From The Earth

From the Earth -  Kendra McKimmy - Mixed Media Artist 

I consider myself a mixed media artist/jeweler and believe that recycling is important to all of us.

The primary material I work with is stoneware and porcelain clay.  Each piece is hand-formed (no molds) by using slabs of clay or occasionally thrown on a potter's wheel.  Every piece is glazed and fired and glazed again,  sometimes 3-4 times in an electric kiln to at least cone 7 (2,300 degrees).  Then they are smoke-fired outside in a combustible material usually newspaper.  This firing is a lot like the Native American pit firing but it's not Raku.  After that it is scrubbed, scraped and washed.  The last stage (and sometime the most extensive) is assembling each piece with various natural materials I find, buy or recycle.

I produce all the work except for occasional help assembling by friends and family.  I like primitive art of all kinds and am influenced by the rivers and forests around me