02/12/2025
Everyone deserves a cup that feels special.
Big thanks to Kim Eggleston Kraus for showing her work recently at ACR.
A message from the artist:
My B.F.A. and my M.F.A. were both in sculpture. I was creating and teaching sculpture when I was asked to also teach a ceramics class for the next semester at KSU Stark, something that actually continued for the next 20 years. I learned to make better cups and mugs mostly so that
I could teach better techniques.
Over the years I began to find the joy in a well-built cup, and the challenge in making it more sculptural while also keeping it functional. Handle shape, cup shape, texture and technique all work to make that simple object distinctive. I make a variety of things out of clay, including functional items like cups but also sculptural forms that have no utilitarian function. Cups and
mugs remain a way that I challenge myself to keep growing.
Each new round of cups and mugs plays off the things that I have learned from those previous forms; how they feel, how they look, what glazes enhanced the surfaces and which fell flat.
Perfection is an illusion, but it is still a goal. Things that I loved in the past are sometimes discarded outright, while other aspects are restored, all in an attempt to change, to challenge, and to create a form that is both pleasing to myself and to others, and hopefully also pleasant to
use.
Showing at ACR seemed to call for these forms, items that can be used to consume the amazing coffee and tea served here. I hope that you find something here that calls to you, that you want to give to someone or keep for yourself. Everyone deserves a cup that feels special.
