About

bio

Kara Kowalczyk-Fisher was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1981.  She primarily works in clay, oil and watercolor paints.  Kara completed a BFA at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Massachusetts and an MA in Visual Art at Anna Maria College.  Her works are for sale at seasonal events, Crompton Collective in Worcester, MA and Dandelions Gift Shop in Barre, MA.  Throughout the year, Kara participates in a variety of art fair venues, such as stART on the Street and stART at the Station, Makes Like a Girl market, and OnTrend Craft market.

Currently, Kara’s chosen themes appear in the familiar world around her, and inspiration comes from being present and thankful for the various moments of everyday life.  Kara is employed as a high school art teacher in Baldwinville, Massachusetts. She lives in South Barre with her husband, poet Michael Fisher, and their two children, Aleksander and Willow.

artist's statement

In this life, we are never safe from sorrow, devastation, and loss.  The warm bed of security is an illusion, one that must be constantly tended to and groomed.  I do not find these truths doomful.  Instead, I choose to view them as both an opportunity for change and a challenge to stay present in the tiny moments of daily life.

These moments, strung together randomly like the colors on a candy necklace, are constants.  They must not be taken for granted.  We never know what color will be up. 

The artwork produced from this moment becomes a visual link to the past, and hope for the future.  The work provides purpose and pushes me to find connections or inspiration in a place that previously may have been overlooked.  I find solace while taking a deeper look at the world around me.  In turn, the artwork grounds me in the present, keeping me interested in these sometimes difficult, sometimes wonderful, moments.

Subjects are chosen quite indiscriminately.  Usually, I am drawn to something because of the colors, shapes, or textures it may contain.  Often I paint something because I find it to be visually beautiful, comforting or somehow soul satisfying.  I also like to attach meaning to household objects, and create still lives that reference a deeper meaning.  For instance, poppy pods are beautiful because of their unique shape, but also represent loss and death to me, since they can only be harvested after their flower is long gone and blown away.

process

While painting, I like to use a loose, more gestural technique when possible, but working in details of certain parts are important.  I prefer to document the sentiment of a moment rather than the exact details.  Color harmonies and contrast are really important, as well as sometimes letting the paint do what it wants – run, blend, saturate.  

While working with ceramics, I like to highlight the quiet qualities of clay.  The creaminess, flexibility, fragility - it is all considered carefully in each piece.  While working on the wheel, the function of the pot is balanced with the design, and is often kept quite simple to leave room to celebrate the glaze.  Slab work is often impressed with botanicals, and glazes are usually encouraged to blend into one another, creating one of a kind effects.  Larger animal sculptures are made simply out of love for creatures great and small.