Chicago artist Steve Bines…Combines hand built clay sculptures with various types of thread to create multimedia ceramic pieces we refer to as “String Things”

A simple name for these one of a kind designs that are anything but.

Handmade in Chicago by local artist Steve Bines.

Custom work upon request.

I started making “String Things” in the early 70’s and sold them at local art fairs such as the Brady Street Art Fair on the east side of Milwaukee. The idea of combining ceramic work with threaded accents began  more than a decade ago when I began working with clay at the Lil Street studios in Chicago, a wonderful space I first discovered more than 30 years ago while taking my children there for young artist programs. The forms I now work with are built either out of slabs or coils.  The holes for threading are placed while the clay is still wet and protected during the glazing process. The glazes are either hand painted or sprayed on. Once the glazes are fired, I take them to my home studio where they are threaded as a variety of music (ranging from Vaughan Williams to Lizzo) plays in the background.

It is exciting to watch the imagined patterns emerge from the clay forms as the threads are placed and I hope you enjoy seeing these pieces as much as I enjoy making them.

Look around. Have fun!!

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