Sunday Funnies

Garage Sale Days

I have been buried for the last few weeks going through my condo from bottom to top, trying to be ruthless in pulling out stuff for a block sale I'll be participating in this Saturday.  The association rules at my condo prevent me from having garage sales, so I have to horn in on other friends' sales.  Fortunately, my artist friend Marsha and I are on the same page these days - purge, purge, purge.  I was doing well until I got to my studio.  I have so much trouble overcoming the "I can do something with that" syndrome.  As I put it, I'm suffering separation anxiety with all those bits and pieces and doodads and half-finished projects.  This is going to be a long process ...

Nevertheless, I have found some nice pretties for the sale, especially these Mad Men inspired items.  Although I'm only a casual viewer, I do relate to the Mad Men series because (age spoiler here) I worked at an ad agency during the exact time frame that the series started ( I was only 10!).  And I have a few legitimately vintage '60s pieces that could have been used as props for the show.

I also collect tins.  I have only a few that are REALLY old, but I have owned most of them from the '60s through the '80s. I'm suffering a little bit of separation anxiety here too - I pulled a few back from the sale that I don't think I can part with.  But here's a few that will be in the sale. 

I also have a considerable collection of baskets, so I took a few and brightened them for the sale. (I'm not parting with my Longaberger baskets, though.)

That's only a small sampling I have for the sale.  I may just have TOO much - I have to remember that I have to pack this all up in my car and then unpack it and set it up! 

I hope it's all worth it. Wish me luck!

Sunday Funnies

Happy Mother's Day

 

Miss you, Mom.

We have a winner!

The winner of the Slash of Blue bud vase is:

Heidi!

Congratulations, Heidi.  And thanks to everyone else for participating in the giveaway!

 

Sunday Funnies

In the Michigan Studio with Slash of Blue and a Giveaway

Up until about a year ago, I regularly posted interviews and giveaways with Michigan artists. I ended up taking an unplanned hiatus from the interviews, not because I wanted to but because I was too consumed both with the live art shows I participated in and with some personal responsibilities that took an awful lot of time. But now I'm back!  And I hope to keep up with these interviews every month or so.  

Today's interviewee is a ceramic artist whose work is deeply inspired by nature.  You'll see what I mean in a minute.

Let's start with the basic information. 


Your name: I was born Mary Kathryn. I was always called Katy though. Then somewhere along the line it turned into Kate. So I guess its Kate or Katy or Mary (if you’re brave) Kestler. Are all the questions this hard??

Your etsy shops: www.etsy.com/shop/slashofblue (ceramics) and www.etsy.com//shop/unashooshie (macrame)

Your blog: www.slashofblue.com

Your Facebook page: www.facebook.com/blueceramics

FK: Ok, Kate/Katy/Mary, I'll try not to make the rest of the questions too hard! Where in Michigan do you live? And did you grow up there?

 

I live in Farmington Hills now but I was born and raised in Livonia, Michigan. In 1996 at age 19 I moved to Chicago and lived there for two years. Met some great people, made some hilarious memories, then high-tailed it out of there and back home. As much as I love that city, big city livin’ is not for me. I need trees! 

FK: And Farmington Hills definitely has trees.  

We just moved to Farmington Hills a little over a year ago and to be honest I’m still learning about the area. We chose it based on how diverse the area is and how good the schools are. While looking at homes we stumbled upon Heritage Park, which is a 211-acre park with 4.5 miles of trails for hiking and a beautiful nature center that has all sorts of wonderful programs. 
 

Right down the street from Heritage is another park, Woodland Hills.  That park is 75 acres and is way more rustic.  After seeing these parks right in the middle of suburbia, I was sold!

FK: Let’s talk about your art. How did you get started?  

My father was a public school art teacher for over thirty years. So I guess you can say I’ve been in art school my entire life. Our basement was filled with supplies for anything and everything, from weaving, metal work, sculpting, drawing, painting, enamels, ceramics to all sorts of crafty supplies like beads, yarn, plaster molds, seriously EVERYTHING!  Then there is my mother, the most supportive person alive. So put those two things together and ya get me! That was my childhood…it was pretty awesome. (And I’m trying my hardest to recreate that for my girls.)

Temporarily not available

In high school I was in an art program called CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts).  I had a few great teachers and learned a lot until they tried to make me take an acting class in my junior year. I’m not so much an extrovert – not even a little - so I dropped out of the program. I then took your typical high school art classes like drawing, painting and photography. 
 

Yellow Green and Orange Maple Leaf Catch All Dish

After high school I went to Columbia College of Chicago for two years, majoring in Fine Art Photography. During my second year I had an amazing darkroom teacher assign a “special” project just for me. She said “Kate, (in college I was Kate), go find a computer and scan one of you photos. Play with it and turn it in for your final.” I did and I fell in love with Photoshop. That’s when I switched gears, moved home, and got my degree in Graphic Design from Schoolcraft College. I worked as a graphic designer for 10 years. The ironic thing is after all those years of art school and art classes I have never taken a ceramics class. I did make a bowl once on a wheel in eighth grade but other than that everything I learned, I learned from my dad. 

FK: I think it's so interesting that you learned ceramics from your dad and that you are following in his footsteps. Tell me more about that. 

My dad freecycled a kiln for me but I didn’t have a 220 line to plug it into so it sat in my garage for two years. Then we moved and we had a 220 line installed in the garage and I was in business! My dad came over and taught me the basics. We worked on a couple pieces and then he let me have it. That’s always how my parents taught me, gave me the bare minimum of information and let me learn my own way. Like, as a kid, I wasn’t allowed to have coloring books because they guided me too much! Boy, that was the best gift I could get as a kid…my grandma used to sneak them to me. Ok, back to ceramics with my Pops! My dad taught me a lot of his tricks involving washes and under-glazing and all sorts of non-conventional finishes and glazing techniques. 

Large Blue Crackle Ceramic Pressed Flora

Red, Yellow and Orange Pressed Flowers Pen and Pencil Holder

As far as inspiration goes…trees, plants and nature in general are it for me! I have a giant Maple tree in my back yard and an even gianter Sycamore in my front yard.

 I get inspired just by looking at those two trees every day. And I go to Heritage Park often. I take my camera with me everywhere and if I see a plant I like, I take a picture and then try to figure out what the plant is. There is a native plant store in Ortonville called American Roots http://www.americanrootswildflowers.com I get a lot of my plants from there. My back yard is full of native plants.  

I opened my etsy shop, Slashof Blue, in August of 2012 and it's doing well so far. 

FK: Tell me about your creative life. What do you love doing the most? Where do you create – do you have a designated studio space?  

I have to be doing something with my hands all the time. I am not capable of just sitting down and watching a movie.  If I do, by the end of the movie I will have a finished project in hand. My husband works nights so I have spent many nights hanging out with my daughters, Mallory and Helaina, just making things. We’ve made clay dragons, paper barns, stuffed mermaids, countless drawings and paintings, we sew, we sing, we dance, we cuddle. They inspire me every minute of every day. As does my husband Dan, who is also an artist. He went to The School of the Institute of Arts of Chicago which is where I met him. His paintings blow my mind and I have to keep up with him, ya know!
 

Plants and Heart Light Greenish Yellow Botanical Dish

 

Black and White Queen Anne's Lace Ceramic Wall Hanging Art Tile

 So between the two of us and our two children, our entire house is one big studio. Most of my clay junk is in our front room. His studio is in our basement. I also have an office where I store finished pieces and do the business part of my shop. My kids both have “art spaces” in their bedrooms. In our front room though is where I really do most of my work. As a kid and through my teen years I worked on a big round beat up dark wood table. Its legs had been cut so its close to the ground. You have to either sit on it or on the floor to work at it, really. But, man, everything awesome I ever made I made on that table!  

When I bought my first house at 24 the first thing I did was ask my parents for that table. They of course were more than happy to let me take the old beat-up thing. And to this day that is where I do all my work. Unfortunately it is starting to fall apart, table surgery is in its future. Ohhhh something new to try….carpentry! 
 

FK: What part of being an artist is the most gratifying to you? And what part is hardest for you, or that you dislike the most? 

Gratifying? Well I guess for me it’s not about gratification. I really just HAVE to make things. Even if no one liked my work I would still make it. I think I get that from my mom. She taught me to do what I love and not worry about anyone else. If I think about all the cool things I’ve made and just thrown out or given away because I ran out of storage room … that’s a lot of garbage and gifts! 
 

Black and White and Aqua Botanical Bud Vase

So I guess maybe just finishing a piece, that’s the most gratifying part although I am rarely 100% satisfied with anything I make. I think the hardest part is how fast my brain goes. I am always three steps behind my thoughts. And I don’t just jump from one type of clay to another or something easy like that. It’s usually something like macramé to stained glass to crocheting to ceramics!
 

Ceramic Bell with Leaf Design

FK: I can totally relate to that, Katy.  I'm the same way!  What do you enjoy when you’re not being an artist? 

Besides making things, I enjoy hiking and reading.  I really need to be around trees. If I am ever having a bad day a walk through the woods cures it … without fail. Also I love just hanging out with my kids. They are so hilarious and have the most intriguing ideas about everything. Just talking to them…they are amazing.  

 

Ceramic Pressed Mulberry Leaf Tile

FK: Well, Katy, you’ve given us a beautiful picture of yourself as an artist and as a person. Thank you.  Now tell us about your giveaway.
  

My giveaway is my 200^th piece that was finished specifically for Slash of Blue! It is an earth tone botanically themed bud vase. This small ceramic vase has an organic free form shape which was hand formed from earthenware. Then flora from southeast Michigan (aka my backyard) were impressed into the clay. It is underglazed with a mottle of warm blacks and browns and has a beautiful high gloss finish. The inside is glazed with a high gloss white. It stands approximately 4 inches tall.

 FK: That's great! I love it.  Now let me tell everyone how to enter. 

How to Enter

You have several chances to be entered into the random drawing. PLEASE read carefully; the entry requirements have been changed.

First entry: Visit Katy's shop Slash of Blue AND/OR website, come back here, and enter a comment about your favorite piece(s).

Second entry: Enter a comment if you have signed up to follow Katy's Facebook page (or comment if you already follow).

Third entry: Enter a comment that you signed up to follow my blog (or comment that you already follow).

Fourth entry: Enter a comment that you signed up to follow my Facebook page AND/OR my Pinterest page (or comment that you already follow).

That's four chances to enter for the random drawing!  Please be sure that your correct email address is in your profile; if it is not, include your email address in your comment.  I will use random number generator to pick a winner after

 12 noon EDT

Tuesday, May 7.

Good luck!

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