Kate Izett's Profile

Kate Izett's Profile | Gallery

KATE IZETT - COMING HOME POTTERY

As a lover of horses, and the creative process of making pottery along with my admiration for and my enjoyment of the art of Native Americans, and Asian cultures, I wanted to find a way to combine these together, and make meaningful pieces of art that could add a touch of warmth to a person’s home. This led me to making horsehair pottery, and a series of work called “East Meets West”.

I hand throw my work on my potter’s wheel, and later fire it in a raku kiln reaching temperatures near 1200 degrees. After a piece has cooled slightly, I will lay strands of horsehair on it producing unique, intricate, carbon designs which are impossible to recreate, and become permanently a part of the piece. The horse’s mane gives a finer more delicate appearance on the pottery while the tail hair is a bit thicker and bolder.

Some of the pottery I have created in the “East meets West” series, is carved with an Asian symbol or symbols done at an earlier stage of the creation process before the piece has been fired. I then lightly burnish the clay with polished stones to make it extremely smooth and shiny. After the horsehair firing is completed and the piece has cooled, I can then fill in the carved symbol or symbols with a turquoise inlay. Other pieces in this series are adorned with abalone shell, beads, Asian coins, and strands or braids of un-fired horsehair. Each piece is sprayed with a polyurethane sealant. This will make it water resistant, and shiny. My horsehair pottery is a tribute to these magnificent and beautiful animals.

I do welcome requests for specific types of work. I have also made pieces using the hair of people’s dogs, which turn out very nice. Urns are also available for horses or other animals that have passed away. I actually made a vase using my dog Michaela’s hair, along with a few strands of my own, after she had passed away. It definitely helped me with the grieving process having our pottery in my home where I could see apart of us together.

Thank you so much for viewing my work. Welcome are your inquires. God Bless-Kate Izett

Kate moved to Grand Junction Colorado in 1997, and has attended many pottery classes at Mesa State College along with other fine art classes. Her work is in a local downtown gallery, and she continues to have collectors of her work all over the United States.

Kate Izett
Grand Junction, CO
(970) 712-2933