“It was always about anything I could do with my hands,” says ceramist and painter Andrew King, 34, of his early proclivity for the arts. The Kansas City, Missouri, native graduated with a degree in digital media from Arizona State University and is a graphic artist by day and freelance artist by night, working out of his Tempe loft.
“Ceramics was always my favorite thing,” King says. His latest work is a city of Tempe public art project, a tree stump created out of 700 ceramic bookends, an artistic adaptation of an existing irrigation standpipe in a Tempe neighborhood known as Professor’s Row. Find his work at andrewkingart.com.
These wood panel paintings are part of a series called Rooted. They represent King’s move toward a more graphic style of art, with more white space, sharper edges and cleaner lines.
You won’t find a pottery wheel in King’s studio. “All my stuff is free-flowing and hand-built,” he says. Firing and glazing takes place at a friend’s studio.
“My ceramics started out as tree stumps. But most recently I’ve been doing cactus stuff,” he says. “I’m trying to make cool Southwest art, something you wouldn’t expect [like a white cactus].”
“I keep a lot of brushes, but really only use a few. I like the flat edge best.” He is also into paint pens. “I like to use them because they are great for detail work.”
