Karen began playing around with clay about fifteen tears ago and only in the last twelve years started to take it seriously………………

Her first rung on the ladder was exhibiting in the Harrogate trade fair back in the early Eighties where she happily returned to base with a full order book, but not being schooled in the finer points of business or knowing when to say no she encountered a somewhat steep learning curve. Having a mental block of all things institutional she has trodden the long, laborious path of the self-taught, and as a consequence has probably taken twice as long as anyone else to get to where she is now…

Notwithstanding, climbing aboard the Potfest wagon some seven to eight years ago, she discovered the fun of selling direct to collectors as well as through the shops and galleries and has enjoyed doing so ever since. Karen now does several shows a year and over time has built quite a respectable client base (including one famous Hollywood actress!) in the U.K and overseas.

The ideas for her work largely stem from music (first and foremost) the great outdoors and an overactive imagination, all of which culminate in a need to put images into solid form…clay is fabulous for just such a venting of expression and in the main, allows Karen to satisfy this need. At the moment all her work is made using stoneware clays fired to the medium range and is entirely hand built although having recently made friends with Paperclay she is now managing to incorporate a new range to her work, namely horses (having to sell her real one due to work commitments a few years ago left a bit of a hole) this magical stuff is allowing her to branch out in a new and exciting direction with more ideas and development on the back burner…………

Dragon Vase by Karen Lainson