Bird and Cat Ceramics

Ken’s a bird biologist and Jen’s a cat fan. Together, we’re Bird and Cat Ceramics—making art inspired by the wild, at our home in Portland, Oregon.

Hi. We craft small-batch pottery made entirely by hand. Our work is thrown by Ken in our backyard studio and often painted by Jen at the kitchen table. The ceramic form, illustrations, and glazing are unique to each piece. We strive to minimize our ecological footprint, support local businesses and use recycled clay when possible. Our functional ceramics are designed to be used every day—for many years to come.

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The artists

Ken Popper

The potter (& bird biologist)  

Trained as a zoologist with a professional career in ornithology, nonprofit conservation planning and climate science, Ken crafts handmade, wheel-thrown ceramics. He’s been making pottery since he was a kid and took pottery more seriously in college. “My inspiration goes back to my childhood when I was introduced to ceramics by my Aunt Edie. She was an amazing potter and sculptor, and all-around wonderful person, along with my Uncle Ira,” he said. Edie taught ceramics to children and adults and made ceramics most of her life. When she passed away, her wheel was passed on to Ken, which is what he works on today—which he enjoys most with our garage door open and the sun pouring in.

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Jen Newlin

The illustrator (& cat fan)  

Trained as a writer, strategist and artist, Jen’s worked in the environmental arena for 20 years. She’s a huge fan of wildlife, specifically predators and big and small cats—heightened by working with cheetahs in her youth. She’s a wildlife illustrator, too, and when her partner asked if she’d be interested in painting on the pottery, she agreed. It was a learning curve, but now she loves the medium. Jen adds hand-painted wildlife illustrations, carved patterns and “stencils” that complement Ken’s ceramic forms. 

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The shop

Our Etsy shop is on ‘vacation’ over the winter. Thank you for all your purchases this past fall! Check out our Instagram account for the latest images of some of the pieces we’ll be selling!

We donate 10% of sales to nonprofits:

• June and Nov 2023: International Committee of the Red Cross
• November 2022: Wildlife conservation
• November 2021: Cancer support and research
• November 2020: Portland Audubon
• August 2020: Red Cross, wildfire emergency response
• May 2020: Black Lives Matter

Our model is to host and announce shop opening dates, with closures in between so we can rebuild inventory. Folks have asked us and no, we don’t create custom orders or hold pieces aside for you to purchase. If there is something you’d like to see, or an item you wish we made more of—especially considering our work is in small batches—please let us know! We’ll keep that in mind for future creations. And we’ll always announce shop stocking days so you can mark your calendars for releases.

Share your Bird and Cat Ceramics in the wild on Instagram by tagging us in photos and using #birdandcatceramics

The process

We take the slow road (or trail, more likely). Our ceramic pieces are crafted individually—all by hand and each is unique—taking about a month to complete. From start to finish they are lovingly shepherded from throwing to drying, trimming, painting, carving, drying more, bisque firing, waxing, sanding, glazing and a final firing. The pieces are then washed, photographed and shared with you! Then packed and shipped to their forever homes.

Our work is food safe and dishwasher and microwave safe, too—unless specified individually. As everything is handcrafted, there will be imperfections and artistic nuances in the work. We like to call it character. 

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Of cats and birds

Actual cats and birds don’t get along well in real life—and we’re not encouraging that they do. (Our shop name is a tribute to the two of us and our personal interests in birds and cats.) In fact, domestic cats pounce on a billion birds a year and are a major threat to bird species, wildlife and ecological systems worldwide. We encourage responsible pet ownership, which includes:

• Keeping your domestic feline friends indoors.
• Creating indoor play times and enrichment activities to help satisfy predator instincts.
• Don’t declaw your cats, thinking that will solve any bird snacks. (“Declawing” is inhumane as it cuts off half of the cat’s toes.)  
• Making sure your cat’s collar has a bell (name tags are great, too, even if cats are indoors only!).
• If your cat must go outside, put them in a harness and leash and actively monitor the cat.
• When your cat goes outside on a harness, make sure bird baths or feeders are not easily reachable from the ground (or consider removing bird features for the safety of our feathered friends).
• If your cat bemoans the above suggestions, consider creating an outdoor, screened-in “catio” space—which can be super cool in design.
• For more information, visit the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon or Portland Audubon.

The supervisor

Olive Finch the cat supervises our pottery. She’s a rescue cat (and was also previously feral). She stays indoors, away from birds, with sporadic, supervised leash visits in the backyard grass.

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Thanks

Thank you to our friends and family, supporting us along the way! Also, a shout out to our friends at Morning Ceramics—a community studio in Portland, Oregon—that does our firing and makes some of our glazes. Check them out for home clay kits and classes!

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Say hi