Ned Krouse lives and maintains a studio in Haslett, Michigan where he offers raku workshops to local potters.
He has been an active artist and educator since receiving his MFA in Ceramics,1981, from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. His teaching career spans over 40 years and includes public schools, colleges and universities, and art and craft centers around the country all the while continuing his passion for figure drawing.
His clay work has been shown in galleries and museums throughout the country and most recently, June 2023, at Bismarck Art Gallery Association in Bismarck, North Dakota.
I produce one of a kind decorative and sculptural ceramics. My work is slip decorated and raku fired. While the clay is leather hard, I brush on layers of colored slip and carve and etch through the layers to reveal the colors underneath. The multiple colors of slip allows me to alternate colors in the layering and produce many different combinations.
Krouse specializes in colorful raku pottery that allows him to combine copper glazes that blacken the clay during the post-firing reduction. His pieces are removed from a kiln while red hot and smoked in a reduction chamber (usually a metal garbage can filled with straw and sawdust). He also incorporates his love of figure drawing into the clay after he carves and molds the piece into the desired shape. These modifications give Krouse’s work the appearance of having a cubist, hard edge while still retaining figurative elements.
The Cracked Pot Studio Tour 