“We Exist to Revere the Great Spirit of Life and Enjoy All the Beauty of Its Expression.”
The Jasper Project welcomes Betsy Kaemmerlen as this month’s featured Tiny Gallery artist. Kaemmerlen’s show, which started on the 1st of the month, features 25 pottery pieces, from bowls to dishes to vases to fish.
Kaemmerlen spent her childhood in New England before moving to Syracuse to attend the SUNY School of Forestry for Landscape Architecture. During her childhood, she was inspired to create by her artistic grandparents, an architect father, and a mom who was a nurse by day and crafter by night.
“Woodworking, paintings…refinishing furniture, caning, quilting, rug braiding, knitting…embroidery, painting, shell art, gardening, and flower arranging,” Kaemmerlen reflects on her family’s interests, “Yes, I’d say the art was a huge part of my family life!”
Kaemmerlen’s departure to SUNY both honed in her love for the arts and broadened her horizons. She ended up falling in love with Eastern Culture, taking classes in Japanese Aesthetics and Zen Buddhism and spending her final year studying the cultural response to the environment in Kyoto, Japan.
“Living and immersing myself in the centuries old treasure of Kyoto for six months was a peak experience in my life—art and aesthetics were ingrained in the culture,” Kaemmerlen recalls, “The ceramic tradition there was lovely, along with the gardens, ikebana and tea ceremony.”
Fifteen years after experiencing that tradition, Kaemmerlen got into pottery herself, and it was love at first touch.“ Clay is such a great medium for me since I can impress whatever cool pattern or image into the surface that I can dream up,” she divulges, “Leaves, bugs, Asian and Celtic designs, shells, snowflakes, you name it!”
Kaemmerlen’s career in Landscape Architecture has afforded the artist the best of both worlds, but since so much of her work has become computer-based, her home has been transformed into a hands-only zone. “Making an Ikebana container and going out into the yard to collect material for an arrangement is my idea of heaven!” she effuses, “Creating pottery that is both useful and beautiful is a privilege, and I am so grateful to have this means of expression.”
When it comes to her Tiny Gallery show, Kaemmerlen has focused on unusual but functional pieces, a mix of old and new, with some even being collaborative. John Taylor threw the dragon-lidded urn that Kaemmerlen carved, decorated, and glazed; and David Scott made the molds for the Bluegill and Perch, and he also taught Kaemmerlen how to make the molds for her gourds.
“I love bright colors and, unlike many professional potters, don’t have a deep appreciation for ‘brown pots,’” she jests, “While celadon is a personal favorite, cobalt and coral also rank high in my aesthetic!”
Even the tools the artists used were often handmade, the fish bowls and dish set crafted with roller stamps Kaemmerlen created herself. “I carve a design onto a napkin ring sized piece of porcelain, fire that, and then can use that pattern on pieces—[it] takes a common element and elevates it to a design that can be truly stunning!” she shares. “I hope people notice this and appreciate all the wonderful beauty that surrounds them in their lives.”
Beauty has fortunately surrounded Kaemmerlen’s experiences as an artist. Reflecting on her artistic career, she says standout moments have been an Artist Residency at Wildacres Retreat in Little Switzerland, showing her work in Greenville at a Ceramic Invitation alongside artists like Alice Ballard and Valerie Zimany, and being part of many SC Arts Commission award luncheons and auctions.
Much of Kaemmerlen’s experience is indebted to workshops, but one outstanding series was led by Gerry Williams, the founder of Studio Potter Magazine. “For many summers I went to his Phoenix Workshops in New Hampshire and learned the background and inspiration of many successful artists,” she says. “We had such fun working together, sharing techniques and experimenting with clay… those memories will be hard to beat.”
In reflecting on the memories of this past year, Kaemmerlen chooses to focus on the positive. “I sincerely hope that this past year has brought more people the simple joys of being creative in their own home and garden,” she intimates, “Growing what you eat, cooking it in a beautifully decorated kitchen, and serving out of a handmade bowl to a few close friends is a sustainable, deeply meaningful pleasure.”
You can view Kaemmerlen’s show and all her beautiful, unique pieces until April 30th on the Jasper Project website: https://the-jasper-project.square.site/tiny-gallery
After the show, Kaemmerlen will have more vases at SC Arts Foundation’s ‘Find Joy in Art’ online auction this May. She also usually has pieces in the Sumter County Gallery of Art. If you follow her on Facebook, you can see when she posts albums of her latest work and purchase via direct message.
The motto Kaemmerlen has over her studio door is, “We Exist to Revere the Great Spirit of Life and Enjoy All the Beauty of Its Expression.” Take a virtual step into the beauty of these ceramic creations and steep in the spirit of their expression.
—Christina Xan
