My work is wheel thrown porcelain, with applied slips and glazes, high fired in a reduction atmosphere. Pattern, form and function are my concerns. By thinking of pottery as an avenue to explore color, line, surface and form, I have discovered a wellspring of inexhaustible creative opportunities.
Jeff Kleckner resided in Bethlehem, PA, and passed away in 2020.
Jeff was featured in our 2016 book, 100 Artists 1000 Cups. View his biography, his artist statement, and his thoughts about making cups here (move the scroll bar to pp. 108-109). He was also featured in our 2019 book, Everyday Ordinary.
"I feel that if you can make a great cup, you can make anything. The scale of the cup intrests me greatly. As a handheld object, it has the most intimate scale. Cups are interactie, not static. One holds a cup, brings it to the mouth, and washes it. Much can be communicated through these conditions."
To read and share recollections, visit the website in tribute to Jeff Kleckner.
Obituary
Jeffery Kleckner, Studio Potter from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 65 years of age, passed away late August 2020 while at work in his studio. Born and raised in Allentown Pennsylvania, Jeff maintained a studio in Bethlehem since 1988. His pottery interest piqued when he took a college level ceramics class in high school, which then led him to go on to art school. With a BFA in ceramics from the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, OH, Jeff furthered his education and earned his MFA at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Over the many decades of his career, Jeff taught ceramics at multiple locations, with his work exhibited throughout the United States in venues including The Clay Studio and the Schaller Gallery. He also exhibited and sold his work at the highest quality craft shows and art festivals, including the American Craft Council shows, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, the Longs Park Art Festival, and the Peter’s Valley Craft Fair.
Jeff’s development as a studio potter was directly nurtured by his parents as well as early teachers, Bill Clark and Joe Zeller, and his graduate school affiliation with Dan Anderson. Along the way, he engaged deeply with the rich history and complex processes of ceramics. He found inspiration across the field: 16th Century Japanese Oribe pots, the masterful work of Ogata Kenzan, Persian pattern, as well as the mid-20th Century concept of Mingei as nurtured by Shoji Hamada, and the examples set by studio potters such as John Glick, Michael Simon and Clary Illian. In these experiences and insights, Jeff discovered ways to approach pottery as avenues for exploration of color, line, surface and form — a wellspring of inexhaustible creative opportunities.
Jeff’s career can be summed up by his complete devotion to his calling. He never sacrificed the integrity of his work despite the hardships and constant rigors of his chosen craft.
Jeff is survived by his many friends and admirers and the many collectors of his work. A memorial in his honor is being planned for a future date.
A portait of Jeff by Dana van Horn from 1986 is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection.
Terry Gess Pottery
Bakersville, NC
tgesspottery@gmail.com
