Gayle Kiser

Gayle Kiser in her studio

Painting, Pottery

I have been interested in art all my life, usually expressing my ideas in two-dimensional media. During my youth, I experimented with watercolors and oil painting. Later, when we moved to Roseburg, Oregon I was able to take drawing classes from Robert Bell at Umpqua Community College and began working in charcoal and pen and pencil.

When my children were small, I had a close friend who was a potter and gifted me with many of her works, but the best thing she ever did was to invite Frank Boyden to put on a hand building seminar in our small Eastern Oregon community. I was thrilled with the chance to work with clay, but too busy with a family to get involved, promising myself that I would take it up someday.

It wasn’t until we moved to Longview that I had a chance to take classes at LCC from Richard Roth. As I told my husband, I love everything about ceramics, even the smell of the classroom. That was nine years ago and I have been involved with pottery ever since. I have a small study at my home where I produce all my artwork.

I work almost exclusively in cone 6 ceramics, both wheel-thrown and hand-built. I find both forms very satisfying. My hand-built coil bowls always reflect nature and I do minimal glazing on them, preferring to leave a raw clay look that many people find appealing. My pieces are highly individual, with perhaps a similar glaze technique tying them together. I am working on mixing my own glazes and am narrowing my palette to natural colors with an occasional splash of primary color to pique interest.

Since joining the Broadway Gallery I have taken lessons in watercolor painting and now display my paintings as well as my pottery. Again, I take my palette from nature, and most of my paintings reflect the natural world around me.

– Gayle Kiser – E-mail