Kim Crooks (Day 2)
Kim Crooks
Primary Medium: Ceramic | Cerámica
About the Artist
Kim Crooks is a 4th generation female artist in Tucson. She received her BFA (studio) and BS (education) from Northern Arizona University in 1977. After retiring from 40+ years in the non-profit world, she rediscovered clay and started making mosaic benches, tables and wall hangings. For 15 years she was an encaustic painter, and recently took up palette knife painting. Kim now looks forward to going to her backyard studio to get her hands into clay. She calls this going to therapy. Kim's claim to fame is that 3 of her public art benches were pried off of their foundations in the park and spirited away, never to be recovered.How to Purchase
Art work may be purchased using Cash, Visa, MC, Zelle and Venmo.About this Event
My workspace is located in the backyard of my historic 1929 Sam Hughes home. The studio is in the very back, behind the casita, in two separate buildings. In building #1 studio space, you will be able to watch and talk to me as I lay out a mosaic table top. In building #2, (garage) you’ll see three kilns and the “beast” slab roller. There will also be mosaic tables, wall hangings and other hand-built items for sale in this space.
Morning and afternoon drinks and snacks will be served. You are welcome to hang out for as long as you want.
If you are unable to walk up and down steps in the front of the house to access the studio, you are welcome to enter through the back gate off of the alley, however there is no alley parking.
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Other 2024 OST Events from this Artist
About the Studio
City of Tucson Ward: Ward 6
Pima County District: District 5
About the Art
About the Process
My process is very technical. When I enter my studio, I crank up the music, dance around for a bit, and when I'm feeling good I put on my clay and glaze encrusted apron and dig into the clay. I begin with a big chunk of clay which I roll out on my beast of a slab roller. Next, I hand cut each piece from the slab, then the pieces are pressed between boards for several days until flat and dry. Then comes my least favorite part; cleaning each piece. After loading the hundreds of small pieces into the kiln, they are bisque-fired for 4-6 hours. A day or two later they are unloaded from the kiln, glazed and decorated, and fired again at a higher temperature for 6-8 hours. Then the fun begins! I never know exactly what I will be making. It just happens. There are no drawings or pictures, everything is in my head. My inspiration comes from my love of flowers.Explore Nearby Studios
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