I have been teaching art in public schools in Ohio for 32 years now- over 25 teaching high school ceramics.

The reason I started my Etsy shop was because I personally have felt it important for me to keep producing as an artist throughout my career as an art teacher. I enjoy sharing my passion of working with clay with my students, as they can see me as a practicing artist while knowing I once faced many of the same challenges and struggles that they do as developing artists.

As a potter and ceramics teacher, I love being able to spread my love of handmade pottery to others. The act of a potter expressing themselves and creatively giving a part of their personality while bringing the depth of their experiences in clay to life within a beautiful pot is why I make pottery. But of course, making the pottery isn’t the whole story. After making the piece, that very same pot needs to finds a home with someone who "clicks" with it, perhaps drawn to it in sometimes an inexplicable way... they just love it… enough to make it their own. I like to make pottery because of the human connection which is formed, when one person appreciates the gifts, talents, and expressions of another and brings a handmade piece into their lives and homes. In a world where we are constantly bombarded with technology and the newest manufactured things, the idea of slowing down to appreciate the handmade and keeping the traditions of handmade alive reminds us of our shared history and humanity.

The majority of my personal clay work I create on the wheel. I strive to make items of beauty and impact which also bring people happiness. I love to alter forms and also create rich surface treatments on my pieces. Although I love to make big impactful pieces, I equally enjoy creating dinnerware for everyday use. I enjoy making mugs in particular, as I feel like people can develop a personal relationship with a favorite mug which is used every morning. The satisfaction of a beautiful form, comfortable handle, or pleasing texture comes from the joy of using handmade pottery. There is something I find particularly comforting about having a favorite special mug as a part of my morning routine. Because of this, I started a line of National Parks mugs a few years ago which remind me of some of my favorite place I have visited and camped with my family.

I started my Youtube channel several years (KaransPotsAndGlass) ago for the benefit of my students, but found it reached a much larger world-wide audience and following than I had ever anticipated. Now over 35,000 subscribers, I plan to keep active creating pottery and instructional pottery tutorial videos on Youtube for many years to come.