Kaaren Stoner

Kaaren’s relationship with clay began in 1963 at a folk high school in rural Sweden. The strong aesthetic of Swedish design shaped how she viewed everyday household items. When she returned to the states, she knew she wanted to be a studio craftsperson.

Her source of inspiration through out all these years has been nature and her endless fascination with the beauty of leaves, grasses, flowers, seashells, rocks, and landscapes. She has spent a lot of time in the woods and mountains, hiking along creeks and by the ocean. The colors that attract her are those of earth and sky – winters’ stark contrasts, spring blooms, summers’ brightness, and of course, the glorious shades of autumn. 

The pieces that Kaaren forms, and which often seem to form themselves, are a spiritual, meditative act for her. “I try to treat each piece with reverence, endowing each with its own individuality. What I’m really doing, I think, is trying to show that beauty is all around us, every day, all we have to do is look and see.”