Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Mays.
Hi Keith, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
A few years back, right before I turned 60, I found myself at a crossroads. I’d just lost a job at a local mission-based non-profit, a place I’d worked for more than 20 years. I could find a new job and put my skills to use for another organization. Or, I could put them to use for myself. I chose the latter and some years later can call myself a working artist.
I have to acknowledge that I was very fortunate to have been able to make this choice – my wife Nancy was still working and we were in fine shape financially. Not everyone is so lucky.
Even so, along with a salary and a community, what a job gives you is purpose. In my career, I’d worked as a photojournalist, designed publications, then transitioned into the digital realm, gaining expertise in multimedia and web publishing and all the related tools used for that work.
A logical move might have been to just use my skills on behalf of clients as a contractor. But at some point, when my head cleared, I realized that work had squashed a lot of the creativity out of me, and that ironically, the loss of the job had been a gift. I now had the opportunity to explore my creative side. My two main long-time creative passions were photography and ceramics. I progressed from a home darkroom in a closet to my first career as a newspaper and magazine photojournalist. And, my mother was an artist who taught ceramics and ignited a desire in me to pursue it later in life, slowly making progress over a decade of classes.
I went through a thought exercise: how could I bring my photography and ceramics together to complement each other, rather than competing for my time? Certainly, I could learn to take better photos of my ceramic work, to aid in applications to shows and fairs. But, what if I could make use of my photo skills in the decoration of ceramics?
So, that’s what I set out to figure out and have been exploring ever since. I sourced a system that would allow me to print “overglaze transfers” of my images – essentially decals made with glaze that are fired onto pieces of ceramics. While I do have some fun pairing historic photos with humorous captions, the majority of what I do applying images to ceramics is based on photos I’ve shot for the purpose, or that I’ve found in my personal archive of photos. I’ve given myself the constraint of only working with pictures that I’ve created. Over time, certain themes have emerged for the types of images that work better on a mug, vase, or plate. Nature seems to lend itself well, so I use a lot of photos of birds, flowers and trees. People also respond to pieces with destinations they’ve experienced – a popular mug of mine has photos from a donkey farm in Ireland.
You’ll find me selling my work at a number of art fairs and holiday markets in the Kansas City area. There are plenty of more talented ceramic artists out there, but I believe the uniqueness of my work, using imagery the way I do, has allowed me to get into some shows as a relatively new professional artist.
I also use my time to support a couple of artist organizations. As well as taking ongoing classes at the KC Clay Guild, I also work as a volunteer there, doing whatever is needed to help the place run. It is a great organization, truly a community asset, that gives hundreds of local creatives like me an outlet.
I also help out my friend Sheila Shockey with her gallery, 80 Santa Fe in downtown Overland Park. I curate and hang shows and recently helped re-do their website. As well as providing a consistent home to show my art, the gallery has given me a connection to the broader arts community in the KC area. I have met so many great people through my work there.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’d say most of my struggles have been internal.
Sure, as a ceramic artist, there are constant technical challenges – it seems like just when you have things figured out, the ceramic gods will humble you. In addition, with my particular process of applying images to ceramics, I’ve had to make a fair number of mistakes to figure out how to make this combo work.
And, as an artist, you’re not going to get into every show or fair.
But, my bumpy path has been mostly about questioning my own legitimacy as an artist. Especially at first, I questioned, ‘Who am I to call myself an artist?’ Then I realized that no-one else has (or should have) the power to proclaim that you are an artist. You essentially have to declare it in your own mind and then consistently keep trying to improve at your craft.
Even now, having done quite a number of exhibits and art fairs over the past four years, I can still have doubt. Every fair has stretches of time when nothing is selling, and perhaps even worse, no-one is interested enough to strike up a conversation. There’s definitely a vulnerability about putting your work out on public display. Sales is one metric of if your work is resonating with people, but you also have to learn that there’s no predicting how people will respond.
Ultimately, I think that as long as I keep exploring and evolving, then my creative fulfillment will be enough to overcome any qualms.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As I’ve mentioned, using a combination of photography and ceramics makes me somewhat unusual – visitors to my art fair booth often comment that they’ve never seen anything like my work.
I should clarify that I didn’t invent this process – artists have been transferring images to ceramics for hundreds of years and even my process, using a reconditioned laser printer, has been around for at least a decade.
That said, I doubt there are many former photojournalists applying images to ceramics. That means having a storytelling perspective in how I apply images. For example, when I use photos of Sandhill Cranes on a mug or a vase, I’m trying to convey a sense of the chaos of visiting the Platte River during migration season.
Having used Photoshop and other tools for decades, I do a lot to find the right graphic treatment of a particular image – is it better in black and white or color? Should I try to bring out more detail, or make the image more stark and contrasty? So, I’d have to attribute a good part of the success of my work to a hidden digital phase of the process, where I really work on the graphic design of a piece.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The pursuit of art can be kind of solitary, so I’m always interested in ideas and conversations. Even though the point of art fairs is sales, I rate the success of an event by the connections I make and new ideas for ceramic shapes and functions, and new images I might pursue. So, if reading about what I do sparks thoughts, I’d certainly welcome hearing those!
Beyond that, I’d welcome connecting with Kansas City area artists, who’d be interested in learning more about opportunities at 80 Santa Fe Art Gallery. We’ve been the first place many people have exhibited their work, so I’m particularly interested in hearing from aspiring artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keithmays.art
- Instagram: @keiththepotter
