Color and Clay                                  Linda Lee Kiepke              

About the artist

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"I'm healthiest when I'm creating and pushing myself to explore new ideas and ways of making." 

Linda Lee Kiepke's creates her ceramic pieces in her basement studio in Naperville, IL. She fires the finished surfaces at ClaySpace Ceramic Arts Center in Lisle, Il; where she also teaches and is one of the founders (2006).

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"I need the studio. As I work, I become fully engaged and all my cares, and the aches and pains of living with Multiple Sclerosis are pushed aside. Clay checks all the boxes for me.  Unlike canvas or paper, I can take a clay slab and create a linoleum block print, paint it with underglaze and colored slips, add textures, turn it into sculpture, and then surrender the final surface as a collaboration with the flames of a gas soda kiln. This process brings me great joy and when the product is a success, and the piece makes a connection with someone there is even greater satisfaction. I gravitate to figurative images, most prominently dogs. They evoke an emotional response from the viewer. Watching their eyes light up as they make connections feels very powerful to me."

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Beyond teaching and ceramics, Kiepke regularly explores other mediums - sculpture, painting, murals, bas-relief, mosaics, stained glass, print making, mixed media, and fibers.

 

Linda collaborated with photographer Chris Cox to create "Kiepke's Cups "A 100 Day Challenge". This book outlines her process and journey to create 100 block printed cups.

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