For awhile I've really loved lettuceware and ceramic vegetables. Dodie Thayer was the first official artist name I knew and is one of the most recognizable. This summer was when I discovered the artist Mary Kirk Kelly and pretty much immediately fell in love with her work. I don't know too much about her, as there isn't much written about her aside from small blurbs, but what little I did I learn was pretty fabulous.
Born in 1918, Mary Kirk Kelly was an Alabama artist who specialized in ceramic fruits and vegetables. Her career began later in life and it wasn't until a neighbor asked her to recreate a prized cabbage that her life as a ceramicist took off. From what I can find, she pretty much continued making her figures until her death in 2013. Because she was a southern artist and it seems like everyone cherishes their own collections, her work can be a bit hard to find up in New York (an additional challenge was that she didn't ship her work).
The piece that started my obsession was a turnip. I can't really describe the magic of her work eloquently, but trust my - it's real. I loved her work so much I included adding four pieces of her work to my collection to my 101 in 1001 list, assuming even that number would be a bit of a reach. It was a stroke of luck (and a sign) when I saw a local enough consignment store selling a few of her works on instagram. I rushed to acquire a few beloved pieces and am actually really excited that this was the first of my goals to finish. So far my collection includes a turnip, a green apple, a pea pod, a tomato, and a red potato, but I'm looking forward to grow my collection even more (pun intended). I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do and might consider sharing your own collecting stories with me!
Always on the hunt for more vegetables,
ARS xx
S U B S C R I B E
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