ahauspottery

I have been an artist all of my life. I can remember telling my first grade teacher that I wanted to be a teacher and an artist when I grew up.

Well, while teaching kindergarten and 2nd grade for nearly 20 years, I earned my Masters in Art Education from Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri. The elementary classroom was such fun for me that I only pursued art as a hobby through the St. Louis Community College and Craft Alliance in St. Louis until we moved to Texas in 2011.

Now, with a pottery studio in my home, I am able to create more of the pottery that I love and be the artist I said that I would be in First Grade. In 2013, I became a full time art teacher at a local elementary school. I love my job teaching kids about art and how to use it to inspire others.

I create my work on my potter's wheel using white stoneware or porcelain. I love altering the pieces and creating something completely new and unique. Some of my work is created by hand by using slices of clay called slabs. I like to use all sorts of materials to add texture to the clay, like wooden printing blocks from India and old buttons.

My grandma was a wood chip carver, carving intricate patterns into wooden plates until her dying days at the age of 93. I inherited her incredibly sharp tools. Instead of using them in wood, I use them to carve intricate designs into linoleum. I then press the linoleum onto the clay to make textured designs that are all my own.
I also love to hand carve designs into the clay. Trees, vines, and flowers are my favorite designs to freely carve. Hand carving truly makes each piece one of a kind.

I consider myself a studio potter and not a production potter. My work is similar but no two are exactly the same because no two pieces of clay are ever the same no matter how systematically you wedge it, throw it, alter it, or carve it.
Thank you for visiting my shop. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoy making it.

:) Karen Ahaus (pronounced Ay-house)

Follow me on Instagram @ahauspottery