About me

Cute Animals and Pottery

Hi ! I’m Kness and I create ceramic animal figurines and one of a kind porcelain jewelry in Montréal, Québec. I’m also drawing and painting. My favorite things to create are cute ceramic animals. Here’s a little more about me and my art !

Kness and a chick, circa 1983.

All my work is handcrafted in Canada, where I live. I sculpt and paint animal themed art with the greatest care and a deep love for nature. You can find one of a kind pieces of art in my shop. I sell my unique figurines, porcelain and stoneware pendants, tumblers and cup. There are also original watercolor paintings of animal patterns.

I’ve always wanted to work with animals. I began as an illustrator, then I spent quite a few years in webdesign and project management. I had a child and moved to Montréal.That’s when I discovered clay. Since then, I’ve worked with clay almost every day.

I am now a full time Ceramic Artist in Canada.

Becoming a Ceramic Artist in Canada

When I moved to Montréal, I discovered a new country, a new city and a new life. So taking on a new medium only seemed like a normal thing to do. I wanted to connect with people, artists and new comers like me. So I took a beginners’ class in pottery and then more. I liked it but it really clicked once I got to sculpt my first otter, in my own style. Something happened then and I just wanted to make more. To this day, it’s still with me and I’d like to sculpt every animal, every species, from bugs to musk oxes, whales, horses, skunks… I love them all.

Being a ceramic artist in Canada is my new life and it’s very fulfilling. I am my own boss – which I’ve always been – and I get to make things I love.

Creating Ceramic Sculptures

Each animal I sculpt, either as a figurine or as a pendant, is new and unique. It’s always an individual character and never “just an animal” I could name each one (but I leave you that part of the job actually !).

I taught myself how to throw on the wheel and you will be able to find cups, tumblers and other unique vessels like pet memorial urns on the website. I offer custom ceramics on a regular basis.

Creating ceramic sculptures is a way of expressing my love for the natural world as well as, hopefully, raising awareness about our environment. I work pretty hard on creating a sustainable ceramics business here in Montréal.

This is why shipping my ceramic sculptures with recyclable, reused and recycled materials is important to me. I have a (almost) zero plastic policy : I will never buy plastic shipping materials. If you find plastic like bubble wrap in your package, it’s reused from something I received 🙂 Read more about the shipping materials and why shopping handmade makes sense.

Contemporary Ceramicist

When I was a little girl, I remember having porcelain figurines in a small cabinet. They were mass produced but still adorable. I loved them so much and I had totally forgotten about them until someone mentioned it. I remember painting a little small wooden shelf, it was house shaped. I painted it a bright purple and put all my little animals in there.

My take on porcelain animal figurines as a contemporary ceramicist is both very different from then, but kind of related too. I loved animal families so much, for a bunch of reasons they were my favorite. And they still are today. I created a series of moms and kids as porcelain animals that are directly connected to the families I collected as a child. Feel free to browse the Motherhood collection.

canada ceramic artist sculpture of an opossum

I’m also an illustrator

I can’t not paint or draw. I’ve tried and it makes me sad so I found it’s vital that I put things on paper. I still paint and draw almost every day. That’s why I illustrate all the ceramics boxes. You’ll find a few printed goodies with my works on Society6 and art prints on Inprnt.

If you’d like to read more about me, there’s a long interview that’s available on Inprint’s Spotlight.