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Jonathan Kesler ~ Artist Statement |
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After 12 years of producing
an exclusive wholesale line, friends prompted me to participate in
juried art shows. Wishing to explore personal ideas and concepts, I
agreed. At this point my university art major and environmental minor
coalesced. Nine more years of experimenting and refining has yielded my
present style and body of forms. All work is done by myself,
starting with dry clay blending, wet clay mixing, and pugging. After
these initial preparations, I size the clay for weight, then form by
hand, either on the wheel or by slab rolling. Pieces may be altered by
cutting, paddling, and faceting. Hand built additions may be added.
Handles are pulled or rolled. Wet forms are allowed to dry. Then, I load them into a kiln for preliminary bisque firing. After the pots are cool
they are removed from the kiln and the glaze process begins. Forms are glazed using a
variety of techniques including resist, dipping, trailing, brushing,
sponging, and spraying. I have developed my own glaze formulas that give
each piece its unique quality. My special style of glazing, more like
painting, is a labored process with the average requiring 400 to 600
specific brush strokes and trailing placed layer by layer over a base
glaze. Upon completion, work is
stacked again in the kiln and high-fired to a vitreous state. This
requires eight to ten hours with temperatures reaching as high as 2300°
or cone 9-10, then cooling for 12 t0 24 hours. In the end, I hope to have created art, which suggest the beauty of our natural world. Individual pieces that can be used to generate personal expression and environment, and work which is life inclusive by function. Jonathan Kesler - Earthly Arts Pottery - Established 1982
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