A view of some outdoor sculpture and sculpture garden on Sunday  This weekend was the 4th annual Yakima Artist's Studio Tour. My studio was again on the tour, and again this year, the other 3 studio art faculty at YVC (Chris Otten, Monika Lemmon, and Kayo Nakamura), as was my daughter's jewelery (Dezignosaur on Instagram). The sculputre path marks the route into the shed, backyard, and studio Since it was all the same folks as last year, we tried to keep the good stuff from last year while making improvements. After the show last year I wrote down some ..read more

You are cordially invited to join me at my home studio for the upcoming Labor Day weekend (August 31-September 2) for the 3rd annual Labor Day Weekend Artist's Studio Tour. This year's Tour features 8 locations and more than 30 artists. The tour is Saturday August 31 and Sunday, September 1 from 10-4, with a shorter visit/pickup time on Monday, September 2 from 10-12.  Tickets are $10 and one ticket gets you into all 8 locations and all 3 days, meaning you can pack all the visits into one day, or take your time visiting all the studios throughout the weekend. Tickets can be purc ..read more

the view of the sculpture garden from the back Last year, after the end of the Labor Day Studio Tour, we decided to transform the failed garden along the side of our house into a sculpture garden.  walking into our yard for the Artist's Studio Tour During the tour, the garden had already been transformed into bare dirt, so as to better display the work for the tour, but we decided to make it permanent. cat's view of the sculpture garden This small strip of yard between the house and the pavement had housed a garden when my daughter was young. She and I wo ..read more

works in sections drying in my studio This summer I decided I wanted to build large. I think my stacker pieces from last year that I threw on the wheel were a big part of what I was thinking about when I got back into the studio this summer. base of the first big coiled piece from this summer The stacker pieces from last year were a great challenge and I liked making the big pieces, but coiling big is so much easier than throwing. Making these was just enjoyable and relaxing. second section of the first sculpture in progress I started with a coil at the outer ..read more

Best Friend's portrait  Even though it's fairly far outside what I normally do, I decided to sculpt some cats this year.  the protrait nearly completed, with most of the texture in place Partly, I chose to sculpt something because my students were sculpting solid forms on armatures during my hand-building class this winter and I wanted to create some video demos showing some techniques for creating more dynamic textures. early in the process the focus is on getting the proportions right Around this time, we were also having a conversation among the a ..read more

Coming up on Saturday, July 27 in Tieton, WA, I will be emceeing the 3rd Annual Tieton Pottery Throwdown on the square from 2-4pm. This is a friendly pottery throwing competition featuring local artists and students. There's still time to sign up to compete; just let me know before the competition. You can bring your own clay and tools or borrow ours. Each year the associated events in Tienton day seem to grow. This year there is a ceramics show at Boxx Gallery an outdoor art fair with over 20 artists on the square, as well as a tagsale and a vintage trailer rally.  If you don't w ..read more

I’ve been away from blogging for quite a while. I haven’t been away from the studio for quite as long, but I did take a studio break as well. I had been feeling overwhelmed and decided to say “no” to some of the things that were complicating my life. In May, and early June, I felt like I simply couldn't get it all done. work in progress from this summer The studio break may have been necessary, but I’m not sure it was exactly good. Towards the end of spring quarter, I noticed I was feeling down and a bit blue. Maybe that's the normal feeling when the academic year is wrapping up or ..read more

  some of the stacking pieces on a worktable in my studio in the days before the installation Now that our faculty show, Dust, at Larson Gallery has been installed and has officially opened, I am experiencing that funny feeling of being done with a massive project that has consumed a great deal of my mental energy for quite some time.  I began working on this show in earnest almost immediately after finding out that it would happen. Last May, during the Student Exhibition, several of us asked David Lynx, then Larson Gallery director, for an art faculty show. Though we ..read more

Kekino Motes, installation 2024   I am excited to announce “Dust” the Yakima Valley College art faculty exhibition at Larson Gallery. The show opens Saturday, January 13, 2024 with a reception from 3-5pm This is the first faculty exhibition in my 17.5 years at YVC, and it comes at a great time, when our campus gallery, Larson, is in a beautiful large and still new space and our art program is bigger than ever.   The show features works by our four full-time faculty: Chris Otten (photography and Digital Design), Kayo Nakamura (drawing, painting, and printmaking), Monika ..read more

Last class week: Raku, firings and Pottery Sale This week is the last full week of winter quarter and a busy week in the clay studio. Tomorrow we will be running a raku firing for both classes and Tuesday is our pottery sale. pottery sale poster for this fall Pottery Sale Tuesday The Pottery Sale features pottery and sculpture made by myself and Yakima Valley College clay students and employees over the past year or years. All work is for sale and very moderately priced, so it’s a great opportunity to pick up some handmade gifts for the holidays. The clay sale features lots ..read more