KenSwinson.com

Category: kiln-opening

  • 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

  • Kiln firing 24 January 2023

    I just opened the mini kiln, and welcomed 8 new cups to the world.
    Some of the cups are decorated with an experimental woodcut transfer process.

    This is a significant firing, because it is the FINAL FIRING for this season. I won’t be making any more pottery until Summer 2023.

    swipe or use arrows to see all the pottery

    • handmade cup with woodcut underglaze transfers of goat
    • handmade cup with woodcut underglaze transfers of goat and sheep
    • handmade cup with woodcut underglaze transfers of goat and sheep
    • handmade cup with folk art style cardinal surface design
    • handmade cup with folk art style cardinal surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with folk art surface design of a horse and country house
    • handmade stoneware cup with folk art pig and flowers surface design. there is a heart inbetween the two pigs
    • handmade cup with folk art style decoration of goats and plants

    If you’d like to see them (and more) in person. They will be on display this friday (jan 27th) at the Pendleton Art Center – Cincinnati.

  • 2023-01-21 Kiln Opening

    I had a small kiln firing last night (8 cups – 1 plate)

    Here are the results!
    Use the arrows or swipe to see them all

    • handmade stoneware oval plate with sheep dog chasing sheep surface design
      Sheep Dog Plate
    • handmade stoneware cup with bear taking photos of bunnies design
      Bear and Bunnies Cup
    • handmade stoneware cup depicting fox taking photos of sheep
      Fox and Sheep Cup
    • handmade stoneware cup with bear having a tea party design
      Tea Party Bear Cup
    • handmade stoneware cup with fox and hound surface design
      Fox and the Hound Cup
    • handmade stoneware cup depicting chickens with yellow background
      Chickens Cup
    • handmade stoneware cup with dog making pottery surface design
      Pottery Dog Cup
    • handmade stoneware cup with terrier and yellow cat surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with goat woodcut surface design
      Goat Woodcut Cup

    It’s really hard to get an idea of what a 3d cup looks like from a photo. A video with a 360 view is a little bit better. Seeing them in person-and being able to pick them up and drink from them is still best.

    For your reference, I sell cups for $45 and plates for $75. They are only available in person NO ONLINE SALES. You need to pick them up to ‘know’ if it’s the right pot for you. You can find them either on my front porch, or at my studio at the Pendleton Art Center on Final Fridays and by appointment.

  • Mini Kiln Opening 14 January 2023

    • handmade stoneware plate in an oval shape decorated with 3 horses, a house and barn in the background
    • handmade stoneware cup with goats in weeds surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with surface design of yellow cats sewing a quilt
    • handmade stoneware cup with bears holding dove, heart and coffee cup
    • handmade stoneware cup with cats playing guitar, bass and fiddle
    • handmade stoneware cup with sheep and goat surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with yellow cat and bird surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with cow surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup decorated with a house, dog cat and fish surface design

    photos from todays’s kiln firing. swipe or use the arrows to see them all!

  • Friday Night Throwing pots

    First time I’ve been in on the wheel for 2023. (yes, this is my idea of a wild and fun friday night)

    I’ve been working removing pots from the wheel with my hands-instead of using bats. Still smooshing some of them, but getting better!

    Will trim and add handles tomorrow. Hope you all have a great weekend!

  • screen print clay transfer fail

    photo of a screen print studio

    The new year isn’t starting out the way I had hoped.

    ceramic screen print underglaze transfers

    Spent the day making screen print underglaze transfers based on two of my block prints, only for them to be a disappointment. Oh well, will try again another time.

    screen print transfer on an unfired stoneware mug

    Hope your year is going better than mine!

    UPDATE:

    Sorry for being a crybaby earlier when my project did not work on the first try. In my experience, neither pottery OR printmaking work perfectly on the first try. Not sure why I thought combining the two would be easy.

    After a little more practice, The transfers are a little bit better. Will make more pots and try again later. Thanks again everyone for the encouragement!

  • last kiln firing of 2022

    I had a very small kiln firing to wrap up 2022.

    2022 was a great year for pottery. I learned a lot and made a lot of pots. To end the year, I had a very small kiln firing. Here are the results!

    • sheep dog photographer cup
    • sewing bear cup
    • old washington cup
    • fox pitcher
    • sheep dog pitcher
    • us 62 cup

    click arrows or swipe to see all the photos

  • Kiln Opening 12 December 2022

    new pottery from my recent kiln opening – swipe or use arrows to see them all

    • handmade stoneware cup with bears making pottery surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with goat surface design
    • stoneware cup with chicken surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with bears having tea party surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with goat surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with dove and peace symbol surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with cat taking photo of dog surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with purple flower and bee surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with rabbit surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with flying pig surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with cardinal surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with cow surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with purple peace dove surface design
    • stoneware cup with dog and cat ballet/photographer design
    • handmade stoneware cup with fox surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with sheep surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with unicorn surface design
    • handmade stoneware cup with US 62 underglaze transfer surface design

  • More Test pots

    After almost 3 years of working in porcelain, I’m exploring a new clay/glaze combination. It’s a dark red stoneware made here in Kentucky. I’m able to combine my love of clay, carving AND PAINTING for this new surface design.

    Bear making pottery cup
    bunny with flowers cup
    peace goats with berries cup
    cardinal cup
    yellow cat cup
    yellow cat cup
    US Route 62 cup

  • Test results are in!!!

    I’ve been trying something new with clay, and going through some trial and error to get the clay/glaze combination to work right.

    I finally have the chemistry working! Here are my latest test results:

    Bird Cup 20oz
    handmade stoneware cup with decorative rabbits flowers and a heart. made by kentucky artist ken swinson
    rabbit cup 21oz
    handmade stoneware cup decorated with two horses, flowers and a heart design
    horse cup 24oz

    they are all food/microwave safe. As always, they are not available online, you will have to visit my studio in person to add one to your collection!