Studio Cycles Pictorial 2015

31 December 2015

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Kristen Kieffer Arabesque mod tumbler in action

Kristen Kieffer stamped mug with blue flowers in progress

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe clover cups Stripe Dot Floral in progress

Kristen Kieffer dessert plate and cup in action

Kristen Kieffer Arabesque mod tumblers in action

Kristen Kieffer dogwood stamp and sketches

Kristen Kieffer dogwood yunomi with lady bug in progress

Kristen Kieffer standing to throw in home studio

Kristen Kieffer loaded kiln and empty ware shelves

Kristen Kieffer new glaze color, Buttercup Yellow

Kristen Kieffer slip-trail detail on covered jar in progress

Kristen Kieffer stamped cupcake mug in progress

Kristen Kieffer pierced fruit basket in progress

Kristen Kieffer stamped mug with hedgehog

Kristen Kieffer stamping mugs in home studio

Kristen Kieffer Super Stripe Deluxe Clover cups

Kristen Kieffer with workshop participants from View Art Center, Old Forge, NY

Kristen Kieffer wall pillows in progress

This is my fifth, year-end roundup of in-progress and in-action images from my studio and of my pots, plus a workshop image for good measure. It’s fun for me to look back on the collection of images I’ve shared, and reflect on what’s continued from past years and what was new in 2015 for me as a maker (lots!). These are just a selection of favorites I posted throughout the year on my Facebook and Instagram. As with past years, it’s not an order, it’s a cycle.

As always, thank you for your continued support of my work and studio.
A happy, healthy New Year to you and yours!

Clover Origin & Deluxe

15 July 2015

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Kristen Kieffer Deluxe Clover cups, 'Super Stripes'

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe Clover cups, 'Dot Florals'

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe Clover cups, 'Arabesque mods'

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe Clover cups, 'Stripe Dot Florals'

These cups start, as most of my pots do, on the potter’s wheel. I then alter each form by running my finger up the outside of the wall in four places. This creates a gently lobed lip line (see image below), all the more accentuated when filled with coffee or tea, which is why I named them ‘Clover’ cups.

I began this cup shape when I did a residency at Guldagergård in Skælskør, Denmark years ago. It was a self-imposed challenge to make a simpler surface (the original had spare slip-trail deco, pictured left) in part because I was in Scandinavia where design is sleek and minimal, but also because most of my pots were completely stamped at that point. I purposefully didn’t take stamps with me wanting to investigate what I would do with form minus that deco element. They were also inspired by the Corset (vase) Series I had begun the year prior, which is altered in a similar way. (The vase pictured left was the first ‘vertical’ in the series that began as a lower, wider horizontal form. I made and fired both of these in Denmark, and they are now part of my collection.)

Needless to say, this cup has evolved. Not only have I used this form as a decoration playground, I’ve significantly refined the shape while keeping the lobed technique and tankard, flat foot style. These are more time-consuming than my stamped cups because of the unique design considerations. The form itself provides a ‘frame’ within which I can make each side of the same cup different and collage lots of layers, thus I refer to them as ‘Deluxe.’

New ‘Deluxe Clover cups’ are now available in my online shop in four different styles,
with beachy stripes, joyful polka dots, and candy colors!

‘Valenspringtine’!

27 January 2015

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Thoughts of spring and Valentine color –specifically looking beyond winter– is what inspired my work over the last six weeks, buoying my spirits during the cold, short days of December in Massachusetts. This Friday, I will be posting over 40 cups, plates, and bowls of my foray into what I’ve been calling ‘Valenspringtine’ (a mashup of ‘spring’ and Valentine’) pots into my online shop. Being surrounded by candy pink and cherry red, and new collage-like patterns has certainly helped me with the winter doldrums, and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have. Check out my latest blog post to read a bit more about the new here.

40+ Valenspringtine pots available Friday, January 30th
at Noon EST in my online Etsy shop!

Happy Valenspringtine! ♥

Kristen Kieffer Large plate Arabesque mod in Red

Kristen Kieffer Yunomi w. Honey bee and Colorized flower, Pollinator series

Kristen Kieffer Yunomi Colorized cherries w. Green stripes

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe clover cup Valenspringtine

Kristen Kieffer Tumbler Arabesque mod in Pink

Kristen Kieffer Yunomi Red tulips and Pink stripes

Kristen Kieffer Yunomi Valentine striped hot air balloons

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe clover cup w. Stripes

Kristen Kieffer Large plate Floral Stripe Dot set

‘Valenspringtine’ In Progress

13 January 2015

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Kristen Kieffer yunomi (in progress) w. flowers, Colorized series

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe clover cup (in progress), Arabesque modern series

Kristen Kieffer Deluxe clover cup (in progress) w. stripes and polka dots

Kristen Kieffer yunomi (in progress) w. Honey bees, Pollinator series

Pictured are my in-progress, Deluxe clover cups and Yunomi
at the leatherhard stage with completed decoration.

December tends to be a quieter time in my studio, a month I try to use for play and development in the midst of ongoing deadlines. For the last six weeks, I’ve focused on color, specifically more.

Around 2012, I began to add hand-brushed color in my stamp patterns, from bits to a bit more. Since this past spring, I’ve been hand-brushing several colors into one or two whole stamps (an image stamp vs. an abstract pattern) creating what I refer to as my Colorized Series. For me, the dazzling color from one completely colored image creates a focal point. The surrounding, uncolored stamps feel wistful and softer, like memories. Hand-coloring every stamp would be prohibitively time-consuming, but more importantly, full color on every image would feel commercial. I want to entice the cup’s owner to turn it ’round in the hand to find, appreciate, and ponder each honey bee (above), for example, colored and uncolored.

The delightful reception to my new Colorized cups encouraged me to delve deeper into cherry reds and cupcake pinks during my December play month. I’m a huge lover of color, but the technical logistics of color in ceramics, in addition to my general glacial aesthetic growth (in no small part because I allow myself to be a precise maker) slowed my figuring of how exactly to bring color to my pots. Suffice it to say, color is happening!

This particular color palette and my ongoing desire for it to be spring year-round (which does not happen here in Massachusetts) lead me to spend my six weeks of play on Valentine-inspired cups, a new series with colorful shapes I’m calling Arabesque Mod (a nod to my love of Islamic art, juiced with contemporary color and mod flair), new flower stamps, and as many polka dots and stripes as I could fit on a cup (above).

The ‘Valentine/Spring in Feb’ or ‘Valenspringtine’ cups, tumblers, and few tableware pieces will be listed in my online shop on Friday, January 30th at noon EST.