SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION: ARTIST AMY KEPHART DEBUTS CERAMICS EXHIBIT TODAY AT LORIMIER GALLERY

Opening a kiln after ceramic objects have been fired evokes the same feelings in Amy Kephart as opening presents on Christmas morning does for a young child.

"You want that red fire truck and you get the yellow Tonka," she said. "It's always a surprise."

Sometimes the painting and glaze colors come out better than expected and other times they are disappointing, she said. That's the beauty of pottery. "You can't control what the fire does. It speaks of spontaneity."

Kephart has been preparing for a show sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. "The Pottery of Amy Kephart" will open with a reception from 5-8 p.m. today at the Lorimier Gallery, 119 Independence St.

The exhibit will remain open through the end of the month. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

While there is always an anxiety associated with setting up for a show or exhibit, this show has been a little more taxing than usual, Kephart said. She agreed to do the show only a month ago and has created nearly every piece she'll display since that time. All the pieces were fired either last week or in the early part of this week.

Preparations for the show fit around her teaching schedule at Southeast Missouri State University where Kephart is an assistant professor.

Students in her courses see what it takes to be a working artist, Kephart said. "They get a much deeper education. They see the ups and downs."

Since Kephart has been working on pieces at the art studio on campus, students have been able to watch her progress. "It's not just me saying that this is part of my living, but they see me as an artist. There is always work in the kiln."

Kephart will demonstrate her ceramics art at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Arts Council galleries. A discussion will follow.

Kephart began her art career in painting but it didn't satisfy her. "I was trying to build up my canvas," she said. "I put rocks in my paints or painted with a putty knife."

Eventually she realized that three-dimensional art was what she preferred. "The first time I put my hands in clay I knew that was it."

For Kephart, pottery offers a romanticism that other art forms do not. People select pottery pieces not just to display them but also to use them.

If you were to eat dinner at her home, every plate or cup is a piece of pottery created either by Kephart or her friends. "I like that people can interact and it's not just to look at but they can enjoy it on all levels."

When people receive her work as gifts, Kephart hopes the pottery will be used if that's how the piece was intended.

There are some exceptions. She created three series of plates for display as wall hangings for this show. Some of the other objects to be displayed include pitchers, bowls, cups, jars and trays.

The objects have been painted in mattes and glazed in colors that Kephart chooses based on an organic theme. She often uses floral patterns and botanical images for her work. One of the plate series shows a bud opening to a full blossom, with each plate displaying a different stage in the process.

Even though Kephart had enough objects ready to show by Sunday afternoon, she intended to fire the kiln at least one more time just to be certain. Kephart prefers to take everything to a show and then let the pieces "speak" to each other while she sets up the display at the gallery.

She chooses pieces that contrast with one another but show similar form. Usually she paints a piece with an idea in mind how it should come out, but that doesn't always work, Kephart said.

In the kiln, where temperatures reach 2,381 degrees Fahrenheit, paints transform and pieces lose some of that original image. "Sometimes when you first see it you're frustrated because it loses some of that ego but it becomes something else," she said.

Often that something else is a new color or style that you want to try again, Kephart said. "It's always a learning experience no matter what you have."