Karen Dubois
Resident Potter | Instructor
Karen’s ceramic journey began in her freshman year of high school in Rockville, MD. She continued her studies for a semester after graduation, and then took a brief break from clay when she married, had four kiddos, and homeschooled them through high school. She returned to clay about 20 years ago, taking classes at Frederick Community College (FCC).
It was through her involvement at FCC that Karen was introduced to her favorite firing method: Wood! She absolutely loves the surfaces achieved during the process, and she soaked up everything she could from her teachers and mentors, Joe Campbell and Shane Sellers. She also pursued more experiences in workshops with John Thies, Peter Callas, Dick Lehman, Jackie Brown, John Dix, Judith Duff, Joyce Michaud and several others in the program at FCC.
Karen and her husband Bryan moved from MD to NC in February 2010, driving out of back to back blizzards and five feet of snow!
Karen met a founding member of TVPCC and joined us so soon after we opened in 2011 that we have always considered her a founding member. Karen’s love of wood fire atmosphere was a major inspiration and motivation in the building of our Kazegama kiln. In 2015, she worked with George Rolland to design and develop our Kazegama Wood Ash Kiln, even learning to weld to help put together the frame! She has led virtually every firing we’ve held, and she and Sarah Wells Rolland now teach workshops for the Kazie, firing with wood ash and soda ash to exquisite results!
Even though she took a break from pottery for several years while helping family, she has always been a part of TVPCC, and we were so happy when she came back to teaching hand building classes, and now thrilled again that she is once again in studio creating beautiful works we can’t wait to share with you!
