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• 'Signature look' makes artist's work more visible

Kyle Crossland displays an example of his ceramic art - a patterned bread tray - at the Indianapolis Arts Center. (Frank Espich / The Indianapolis)

Kyle Crossland, a local ceramics artist, working on a piece of his work within the Indianapolis Arts Center. (Frank Espich / The Star)

A detail of a Kyle's hands with a raw piece of potters clay. (Frank Espich / The Star)

A piece of Kyle Crossland's work (a glazed textured ceramic wall hanging) within the Indianapolis Arts Center. (Frank Espich / The Star)

Planning on going to the Broad Ripple Art Fair? Click here for for information on tickets, parking, shuttle services as well as a grounds map

At the Broad Ripple Art Fair this weekend, Kyle Crossland will be one of more than 200 artists vying for your attention. Since 1995, Crossland has led the Indianapolis Art Center's ceramics program while pursuing his own artistic vision: He estimates he's participated in more than 30 art fairs in the past five years.

Crossland does more than "just pots" -- he also creates pieces such as decorative ceramic panels that are similar to paintings, and that can hang on the outside of a house.

"I always say I have a split personality. I have all these different artists inside me who all do different things," he said. "But ..... you can see the potter's hand throughout all my pieces, and that's sort of the thing that ties them together."

As he prepared for his sixth BRAF appearance, Crossland chatted with Indy.com The Magazine about eavesdropping on his customers, and why you might someday see his name on movie screens.

**Since your work is so varied, do you change your art offerings according to the fair you're attending?**

I do change what I do for different fairs. I think that Broad Ripple tends to be more of a traditional sales place, so I'll have more functional pottery at a fair like this..... because (visitors) can relate to it much more closely than say, my ceramic panels. When they pick up a pot, they know it's a pot.

Is it weird to hear people discussing your work in front of you?

It's always interesting to hear what people have to say. In a way, it's nice if they don't know that you're the artist, because then you get more candid comments. Sometimes I hang out in back, slightly behind my booth, where I can hear what people have to say, and see if they say anything different than when I was around.

Have you heard anything that surprised you?

Somebody said my work was like an explosion of color. I wasn't registering that, but they must have been talking about my booth (overall). I use a lot of different colors and glazes.

Is there one particular piece that you've created that you could never part with?

I have a piece at home that I executed in 1992, and I consider it a masterpiece. I think every artist has a masterpiece. And it may not be a masterpiece to everybody, but it's a masterpiece to you, in that when you made it, something inside you changed.

It's a nice block that I've carved figures into, and it's just one of those pieces that I look at every day. I'm always amazed when I see it.

Any hidden talents beyond your art?

I like to write fiction. I'm currently working with a friend. He's developing a comic series called Yoki, and I'm helping him write some initial story lines. You'll probably see more about that in the future, because there's a possible movie deal in the works right now.

38th Broad Ripple Art Fair

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Indianapolis Art Center, 820 E. 67th St.

Tickets: Adults, $12 in advance, $15 at the gate; children 3 to 12, $2.

For more information: (317) 255-2464, www.IndplsArtCenter.org.

- By Julie Cope Saetre / Indy.com correspondent