Seattle-based artist Katie Marks has elevated the art of pottery to new, mesmerizing heights with her handcrafted ceramic mugs. Combining utility with sheer artistry, each piece she creates stands as both functional ware and an inspiring sculpture. The hallmark of Marks’ work is her skillful integration of crystal-like details into each mug, creating a stunning visual experience that transcends traditional pottery norms. Her work emerges as a symphony between nature and craftsmanship, echoing the subdued yet captivating beauty of her Pacific Northwest surroundings. Marks transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, marrying raw earthly elements with her vivid imagination to create products that embody her unique artistic identity.
In her creative process, Marks harnesses the ethereal qualities of porcelain, embracing its translucency and vibrant color potential to bring her artistic vision to life. It all begins on the potter’s wheel, where she shapes each mug before painstakingly hand-forming every crystal embellishment. Her commitment to quality and authenticity extends to meticulously crafting her own glazes from raw materials, which yield an aesthetic fluidity as they undergo a transformative 2232-degree firing process. This approach not only fortifies the clay but also enables each glaze to cascade like dancing rivers over the vessel’s surface. Rooted in the mists of Seattle and the vibrant culture of Portland, Marks channels her environment’s meditative gloom into works that celebrate nature’s inherent forms while imbuing them with her personal touch. Through her creations, she invites us to reflect on how the convergence of human creativity and the natural world can produce stunningly original masterpieces.
I always knew I wanted to work with porcelain the translucency and bright color possibilities inspire my imagination. I love the fact that I can take a lump of dirt and turn it into something unique and beautiful from my brain. I love holding my finished pieces and knowing that these only exist in the world because I exist. My process involves first throwing the piece on a potters wheel and then spending hours hand forming each crystal. I love combining the functionality of a wheel thrown piece with the endless possibilities of sculpture. I mix most of my glazes from raw materials. Being able to do this allows me to have a lot more control over the look of the final piece. I fire my work to 2232 degrees which not only makes the clay strong and durable but also changes the glazes and causes them to flow like running water. My work is always growing and changing. I tend to just explore where ever my imagination takes me. I love the play between taking something that they earth does so beautifully and adding my human element to it. I am inspired by my surroundings. As a someone who grew up in Seattle (and now living in Portland) I have lived in the gloom of the overcast sky and week-long rain showers for most of my life. I wanted to show the beauty I see in the gloom.
Katie Marks
More info: Website, Etsy, Instagram, Tumblr (h/t: MMM).
