(She occasionally paints too)

Karen is a fiber artist and educator whose work explores connection, emotion, memory, and mental health through quilting and textile processes. After returning from a deployment to Afghanistan in 2014, quilting became a therapeutic outlet that evolved into a powerful form of creative expression.

Blending traditional and modern quilting techniques with improvisational processes, Karen creates layered visual narratives that reflect memory, identity, and human connection. Drawing from academic insights and lived experience, she transforms cloth into stories that invite reflection and shared understanding.

As a former social scientist, she is interested in using art to examine how humans process complex emotions and present themselves to others. Using fabric, thread, and layering, Karen explores themes of isolation, belonging, protection versus exposure, what's visible versus what's hidden, how materials hold memory, and the landscapes (both physical and emotional) that shape us. She values the process of creating grounded, honest work that invites reflection and provides space for quiet thinking. With the skill of an artisan, the vision of an artist, and the care of a craftsperson, Karen’s practice and philosophy honors textile traditions while pushing their expressive potential.

In addition to her artistic practice, Karen is a dedicated teacher, offering virtual sewing and quilting classes and in-person workshops. She encourages students to explore both the technical and emotional aspects of textile arts, helping them connect their personal stories to the materials and processes they use.

She regularly exhibits in the Mid-Atlantic region where she lives and has even won a few awards for her work.

Karen can usually be found in her creative studio listening to music or historical/true crime podcasts or classic fiction audiobooks while making colorful messes - assisted by her mischievous furry overlord, Lucius, her studio su-purr meowdel, Daisy, and Dozer, the newest member of the team.