i met klai brown of lerf ewe studios at a craft fair and was blown away by her ceramics featuring her sketches and artwork. i’m the proud owner of one of her cups featuring one of her drawings of a woman and am so happy she took the time to be our maker this week and talk about herself, her art and her process.

please introduce yourself?

my name is klai, pronounced “gly”.  i am the creative director of lerf ewe studios.  i currently live & work in los angeles.

what do you make or do?

right now, i’m working on a ceramic version of a chinese, paper take-out box for csalt  gourmet.  it’s a special & reusable version of her packaging to hold delicious gourmet sweets in. they should be hitting stores and holiday patchwork shows in the next few weeks.  i have also been making a lot of functional pottery, mostly cups, vases, and lidded containers.  i work predominantly with porcelain, either slip casting or throwing on the wheel. drawing is a pretty important part of my studio practice these days, so most of my work has a large drawing element. i’ve actually gotten so used to drawing on cylinder shapes that the last series of drawings that i did on paper, i ended up wrapping each piece of paper around a large tube.  to mimic the rounded contour that a cup or vase has.

my latest series of characters made up mostly of girls.  they’re an expressive and rascally bunch of women with raccoon eyes,  messy hair and gaps between their teeth.  super darling in their own right.  i think they’re an extension of me in a lot of ways.

with my next project, i am venturing into sculpture with a new series of life sized busts that will bring many of my favorite drawings to life in a new way. quirky buck teeth school girls and guys with nutty hair, and wild expressions, modeled after some of my favorite people.

where can we find your creations?

visit my website www.klaibrown.com, or go to direct to my online store www.lerfewe.com. you can also find lerf ewe on line at:  lostateminor.com, imnotahipster.com, or nest.com. i’ll also be at patchwork (patchwork.com) in culver city sunday, november 13th 11-5, and unique la december 3rd & 4th 11-6 (uniquela.com)

how long have you been creating and is it your full-time job?

i’ve drawn and painted since i was a little kid.  lerf ewe was my full time job for a couple years but, i just recently accepted a part time ceramics teaching position at the exceptional children’s foundation in culver city.

my own studio as a business began with approaching showrooms and galleries to carry my work.  next inspired by my best friend, i set out on making a website.  not long afterward i joined the long beach craft mafia and, next thing i know i’m doing indie art and craft shows like renegade craft show, unique la, and patchwork.  through those craft shows i gained more retails stores and eventually decided to create my online store.  i love running my own creative studio business part time + teaching others how to work with ceramics the other part of time.

when you’re not making things, what do you do?

im hanging out with my 12 year old son, cooking, playing guitar, doing yoga, or maybe sleeping in and dreaming about what to make next

is creativity a luxury or a necessity for you?

hmm, i think it’s a necessity.  i have to be making things in my daily life, whether it’s knitting bikinis or baking blueberry pie, drawing drawings or building ceramic busts of my friends.  when i’m making something with my hands, it just makes me feel like i’m doing what i’m supposed to be doing.

 -nicole s.