My most recent solo exhibition “You and I” is  currently on display at the Pendleton Center for the Arts in Pendleton, Oregon.  The gallery space is gorgeous with restored dental molding, huge windows and bamboo flooring.  Installation was an absolute pleasure.  This work is a combination of new and renewed pieces.  It is a continuation of my explorations of connections with self, other and environment

With the addition of six more inches of snow last Friday I decided to take some time to bake for a few of my favorite pots. Joshua and I have a cup collection we try to add a few each year and replace the ones broken by the pets (recent casualties: Jeremy Kane, Jen Allen and Sarah Jaeger…it’s been a rough year for pottery in our household). After seeing this post over at Not Martha I’ve been mulling over the idea of creating a set of perched cookies for some of my resident cups/yunomis/mugs.

We rotate through our favorite cups but the front-runners for the last month or so are the works of Steven Colby and Emily Schroeder.  Cups of contradiction at first glance, one dark the other light, terracotta vs. porcelain, hand-built opposite wheel- thrown.  But for all of the contradictions there are similarities, a perfectly balanced weight, carefully considered surface and most importantly each of these cups is infused with the absolutely inimitable character of the maker.

Unknown to me, Steven, Emily and I were students at Alfred University at the same time, it wasn’t until years later that our paths re-crossed.  Steven during my time at the Carbondale Clay Center and Emily a year later while pursuing my MFA at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

After years of successfully maintaining a studio practice in Carbondale, Colorado Steven is currently a graduate student at Penn State School of Visual Arts.  His carefully thrown pots of humble earthenware are adorned with layer upon layer of painted slips, creating motifs from the simple to the delightfully complex.   Imbued with generosity the pieces reveal themselves, bit by bit over time as they are subsumed into daily routines.

The evidence of the hand in Emily’s work acts in much the same manner.  The intimacy of the cup, an intimate object to begin with, is heightened through the mark making left by the artist’s fingertips.  Each unique pinch and release of the makers hand is preserved, a particular moment in time captured.  In this way her pots seem to breath.   Her surfaces are conceived with sensitivity to the forms  they enrich.  Emily recently taught at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Canada.  She is currently the new Director of Artist Programs at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago.

To see more of Steven Colby’s work please visit: http://stevencolby.wordpress.com/

For more information about Emily Schroeder: http://www.emilyschroeder.com/index.html

This site has tons of useful information about decorating with royal icing: http://sweetopia.net/

We have been using Ayumi’s pots for years and I have always wanted an excuse to visit her remodeled church turned studio/gallery (gorgeous!). And as long time admirers of Kristen’s work we were more then ready to see her pots in person.  Long story short…we made the drive, had a wonderful time and came home with a bag full of exciting new crockery.

Including the aforementioned cake stand.  I had to have this object the moment I laid my eyes on it.  The colors, patterns and painstaking details as well as absolutely meticulous craftsmanship may as well have been a neon sign blinking “Buy Me”.  The entire car ride home I mused and debated about what concoction could possibly be worthy of such a stand.

This of course was back in October and that admirable cake stand has been sitting nakedly on my shelf ever since, until this weekend, when I decided to grace it with a five-layer coconut cake made from this decadent recipe.  I highly, highly recommend making this cake but must warn that between the cake and the frosting it uses six..yes six! sticks of butter (realistically this cake stand needed and deserved at least six sticks of butter).

And now my question is: can potters be held accountable for the extra gym time required for indulging in amazing cake that had to be made for an amazing cake stand or should I stick to buying tea cups from here on out?

For more information about Kristen Kieffer please visit: http://kiefferceramics.com/