KAREN SHAPIRO

After a long, hard career as a pastry chef, though majoring in art in college, Karen Shapiro returned to the ceramic studio. "I found myself drawn to the form of a milk carton, then to my expresso pot from Italy, next to an artichoke from the market - in other words, I found an inexhaustible source of fascinating shapes and forms staring at me from all sides. Now I find myself jumping around from vegetable to nail polish bottles and lipstick, to crayons and on and on...and in addition to these wonderful objects I have also discovered the raku kiln. The excitement of reaching into a red-hot environment with tongs, of the flaming bucket, even the choking smoke, and finding results I never dreamt of - always changing, always so much to learn - has given me back an enormous energy, appetite and passion for my work."