ken

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Work In Progress – December 2022 surface design

sorry i haven’t checked in awhile, and am late replying to any messages. I was c aught off guard when I learned that Final Friday at the Pendleton Art Center Cincinnati is going to be Dec 16 (instead of final friday) so I have been working double time trying to make enough cups to have new work to show.
I have a total of 30 finished cups here are the 5 I carved today. Hope to finish carving the last 9 tomorrow, and then it will be a crunch to color them all. Nothing like a deadline to see what is possible! Hope to see you next friday!
i just opened the kiln, and didn’t have any explosions (thats a good thing)!
OmyGosh! I have a BUNCH of cups to paint and fire before final friday (bumped up a week to 16 Decemeber) at the Pendleton Art Center Cincinnati.

perfect grey day to paint cups. The colors will be bright and beautiful after going through the kiln–4 down, only 40 more to go!
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Work In Progress – making cups in Old Washington

A few carved pots ready for the kiln–after that: COLOR! Stay tuned!
one of the challenges of sharing photos of a 3d object on social media is that the surface design wraps around the cup and a viewer can never see all the artwork at once. It’s been an adventure coming from a 2d background (painting+printmaking) but a fun way to tell a story that unfolds as the viewer picks the cup up and explores the decoration.
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Pottery on the porch – Frontier Christmas

Didn’t expect to be sign painting this morning:
but we had a storm last night and the wind and water damaged my sign. Fortunately, no pots were harmed!
I’ll have pots on my front porch today as part of 56th Annual Frontier Christmas in old Washington KY from 10-4pm.
Y’ALL!!!!! That was amazing!!!
I sold EVERY SINGLE NEW STONEWARE CUP before noon. Most of the porcelain found its home too. A sincere thank you to my friends and patrons who make it possible for me to live my dream of being a full time artist.
Now that I’m out of pottery. I have to push really hard if I’m going to have anything to offer for my next show on December 16th. Between now and then, if you need me for anything , i’ll be in the clay studio making pots!
Thanks again!
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Coffee Cup Bear – Colored Pencil

When I’m not in the studio making pottery, I’m trying to learn to draw with colored pencils. Of course, pottery themes keep finding their way into my work. I don’t have a pot problem! lol

Hope you all have a great day!

Drawn with faberCastell Polychromos

  • dark Cadmium Yellow 108
  • earth Green Yellowish 168
  • light Pthalo Green 162
  • burnt Ochre 187
  • india red 192
  • helio Turquoise 155
  • pine Green 267
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if i was smart–work in progres

if i was smart, I would spend the next week finishing the pottery that I’ve already started
instead, last night, i threw new pitchers and cups. Today, they need trimming and handles

hopeless pot(tery) head!

Spent the day trimming and adding handles, threw a few more cups too. Some white slip on 3 of the 4 pitchers. Will be ready to carve tomorrow. going to try to have these ready by the 16th!

Spent the day trimming and adding handles, threw a few more cups too. Some white slip on 3 of the 4 pitchers. Will be ready to carve tomorrow.

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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
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November work in progress

threw some cups on the wheel, and added their handles
some work in progress: red stoneware. I’m painting the exterior with white slip. will carve line designs that allow the red clay to show through.
I was able to carve 4 of the 5 cups with bunny horse and bird designs. Now the cups will dry and go into the kiln for a bisque firing. After that
I bisque fired 3 cups then painted colors with thinned underglaze…layering them like i would watercolors.
Then dipped the cups in a clear glaze–now firing them to cone 6.
Should have test final results tomorrow. The colors should be a LOT more vivid. This is a new technique for me, so I’m looking forward to learning how these materials behave.

stay tuned to see how they look after glaze firing!

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us 62 cups – work in progress

Me painting slip on the cups I made yesterday. They’ll be ready to decorate tomorrow.
some work in progress big 20 oz cups. They have handles slip and line work. Now they dry out and go into the killn. After that is the fun part: color!
I’m working on an art project about US 62, one of the first highways in the USA: Niagara Falls, NY to El Paso, TX.
I made some decals for cups, and plan to give the finished cups to different people that I meet along the route during my travels.
The cups still need to be fired, I’ll also grunge the surface: to make the cup look old and rusty. Stay tuned!

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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!