Interview with the artist - Kristin from Love Art Works

By N Valentine Studio

Featured artist - Kristin Love from Love Art Works

Kristin Love is the first non-SATeam member to be featured. There are so many talented Etsy artists I thought it might be time to feature a few different ones. Kristin's work inspires me because it has such a sense of joy and whimsy to it. Always uplifting, often bright cheery colors, her work can't help but make you smile. I try and fill my studio with things that make me smile, laugh or something that uplifts me in some way and one day I will have a piece of Kristin's sitting front and center. I always love Kristin's work and her Etsy shop is one of my favorites to cruise through. My current favorite piece of hers is her life stakes.


Her raven pieces often catch my eye, too. She really seems to catch the personality of them!

Below is the interview with Kristin, a wonderful peek into an artist in a different medium. I was also thrilled to find out Kristin does two-dimensional work, she includes the link to her Etsy shop in her interview, I found out something else about this talented artist!

How long have you been working in your medium?
As a painter, even in Art School, I had never touched a piece of clay until about 6 years ago. I went to a "paint your own pottery" shop for a friend's bridal shower and I was hooked!!

What drew you to this medium?
I loved the whole process of painting on a three-dimensional surface, it was like a puzzle making the image work up and down, under/over and around, and feeling the weight of the clay piece in my hands as I painted, whether it was a mug, vase or plate, was like connecting to the earth itself. It took me approximately 6 months of painting on store bought "bisqueware pottery" before I wanted to learn how to make my own clay pieces. I sought out a studio space with other potters, took some classes, learned an amazing amount through many instances of painful trial and error, and here I am, playing gleefully in the clay and then spending joyous hours painting it!


What is your favorite thing about your art?
The creation process and connecting to something much deeper and more meaningful than "me". I feel that when I am creating. I am totally in the moment, in the gesture, absolute intimacy with the medium I am working with and my inner self. It is imperfect and it comes from a place of love, even if I've painted the "same" design dozens of times, each time is a little different, each time is full of the joy of being in the now, each is unique and expression of my heart.

What's your favorite piece?
Oh, now that's not fair, it's like asking me to pick a favorite child! :-) But after having a peek around my shop, I would have to say at this moment it is Raven's Autumn Moon. Raven is super special to me. I paint Raven quite a bit, and this is my favorite time of year and the glazes came out so extra good on this piece.


What's the hardest piece you've ever made?
My bathroom sink, hands down, no contest. Not only was it BIG and heavy and very hard to make, but painting the elaborate Sun/Moon/Dancing Stars design I had envisioned (complete with stained glass like fish coming out of the drain area) was outrageously hard, back and wrist breaking work. In fact, I did my whole bathroom in a Sun/Moon design, all the tiles along the shower and even tile mural on the ceiling, so when you look up you see the Sun and Moon smiling down on you. Never again ... and this is probably the reason you don't see and suns and moons in my shops ...!!

What's the one favorite tool you cannot live without?
A pointy ended toothpick ... LOVE them!! I use them for everything from applying super sticky glue to magnets, to scraping glazes, to unclogging bottles, to propping up my wet clay pieces, to poking holes and drawing designs in wet clay ... endless list of duties for Mr. Toothpick!!

What's your favorite thing about your workspace or studio?
Well, I actually have two places where I work. I am a member of a communal pottery studio where I am constantly learning from and inspired by the creations of others. I also have a small studio that my husband built for me (he was a wee bit tired of having "art" all over the house ... ahem ...) and my favorite part about it is that it's my own, encapsulated, little world: I go in, I shut the door, play music or not, and create ... ahhhhh ....

What is your other craft?
I actually majored in photography and illustration at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, so along with drawing and painting I love to be behind the lens of a camera. I am also drawn to fabric, and printmaking, and papermaking, and jewelry design, and and ....
So, because when my hands aren't covered in clay, I lean towards painting and such. I opened another Etsy shop with what I call my "2D" work so as not to confuse my clientele, and mostly myself - Love Art Studios.

Who or what inspires you?
Wow! Another tough question .... Who and what doesn't? :-) I find inspiration just staring at the front page of Etsy, or a vintage, well loved teddy bear, the graphic lines on a skyscraper or looking at the autumn trees. But I will go back in time and pick two people who changed the way I saw things when I was first forging my way as an artist and they would be Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams.

As far as an inspiration for my pottery ... there are a lot of potters here in Seattle who have been huge influences on me and some of them have mentored me through all my "clay stages", but unfortunately they don't have a presence online. So I will list some potters on Etsy who have inspired me to no end - Stepanka Ceramics, Jenny Mendes, Alma Pottery.

What's your favorite inspirational saying?
Be the change you wish to see in the world - Gandhi.

What's one thing you've never done you always wanted to do?
Well, I cheated and boiled it down to two things because I would like to do either one with equal fervor.
Ride a dogsled off into the frozen North Country for a whole day ... what a blast it would be!
Take a ~2 week horse pack trip off into the Montana wilderness areas, out where no lights from cities are seen, out where there are no roads, no, nothing but nature ... Ahhhhhhh ....

The SATeam blog features artisan handmade creations by the etsy starving artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.