As a quilter, years ago I began embellishing my smaller works with beads and ephemera. That led to making bead embroidered jewelry, where beads and stones are sewn on by hand.  The colors and textures of textiles and stones intrigue me. 

Inspiration is found all around, in nature, in music, in the play of sunlight on water, the color of a raven’s wing, a Gershwin melody, the face of an old man in a doorway.  My pieces don’t usually have a pattern, but rather the quilt or the bracelet lets me know what is needed next and the piece flows.

Originally from Michigan, Karen now splits her time between NC and FL.