By NVOS artist Davina Rubin
NVOS Artist Karen Winograde creates artistic pieces from clay to be used in home and garden.
Karen is inspired by her materials and her life surroundings. “I love the feel of wet clay and moist earth. The textures of stone and rock wall have inspired my firing process,” she says. Her love of gardening, cooking and sharing life around the table have inspired her creations of functional pottery.
Karen uses atmospheric firing processes: salt glazing and wood-fueled firing. In salt glazing the induction of sodium into the firing kiln creates a vapor, forming a hard durable glaze coating on all that is in the kiln. In wood firing, the ash deposited from a variety of woods is melted to form a glaze. In each of these firing processes, the pieces are individually marked by their placement, and chance encounters with flame and vapors.
Karen’s studio is placed in the middle of a large vineyard, some of which is hers — she makes Zinfandel wine to share at Open Studios. Visitors can view her kilns, and are sometimes treated to a throwing demo; and there are clay and boards for kids to play with. Two other artists — Bob Saxby and Lis MacDonald — share her space for Open Studios.
You'll find Karen at Studio #31, at 2394 Big Ranch Road, in Napa, California. You can take a look at her artwork online, too, at www.karenwinogradepottery.com.
Artist, writer and actress Davina Rubin uses acrylics and mixed media to create abstract works on both canvas and paper. She paints in her small loft in Napa, and writes a philosophic blog atwww.davinarubin.com. You can also see some of her artwork at www.davinarubinart.weebly.com, and you can visit her at Studio # 42 during Napa Valley Open Studios.
