KenSwinson.com

Author: Ken

  • 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
      Fox Cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      deep green Opossum Cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      nose touching opossums cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      bird dog cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      mama opossum cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      opossum with acorn cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      rainbow goat cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      opossum with bird cup
    • handmade folk art style pottery cup by ken swinson
      opossum cup 1

    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!!!

  • 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
      fox admiring chickens cup
    • folk art pottery cup cow
    • folk art pot bear throwing pottery cup kentucky
      bear making pottery cup
    • folk art pottery cup goat with corn
      goat and corn cup
    • folk art pottery bear cups
      bear loves cups
    • folk art opossum pottery cup
      opossum cup 1
    • folk art opossum pottery cup
      opossum cup 2
    • folk art pottery flying pig
      flying pig cup
    • folk art pottery bunny
      bunny cup

  • 18 August 2023 pottery mini firing

    a few pots from my most recent mini-firing
    Swipe or click arrows to see them all

    • pottery cup with storm cloud designs
      storm cloud cup
    • colorful cup with goat and rainbow corn design
    • folk art pottery cup with bear on bicycle design colorful
      bear on bike cup
    • handmade pottery cup with goat and flying pig colorful design
      goat-flying pig cup
    • pottery cup with bunny rabbit design
      bunny cup
    • a folk art style pottery mug with an opossum design
      opossum cup
    • hand made cup with birds in cherry tree design
      bird cup
    • handmade cup with bear pouring tea design
      bear with teapot cup
    • folk art style pottery cup with goat and leaves design
      green goat cup

  • Some of my workshop pots with Mark Errol’s Colored spots technique

    two shelves with colorful pottery cups. 2 framed linocut prints are hanging over the shelves

    It’s been an action packed August so far. After 2 weeks making pots at Arrowmont (instead of painting) – i decided to re install a couple shelves at my studio at the Pendleton Art Center. If you have been looking for some pottery, I’ll have some new ones on the 25th at Final Friday.

    If you’d like a better look at my mini test firing of the cups I made at Mark Errol’s workshop-using his technique. swipe or click the arrows in the slideshow below

    • a colorful cup with rainbows and rain clouds
      rainbow and rainclouds
    • a white cup with a bear playing banjo-rainbows in the background
      bear with banjo
    • a colorful handmade cup with water, rainclouds and birds
      river and rainclouds
    • a colorful cup with rainclouds rainbows and birds
      dripping rainbow
    • a colorful cup with lots of blue and a rainbow
      blue sky rainbow and birds
    • a colorful cup with clouds
      rainclouds and trees
    • a colorful cup with clouds
      clouds and circles
    • a colorful cup with birds and rainbows
    • A red stoneware cup with white slip and a goat decal
      goat cup – a glaze test

    Thanks again Mark for all the new surface design techniques! Was happy to see that your clear looks great on the red clay body I’m currently using.

  • Workshop with Mark Errol and special guest Kathy King

    Greetings from Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts!

    I just wrapped up an amazing workshop learning from two of my pottery heroes (Mark Errol and Kathy King).

    group photo of happy students posing in the Arrowmont clay studio with superstar teachers, Mark Errol and Kathy King.

    It has been a dream come true meeting them and seeing Mark and Kathy’s work in real life. –sorry, photos on the internet just aren’t the same.

    artist ken swinson posing in front of a salt fired kiln with a pile of bisque pottery displayed inside it

    I have been on a pottery break, and can’t tell you how good it felt to have my hands back in clay for 5+ whole days. i ended up making 34 pots (that’s a lot in comparison to my normal speed)

    Every workshop I have taken at Arrowmont has been an incredible experience. It’s a perfect environment to push my creativity to places I could never reach by myself. The bears of Arrowmont make it a magical and special place.

    two baby bears playing in a tree. A human bear (artist Mark Errol) watching from the kitcher porch at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

    If you are in the Knoxville area, Mark and Kathy have a group exhibit, “Zero Lucks To Give” on display at the Arrowmont Gallery in Knoxville for the month of August. I was really thrilled to see their work in person and add these two cups to my collection!

    photo of two cups by mark errol and kathy king. they are displayed in front of a mirror, so you can see a few sides of the pottery. A poster promoting their exhibit is also in the background

    My heart is bursting, i’m so grateful to those who have made this experience possible for me!!! Thank you! Thank you! thank you! Stay tuned, i’ll have more to share soon.

  • Gallery of the month – website changes

    I recently removed my online gallery which archived over 20 years of my artwork.

    From now on, this gallery is going to change every month, and will include 12 hand picked artworks.

    Here are a few examples that I picked for the month of July
    Click any of the images (or use the menu above) to see the whole JULY GALLERY

    folk art abstract style country painting of 3 cows by a lake with a house in the background
    folk art abstract style painting of pigs and a cow in front of a barn with the american flag by kentucky artist ken swinson
    folk art abstract style painting of a man selling watermelon from the back of his truck

    click any image to see the whole gallery for this month

  • new painting – Hound Dog

    colorful abstract cubist folk art acrylic painting of a hound dog. there are birds in the trees and a house and barn in the background

    HOT OFF THE EASEL:
    my latest painting “Hound Dog”. 20×18″ acrylic on canvas.

    The Original will be available to view in person at the Pendleton Art Center on 26 May, 2023.

    prints are available NOW. Click the image for more details

  • New Painting – Under The Pear Tree

    abstract folk art style painting of a goat standing under a pear tree. A bird is standing on the goat's horn talking to another bird standing in the tree.

    it’s been awhile since I’ve painted on canvas, so I’m super excited to show off my latest acrylic painting:

    Under the Pear Tree 14″x34″ Acrylic on canvas.

    The Original is not available until tomorrow (Friday 28 April 2023) from 5-9pm at The Pendleton Art Center, but signed cotton rag archival prints are available online now. Click the image for more details.

    Hope to see you tomorrow!

  • Midnight Snack Pigs in Corn – New Acrylic painting!

    it’s been awhile since I’ve painted on canvas, so I’m super excited to show off my latest acrylic painting: Midnight Snack: Pigs In Corn. After working in colored pencils, this feels big- 18″x36″ inches. If this is something that you might like to have for your art collection, the original will be available for view (and sale) next friday, 28 April 2023 at the Pendleton Art Center! I’m also selling prints on 100% cotton rag paper with archival inks right now. Stay tuned, more coming soon!

  • Birds And Blossoms limited edition linocut print

    printmaking studio with handmade wood etching press

    It’s nice to be back home and in my studio (with my rusty/trusty press!

    carved linocut of birds in a flowering tree. ready to ink

    I just finished carving a spring inspired linocut, and am ready to print

    cotton paper with an embossing after going through the press

    I’m printing with a slightly different technique; using cotton paper and etching blankets.
    This creates a beautiful embossing on the back of the paper after going through the press.

    Just in time for spring!
    Birds and Blossoms

    Limited Edition (45) block print with dark blue ink on 100% cotton paper.  Hand printed with an old fashioned press.  Signed and numbered edition of 45.  Artwork is 6×8″  on an  8×10″ sheet of 100% acid free cotton paper.

    There is a some slight variation with the ink color and texture, this is due to the handcrafted nature of printmaking, and part of what makes prints special.

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