Katy McKinin
My current work consists primarily of sculptural stoneware vessels motivated by organic forms. I also find the interplay of clay and culture endlessly fascinating, so also look to ancient ceramic traditions for inspiration. I strive to make works that are as much a joy to hold as to behold.
Biography:
I was born and raised in a quiet Midwest college town. My childhood was filled with crafts—from block printing to weaving. My father, a painter and jeweler, taught in the Art Department at the University of Missouri. In college, I studied music, then later pursued my own Slavic heritage, studying Russian in what was then “Leningrad” and Slavic folklore in Eastern Europe.
Ceramics was the craft that followed me into adulthood, a thread of continuity through my other pursuits. In 1996, after a wonderful in-depth class at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, I realized that clay was not a passing fancy and rented my first studio in Houston. A few years later I built my own studio in the rural Texas countryside, complete with a wood-fired kiln, and founded Fresh Baked Clay, the small pottery I run today.
Education
- BA, MA Indiana University (Music, Russian; Russian Area Studies, 1976; 1979); MBA, University of Missouri, Columbia, 1983
- Two semesters work in Ceramics (University of Notre Dame, 1984-85)
- Architectural Tile and Ornament with Carrie Esser. Intensive 2-week workshop (Anderson Ranch, Snowmass, CO August 1996)
- Private study with Judy Adams and John Foelber, Foelber Pottery (Houston, Texas, 1994 - 2002)
Recent Exhibitions
- Second Annual ClayHouston Festival , June 2007 (Exhibiting artist)
- First Annual ClayHouston Festival , July 2006 (Exhibiting artist)
- “Insider/Outsider” Show, Rice University Department of Visual Arts, February 2006 (Award: Third Prize)
- “Contained and Arranged,” Foelber Gallery, April 2006
- “Contained and Arranged,” Foelber Gallery, April 2005
- “Insider/Outsider Show,” Rice University Department of Visual Arts, February 2004 (Award: Honorable Mention)
- “Contained and Arranged,” Foelber Gallery, March 2004
- “Much Ado About Mud,” Foelber Gallery, April 2004
- “Group Show,” Foelber Gallery, October 2003
