Jane Kaufmann is a New Hampshire–based ceramic artist and storyteller whose work defies simple labels — though “potter,” “sculptor,” or “satirist” all come close. She creates imaginative, whimsical sculptures — orbs, human figures, finger puppets, even tableaux — many painted or glazed with words, often with humor and social commentary. After a peripatetic childhood and academic journey (including stints moving around, skipping eighth grade, flunking out of college, then earning a degree in English), her artistic life crystallized when she married and began taking art classes in New Hampshire. Over decades she has built her practice using raku firing (not using a potter’s wheel), adapted kilns (her first being a converted oil drum), and produced thousands of pieces. Her illustrated memoir, Jane Kaufmann Unframed, weaves together her life story and creative philosophy: speaking her mind, making art with humor, and believing in kindness, doing things oneself, and the beauty in everyday truth.
