Karen’s porcelain and stoneware pottery is wheel thrown, often altered and decorated with thick slip and by carving, appliquéing and incising. She uses fossils, seashells, fabric and kitchen tools for decoration. For color, she applies glaze over glaze, uses wax resist brush decoration and touches up with metallic oxide washes. She also uses local Indiana clay slip on some of her stoneware pieces. Karen high fires her work in a gas reduction atmosphere to the temperature of approximately 2350F.
“I’m guided by the concept taught to me by my teacher Nan McKinnnell at Loretta Heights College in Denver, ‘the first 100 don’t count’. I’m moving into to keeping it simple, as well, being patient with the process. Repetition helps me understand a form, a glaze, a texture. I strive to create pieces that stand alone as beautiful, are sensuous to the touch and function for every day use.”
Karen is a founding member of Local Clay Potters’ Guild. She is also a founding member of Artisan Guilds of Bloomington.