Kevin Russell was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1972. He attended southwestern City schools, K-12. Southwestern City Schools is his current employer where he teaches art at Westland High School. It is where he learned how to throw on the potter’s wheel as a middle school student. Kevin started and stayed in clay because of his experience at the schools in the district. He took over the program from his mentor and former instructor Wes Blizzard.

Kevin attended the University of Findlay, in Findlay, Ohio, for his B.A. in Art Education. He continued to work in clay and started to learn the skills that shape his current work. He became the student assistant for the ceramics department. The skills of kiln firing, clay, and glaze formulation shapes make his ceramic work possible.

For his MFA in ceramics, he attended Fort Hayes State University, in Hays, Kansas. He was able to go to many conferences to enhance my graduate experience. Kevin was the Head Graduate student for the ceramics department at F.H.S.U. The work that he currently makes was formulated in his graduate studies.

Kevin has been teaching ceramics for 22 years. He has taught ceramics at Otterbein College and Southwestern City Schools for 27 years. In total, he has been working in clay for 40+ years.

Kevin’s work reflects his life experiences. He is an active vessel, that is adding to this vessel in daily experiences, in technique, teaching, and life. These experiences show in his daily forms and surface. He draws from this in every form he creates. Kevin is trying to recreate the beauty of life. Some of the vessel forms take on a life of their own as childhood memories.