KenSwinson.com

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  • Seth Green Spout workshop at Arrowmont

    I was very fortunate to spend last week at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts to learn from Seth Green . It was a wild week and felt like pottery boot camp, so i wasn’t able to think much about video storytelling, but did get enough footage with my phone to give you a little peek at what the experience was like.

    I cant recommend Arrowmont or Seth’s workshop enough. If you EVER get a chance to do either, DO IT. I can guarantee you will be glad that you did!

    Thanks again!

  • Washington Hall – linocut block print

    greetings from the log cabin print shop in Historic old washington, ky! today, we are going to take a sketch from spring, and fine tune it into a design for a notecard.

    design transferred to linoleum. now time for the fun part: carving!

    this one has some details…thank goodness for my tiny little gouge.
    carving text is the WORST! especially o’s. grateful that guttenburg invented “movable type” so printers wouldnt have to carve every letter…unless they want to be fancy, like me. lol!
    finished carving…with 10 minutes to spare! should we do a test proof?
    ok! lets mix some ink and see what we’ve done!
    hot off the press!  
    washington hall – old washington, ky

    click the link below for a better look and more information- if you’d like to add one of these linocut notecards to your art collection

  • Arrowmont inspired cups – Work In Progress

    I’m settling back in my studio after 2 amazing weeks at Arrowmont. i’m haven’t used any of the new techniques I learned yet, but my bear encounters inspired a new pattern for my cups and plates. Stay tuned! Hope to fire them soon!

    Thanks again for the opportunity to study at Arrowmont—I feel so inspired and ready to make more art!

  • Surface design with Adero Willard – Arrowmont Workshop

    A lot of you know I’m a self taught potter-never had formal instruction. Thanks to a good friend/patron, I’m taking a pottery workshop by Adero Willard at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee…my first pottery class!!!

    Already, the workshop has been a transformative experience for me -and the way I think about ceramic surface design. It’s been intense, working in the studio from morning until we are kicked out of at midnight.

    I have to process the firehose of information she is sharing with us before I share any pictures of the pots we are making, but look who came to join us for lunch today!!!

    I’ve never seen a bear in the ‘wild’ before. It was a magical experience! This place is an artist dream come true!

    I decided the bears were my muse, and I used it as a model for some of my pots during Adero Willard ‘s workshop. These are early pots from the workshop:

    An early pot from the workshop:


    At this point in the workshop, i was learning about layers, wax resist and slip trails using Amaco Brent underglazes. I was really curious about firing the underglaze and redware pottery at that temperature (cone 2)…it comes out very lovely! 

    More pots from the workshop:

    The main lesson (of MANY) that I took from the workshop was to be curious (what if?) and to experiment (try it!) while in the studio. While remembering to keep records and notes, so that we could duplicate the successful combinations, and avoid the not so nice ones.

    If you are familiar with my work, you know this kind of mark making is WAY out of my comfort zone. It wasn’t easy to loosen up and just work with pattern and colors, but it sure was FUN, once I got into it! Don’t worry, i’ll still make cute little bears,goats and bunnys, but there’s a good chance there may be some new pattern and colors in future work.

    a big thank you to everyone who made this wonderful experience possible!

  • An artist collaboration and opportunity to support Maysville Empty Bowls

    I have been experimenting with ways to print on porcelain. After firing, I sent my VERY FIRST porcelain test tile to the Kentucky artist, Greta Gundersen. She assembled a beautiful necklace with a black cord, silver beads, jump ring, clasp and few of my other handmade porcelain beads.

    I LOVE it! It’s beautiful and unique. Neither of us wear jewelry. It’s a fun and experimental work, and we don’t want to sell it. Greta and I thought we could give the necklace away as a way to help raise money and awareness for Maysville’s annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser.

    Empty Bowls is a grassroots movement by artists and crafts people in cities and towns around the world to raise money for food related charities to care for and feed the hungry in their communities.  Last year, Maysville’s Empty Bowls raised $7200 for the Mason County Food Bank.

    If you would like a chance to win the necklace and/or support Maysville Empty Bowls, You can use the ‘add to cart’ button to make a contribution. For every $5 contribution, we will put your name in the 14 April 2022 drawing for the Ken/Greta’s jewelry collaboration. (If you contribute $20, we will enter your name 4 times, etc.)

    This is just for fun. Neither of us are going to profit in any way from this. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Maysville Empty Bowls.

    Thanks for supporting Maysville Empty Bowls, and good luck!

    UPDATE: we raised a total of $115 for Maysville Empty Bowls, and the winner of the jewelry was:

    Congratulations Sara! Thank you EVERYONE for supporting Empty Bowls!

  • Daffodils in Augusta with friends

    In Augusta, KY, getting ready to paint Dafodyls with my Plein air buddy Sue Ellen Gorman
    Here’s my underpainting. Color time!
    Working on the colors…it’s at that difficult stage. Time to pull it all together
    I am really struggling. Don’t let these innocent looking flowers fool you. They are little yellow monsters.
    A day painting is never a waste of time..

    Enjoyed being outside with friends. Didn’t get a painting, but learned a lot about what NOT to do when painting flowers.

    I’m sorry if I upset any of you when I shared yesterday’s video of me wiping the painting from the canvas. I fail at paintings ALL THE TIME, and I’m used to it. I know a lot of people never give themselves a chance to take a risk and develop as artists, because they think everything they do has to be perfect–or don’t make anything at all. sure, it feels great when a painting succeeds, but the failures are where I learn and grow as an artist.

    On a more cheery note, here are more pictures from the same day. Honestly, I could have painted the Sistine chapel, but nothing is more valuable to me than a sunny spring day outside visiting with long time artist friends. Thanks Elizabeth Kordis Laskey and Sue Ellen Gorman for sharing the day with me!

  • STICKERS!!!

    I believe that art is for everyone. I love to see my art being shared and part of everyday life. Stickers are fun because it’s a way to put art on all sorts of things: notebook, thermos, car, guitar cover, skateboard, etc. 

    These stickers are all printed on vinyl with an outdoor durable ink. They should not fade in rain, snow and sunlight.

    You can see the latest stickers in the STICKER section of the PRINTMAKING menu, or scroll below.

  • 3 Goats – New Woodcut – and a little website housekeeping

    I’m excited that printmaking season is here!
    Here is my LATEST WOODCUT
    3 Goats

    woodcut of 3 goats jumping around hills by kentucky artist ken swinson

    It’s a nice sized woodcut (20inches wide!) and the blue looks wonderful with this design!
    I’m offering them for $45 right now.
    Click the image above for a better look and more details on how to order.

    Now, the housekeeping part:
    If you visit the PRINTMAKING section of my gallery, you probably noticed that a lot of pieces are no longer on display.
    To welcome the new printmaking season, I retired the majority of older prints–to make room for the new!
    Stay tuned! there’s more coming soon!

  • Kiln Firing 6 February 2022

    I just opened the kiln–i had some wonderful goodies, like these little cream pitchers. I don’t know why they got me so excited, but they sure are cute!

    Another exciting thing is that I’ve ben experimenting with greens, and have some new results.

    Here’s a gallery that shows EVERYTHING that was in today’s firing.
    Click the arrows or swipe to see all the different pieces from the firing

    • cardinal jar 2 – NFS
    • Fox Jar – NFS
    • cardinal Jar 1 – NFS
    • fox cup 1 – sold
    • cardinal cup
    • fox cup 2
    • Fox Cup 3 – Sold
    • Horse Cup
    • flower cup
    • dog cup
    • bird cup
    • cow cup
    • Squirrel Side Plate
    • Goat Side Plate
    • Leaf Creamer
    • Heart With Leaf Creamer
    • flower creamer
    • berry creamer 4
    • berry creamer
    • berry creamer 3
    • berry creamer 2
    • Heart Fruit Creamer 2
    • HeartFruitCreamer
    • Heart Blooms Creamer
    • Vines Small Plate
    • Vertical Vines Small Plate
    • lime Green Flower Plate
    • Green Flowers Side Plate

    if you are looking for a unique Valentine’s Day gift, one of these pots might be the perfect thing for you!

    I don’t ship or sell online. Pottery should be seen (and picked up) in person before you can truly know if it’s ‘the one’ for you. You can see them in person this Wednesday (February 9th) from noon- 6pm at my studio (studio 400) at the Pendleton Art Center in downtown Cincinnati. Contact me me for more information–or you can visit this facebook link to RSVP:

    https://www.facebook.com/events/4834612979908955

    All pots are porcelain, lead free, food safe, and can be used in the microwave

    Prices for your reference:

    Cream Pitchers$25
    Cups and Side plates $40
    Spice Jars are no longer available

  • Feels Good To Be Back

    Feels good to be back at the Pendleton Art Center! If you are going to be in the downtown Cincinnati area between now and 4pm, you are welcome to stop by! I’m on the 4the floor.