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 Karen Bearman

Enticed by a potter on a kickwheel at a Waterford VA fair,Karen began pottery in the early 70s in Washington, DC, as a student, apprentice, then teacher at Hinckley Pottery Studio.She has worked as a studio potter, participating in workshops, craft shows and fairs, and as a Ceramics teacher instructing children and adults in independent schools, private studios, and universities. She has exhibited her work at shows and galleries in the DC and Delmarva area.

Marriage to a lifelong friend brought a move to the Eastern Shore. Karen now lives in Cambridge, MD, and works out of her basement studio. She is a member of the Clay Guild of the Eastern Shore and Main Street Gallery. Karen currently teaches pottery at Hinckley Pottery Studio in Washington, DC. Karen creates wheel-thrown, functional pieces in stoneware and porcelain, and hand-built pieces, and uses different firing methods: cone 6 oxidation, cone 10 reduction, and low-fire Raku. She also celebrates the female character from mythological, historical, political, and fictional sources, creating hand-built, functional/sculptural pieces, her “Lady Carafes.”

Achieving a pleasing form and surface is the motivation for her work. Karen finds special pleasure in the notion that she is creating pieces that may enhance the daily activities of people’s lives, and in the act of sharing her love of this exceptionally responsive medium.

Her work is currently on display at Main Street Gallery in Cambridge, MD.