'Critters and characters' — the art of Carrie Kunkle

Times-Reporter
Ray Booth, Correspondent

NEWCOMERSTOWN — Critters and characters.

That’s how Carrie Kunkle, of Newcomerstown, refers to her creations, a collection of colorful cartoon-inspired whimsical art that was the subject of a new exhibition at ARTSNCT for the month of April.

Kunkle, a teacher in the Claymont School District, says, “I try not to take my art or myself too seriously. I am really interested in the process of hand building with clay, as opposed to the potter’s wheel, and showing what all can be done with it. Right now, I am really into surface decoration: how can I make the surface look as interesting as possible? I add textures, carving, patterns and colors to make the surface look fun.”

And there is no question that Kunkle’s art is fun.

“I was always interested in drawing cartoons when I was young,” Kunkle said. “I guess I never grew out of that. My work is meant to be fun and bring a smile to the viewers’ faces. My critters and characters all have their own personalities, names and sometimes a really good backstory!

“I love that people laugh or smile when they see my work. My work is meant to be imaginative and whimsical. There’s no deep meaning or hidden rhetoric. It simply is what it is. Queenie is the Queen of Hearts; she met her husband (the still-unfinished Kingsly) when she was on vacation at the ocean. He reigns over a coastal province. Crystal’s House is a fairy house that I made that sits in my back yard. Crystal (named by my neighbor’s kids) is the fairy that lives there in the summer; she’s a snow bird that lives in Florida in the winter. It’s these types of stories that I think about when I create my work.I make my art to make me laugh; it’s rewarding to see others enjoy it as well.”

Kunkle grew up in Chillicothe, graduating from Unioto High School before moving on to Ohio University in Athens where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a Master of Arts in Art Education degree. Kunkle moved to Tuscarawas County for her  job teaching art at Claymont High School.

“My original plan was to teach here for a year, then find a job closer to my hometown, but 18 years later, here I am,” she said. “My boyfriend at the time decided that he would also move up to this area; he is now my husband and also teaches in the Claymont district. Joel is an Intervention Specialist at Claymont Intermediate School.”

Kunkle’s adventure with art began at a very young age.

“I have always been into art,” she said. “I honestly cannot remember a time when I wasn’t creating something, whether it was making tie-dyed paper towels with food coloring, my own birthday party decorations, to pipe cleaner people. I took art classes in elementary and middle school, but only took two years of art in high school because of scheduling conflicts. 

“I had done very little in the way of ceramics when I graduated; we just didn’t have a program where I could explore it. It wasn’t until I took ceramics classes in college where I found my love for it. I was very fortunate to have amazing professors at Ohio University. Even though I was pursuing my degrees in Art Education, I took as many ceramics classes as I could. There I was introduced to wheel throwing, hand-building, plaster casting and all sorts of kiln firing techniques. It was an awesome experience.  

“Once I started teaching at Claymont, I was very interested in beginning my own ceramics program. After a few years and with the blessing of my administrators, I was able to do it. I now get to spend half of my day teaching students about my favorite artistic medium.”

Along the way, Kunkle has received inspiration from a variety of instructors and artists.

“There has been a few artists that have had an influence on my current work. Brad Schweiger was my professor at Ohio University. I learned so much of what I currently teach from him. He was the one who asked the question: does your pottery really have to be functional? I often think about that when I am creating. My work really took a turn once I took an intensive week-long program with Jason Bige Burnett. I had always admired his pottery and jumped at the chance to learn from him. The different techniques that I learned from him, as well as Kristen Kieffer are ones that generally show up in all of my work.”

But being a full-time teacher means there isn’t a lot of time to work on her own art creations.

“I don’t have a business, so to speak,” Kunkle said. “Because I am a full-time teacher, the only time I really get to focus on my own artmaking is in the summer at various workshops and my small home studio.

“Right now, the challenge is in having the concentrated time to create. It is hard for a teaching artist to carve out time for themselves just to create their own things. So much of my time is spent creating lessons, examples, and grading.  This year, COVID threw everyone for a loop; teachers had to also prepare lessons for remote learning. Where I would normally just do a demonstration in class, I also had to do one for a video lesson for my at-home learners. You read that right! For awhile, I had 20 students learning art and ceramics via the computer. They did everything that my in-person students were doing, picking up materials at the end of the week and following me online. This involved a ton of reconfiguring what I taught.

“Honestly, the greatest reward is seeing my students getting inspired by my work.  When they begin, I call them my ‘ceramic babies.’ Barely anyone has had any experience with clay, other than a few elementary school projects here and there.  While they are working, I always try to work alongside them on my own projects. I do that so they can ask questions, or so I can get opinions from them. They see that the techniques that I use are ones they already know. I’m not hiding anything from them. There’s no magical mystery to what I do. As they move along in the program, it’s fun to compare where they are in their work to where they started. It is so rewarding to see their growth.

“I think I have one of the coolest jobs ever! I get to take a thing that I love to do on my own time, teach and share it with others, and make a career out of it. It’s something that I try not to take for granted. My job isn’t necessarily to create future artists, but to teach young adults how to read images, investigate the messages that are being sent through what they see in the visual world, as well as the techniques it takes to create them. My hope is that my students leave high school with an appreciation of art and see its importance.”