Summer Workshops

This summer I am thrilled to be teaching several workshops at the Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, I will be teaching workshops & classes in East Hampton, New York City, and California. Posted are the workshops as seen in the course catalog for LBIF - they selected several pieces of mine to put in the catalog. I will post the additional workshops as they are printed. Spread the word amongst friends and family and get your hand in clay!!!!

Great Feedback!

Teaching the ancient art of working with clay is one of my life's greatest pleasures. I have had wonderful opportunities to teach hundreds of people from all walks of life from first time beginners to the advanced potter, all age groups from 4 years old to 80 years old, different learning levels, mentally handicapped, autistic children as well as teaching large groups in a celebratory atmospheres - birthday gatherings, bachelor parties, anniversaries and corporate events.
Truthfully, in all the time I have taught I have enjoyed every moment. The feedback has been extremely positive and I am grateful to somehow have found the ability to teach in a clear, creative and inspiring way. The best part about teaching is that it has made me a better potter and challenged me in my own work and how I approach it. As much as I teach, I learn from all the students who sit in front of me on the potter's wheel.
Following is some of the recent feedback (as well as some from other students) I received from a group of art teachers I taught in a one day workshop.

"Kerith Creo is a wonderful clay instructor. She is clearly talented and conveys information in an easy to understand manner. Her throwing class was a lot of fun and I learned quite a bit in a relatively short time. She was very patient with everyone regardless of their ability level going into the class. I would recommend Kerith's class to anyone who is interested in learning to throw clay from an accomplished instructor."

Joan Richie, Art Educator

"I just have to say that I had a great time at the workshop because I really enjoyed your class. I have worked with many different clay instructors over the years, but I learned more from you in 3 hours than all of those other classes combined. You have a unique style - a way of getting through to your students that is genuine, thorough, and kind. I not only feel more confident about my limited clay skills, but you gave me tools and ideas to use with my own students in the art room - and some very useful tricks to help keep them on task and feeling confident - which is what keeps students of all ages on the road to success. So thank you, for sharing your knowledge, your time, and your ability to encourage and inspire. "

Deuber, Visual Arts Educator, Stafford Intermediate

"My boyfriend and I went on the Valentines Day surprise (AWESOME!) and the last part of our adventure was pottery lessons at Mud, Sweat and Tears - definitely the best part of the day!"

Julia Surette (Student from one day workshop for couples)

"I think the surprise was great!! It was fun getting the clues and trying to figure out what we were going to be doing together. Our instructor at the pottery place was insightful and very helpful. We all enjoyed it and are considering doing a class in the future!"

Lauren (student from a surprise one day workshop with her family members)

"Thank you Kerith. My kids had such a great time - we will be sure to repeat with you later in the year. They are still talking about your class, weeks later."

Kevin (father of eight year old boy and a ten year old girl)

My husband and I had the pleasure of working with Kerith in February 2009. At the time we had just found out that we were pregnant and it wasn't until we recently picked up our pieces almost 2 years later (beyond embarrassing) that we were able to look back and think about how special the artwork we made together was/is. Kerith was a pleasure to work with and she was patient with us during the creative process. We
are excited to take our daughter to the Mud, Sweat and Tears studio to create some beautiful pieces that we will be able to enjoy as a family for years to come.

Nan Sue Marsh

"Kerith possesses a unique ability to really connect with children, as she did with my 7 year old son. It was his first time using the potter's wheel and she exhibited a perfect balance of patience, guidance, and encouragement. She was able to help inspire him to create with a gentle hand. She's a true artist who is so open to sharing her talents, that people can truly find the artist within themselves."

John Sprei

Surface Tension

I have previously mentioned that often, clay represents visual metaphors in life. It is my selected medium and it is the best way I know how to express all that I experience in life...the good, the bad and the ugly.
Lately, I have been playing with the idea of "surface tension" - the tension that can inhabit both our clay and our lives. The contradiction of what is happening on the inside of both vessel and mind can be very different from what is shown to the world. Pushing limits, stretching ourselves to points we couldn't imagine, compromising our very being and sometimes temporarily having to give over to being someone other than our "true or desired self" can produce such tension as to produce millions of tiny cracks. The cracks can be both beautiful and ugly - but none the less, they are there to deal with - and even with those cracks we must find a way to stay whole and together lest the whole "vessel", "person" fall apart.
The images of the pieces were created by working while the piece was freshly thrown and very wet on the inside - the outside I treated to a fast drying making for a piece very different on the inside and out. Like a human our insides being, warm and fleshy, soft, and very much alive yet on the outside, our skin represented to world so to speak, taking the disappointments of life bravely - our shell, our skin toughened to a point of dried leather - always protective, sometimes tough and looking quite different than if we could see like a razor sharp beam straight into the heart of human.
In this tension and contradiction I find beauty. It reminds me to listen in carefully, to know when to stop pushing and to know when it is OK to push harder. My hands doing all the work I really don't need my eyes to know. The intuitive nature of all things...and more importantly simply to think of nature.
When I viewed the pots from a distance I saw an earth, scorched and tried, used and taken advantage of, desperately trying to stay a whole while little was being given back to replenish - no drop of water to return the outside of the pot to a soft and flexible being, hands continuing to push the pot to a near point of fracture so great it would determine the end of the very organic alive state it was existing in. Had I pushed further it would have turned into something else...and I too would have been someone else.
Art has always been available to teach us things about ourselves, others, nature and all that makes up beautiful earth. Knowing limits, knowing patience, knowing listening, knowing intuition and knowing acceptance are all here to serve us on a journey of hopefully more peaceful warriors.
For now, I'm keeping a bit of my leathery skin and staying as soft on the inside as I can. It will be the viewer of the "pot" and of myself who determines if this work of art has struck the perfect balance of contradiction and surface tension.

Coffee Time

Artists are constantly working with their hands...furiously creating. After years of getting a piping hot cup of coffee only to set it down to grow cold because the clay demanded my attention, I figured why not make myself a lidded-coffee mug? Eureka! Granted this solution was not Archimedes discovering the method for determining purity of gold but, it was a simple and welcomed solution to keeping coffee & tea hot. Another welcomed note was that my vessel would not be a tacky Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts traveling man mug...it would possess integrity and have a much more pure intention, - the determined intention I transferred from hand to wet clay on the wheel as I happily created a bunch of swirling and spinning mugs.
The strange thing is for years I drank coffee and tea out of a silly non-descript Christmas mug that I am sure was mass produced somewhere in China - my own home lacked decent hand-made coffee cups. This was a rather pathetic and embarrassing point I had to admit. I have since made ammends and corrected such an abhorent situation - my home is currently filled with mugs made by fellow potters and friends from around the globe. Each morning I start my day drinking out of a well crafted vessel I find beautifully functional. I think of the potters I have met and shared time in the studio with both creating and learning. I think how grateful I am for the simple morning ritual...a cup of hot coffee...

Potters for Prosperity

I am in the beginning stages of launching a non-profit event "Potters for Prosperity". In light of the challenging economic conditions many nations face, particularly of late Haiti and Chile with the catastrophic events of natural disaster the seed has been born as an artist and "potter" to assist.
Our first event will be the "Throw Off" with many studios participating in an evening of creativity, humanitarian effort, spiritedness and our contribution to global generosity and peace. Additional information will follow so that you may be a part of this event and "place your bet" live and in person on the artist who throws the most bowls in one evening! Your up-front purchase of one "bowl" - the symbol of food, family, and plentifulness will help support others that face great challenge simply to survive! We look forward to your support.

Winter and Potting in the Caribbean

While the Northeast has been getting their fair share of blustery chill and snow I have been enjoying life in the Caribbean. Luckily potters are everywhere and I found this amazing pottery studio. It is a gem of a place and its reassuring to know that this large extended family I am a member of - potters - can be found all over the world. Where there is clay...I'll be there. Luckily, I can add sun, swimming & snorkeling in turquoise waters to creative days well spent.