards (vintage/historical, studio, and industrial design).

So, you can learn more about Pinterest from the NY Times, request an invitation from Pinterest, and follow my pinboards. Below are some recent favorite pix, one each from most of my pinboards. Feel free to pin images from my website and online shops to your boards! Happy Pinning!

Valentine’s Day 2012 happens to mark the two-year anniversary of my DVD release! The ongoing appreciation the video has garnered by fellow makers and instructors from very near (fellow Bay Staters) to quite far (Australia) fills me with warm fuzzies. Thank you so much for all your support! Wanna find out what all the hoopla’s about? See the trailer, read past viewer comments, and get your copy of Surface Decoration: Suede to Leatherhard right here! XO

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.)