Karen Bell

“I hope that people will not only enjoy my art, but feel the need to learn more about these fascinating creatures. Expanding their awareness and becoming more sensitive to reptiles, bats, amphibians and our shared environment.” Karen Bell

Karen brings her love of ceramics and respect of our natural world to animals that are not usually considered important. She keeps live models and also works from photographs and books. Researching each species leads to individual sculptures that may include habitat, life cycle or food source of each. She then designs each piece in clay with appropriate handbuilding (slab, coil, drape) sculpting (addition or subtraction of material) and texturing and inlaying techniques. Each species is a new challenge and may take many attempts before something really exciting happens.

Each piece then goes through a bisque firing and then a “high fire” (2345 degree F) glaze firing. Karen designs and mixes her own glazes. To achieve the detail and color required many of the sculptures are finely detailed with low fire glaze and refired to 1816 degrees F up to 3 times. The piece is then finished with inlays, cactus spines or porcupine quills and glass eyes.

Karen’s degree is in Art Education form the University of Wisconsin Stout – 72 and has 30 years of experience in high fire ceramics. She works alone in her studio in Spring Green, WI and has been the president of the Madison Potters Guild for 15 years. Her most recent awards were “Best of Show” in Madison, WI in July of 2004. (ART FAIR on the Square) and Oconomowoc “Best Sculpture”.

Mother of 2 humans, 2 tortoises, 2 lizards, 1 frog, 1 cat, 1 dog

Ask a toad “What is beauty”?…………

He will answer, that is a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back. Voltaire 1764