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About Karen Cruce

Award Winning Potter

About Karen Cruce

The love of ceramic art and pottery started as a selfish need and has matured into my life’s aspiration. My goal as a ceramic artist is to enrich other people’s daily lives with quality work that is functional, enjoyable, and pleasing to the eye. Each piece of pottery reflects it’s own energy and spirit.

Some of Karen Cruce's Recent Work

karen Cruce - 100_2820

The Apple

Karen c large red bowl with black slip

Red Series

karen Cruce - poppy bowl

Poppy Paradise

karen Cruce - IMG_3220

Brown Series

Ceramic Art Instruction

  • University of Houston, Cinco Ranch Campus
    Founder and developer of Ceramic Art
  • Potters’ Place Studio
    3334 FM 1092, Missouri City,TX 77459

Clubs and Organizations

  • Texas Clay Art Association, Founding and Charter member;
  • National Council for the education of Ceramic Art, member;
  • Sugar Land Area Artists, current member, President 1997 – 1999
  • Professional Artists of Central Texas (PACT)
  • ClayHouston

Awards

  • Lone Star Art Guild, S.W. Competition 1997
  • 1st Place, Three dimensional work, “Cactus Flower”
  • Lone Star Art Guild, S.W. Competition 1998
    • 1st Place, Three dimensional work, “Spiral Symphony”
    • 2nd Place, Three dimensional work, “Time in a Bottle”
    • 3rd Place, Three dimensional work, “Cat Paws”
  • Lone Star Art Guild, S.W. Competition 1999
    • 1st Place, Three dimensional work, “Centerpiece II”;
    • 2nd Place, Three dimensional work, “Teapot with Grapes”;
    • 3rd Place, Three dimensional work, “Kitchen Guardian”
  • Lone Star Art Guild, Regional Competition 1999
    • 1st Place, Three dimensional work, “Centerpiece II”;
    • 2nd Place, Three dimensional work, “Teapot with Grapes”
  • Artist if the Month, April 2004 for The Alliance of Potterty Artists
    Worldwide Assn.
  • 1st Place, 3-D “Big Mouth”, New Braunfels Art League Oct, 2005
  • 1st Place 3-D “Big Mouth”, 2nd Place 3-D “Asian Jar” Sugar Land Artists Nov, 2005
  • Accepted “Asian Jar” American Juried Artists, National Competition April 2006
  • Accepted “Big Mouth”, Visual Artists Alliance 2006 National Competition
  • Guest Artist 3-D, Painters Eight Gallery Show, New Braunfels, Texas May 2006

Published Work

  • “Grapes” Sugar Land Area Artists Cookbook, Spring 1998;
  • “Grapes” Countryside Magazine, November 1998
  • Published Book “Best American Artists, Pottery and Woodworking”, Vo. I 2007
  • Segment on HGTV’s “That’s Clever” featuring the “Antique Textured Box” 

See My Work at the Following Locations

  • Indian River (IR), Marble Falls, Texas
  • Potters’ Place, Stafford, TX
  • Helotes Gallery, Helotes, TX
  • Becker Vineyards, Tasting Room, Fredericksburg, TX
  • La-Ti-Da, Johnson City, TX 

Testimonials

My family did a private party for 7 people here in December. I really enjoyed the class! Most of us were first-timers. The instructor got a station set up for each of us, and then we were led through the different steps of making our own bowl. She walked around and gave us guidance when needed. When we messed up, she stepped in to help us fix the problem. Aprons are provided, but you'll want to wear old/crummy clothes anyway because there's nothing to protect your pants or your sleeves.. There were a lot of options in this basic beginner class. Bowls could be flat, taller, round, heart-shaped, scallop-edged, etc. Lastly, we picked the color(s) that we wanted our bowls to be. There was even the option to hand-paint the bowls. We didn't get to take our bowls home right away because they needed to go through the kiln twice, I think. The wait time before we get our bowls back should end up being around 3-5 weeks I believe. There is a very cute and friendly little dog freely roaming around the studio. Overall, a fun & pleasant experience!

Grace C. One Time Wheel Students

I love this place; Karen is a kind patient and best teacher ever for learning to throw well. She has extreme love for teaching. She is very fostering to all studio and creates a warm and inviting environment. She has students who have been coming for 20+ years. A great place to learn and take your love for pottery to the next level. So thankful to have this place in my life.

Mini K. Studio Student

I love this place. I've been going here for over two years now. I have always loved pottery, and decided to try making my own instead of buying someone else's. Karen is a remarkable teacher of of both wheel throwing and hand building. I have turned out to enjoy the hand building techniques of pottery. Karen challenges all of us to improve our skills. Each week when I walk in she wants to know if I want a challenge. I usually fall for that and end up with something that shocks me!!! Not only does Karen teach the creating process of pottery, she also teaches us about the glazing process, which there's so much more to it than I ever realized. Potters place is great for taking lessons, studio time or one time wheel. Everyone there is friendly and we all help each other. Karen offers a wide range of glazes for us to use or we can purchase or own. She almost always had two kilns running which is like Christmas time when opened. Highly recommend Potter's Place to anyone interested in clay!

Tree C. Advanced Student

My work group is always looking for fun and unique ways to enjoy ourselves and build on our team dynamics. This place definitely fit the bill for a unique experience. They easily accommodated our group of 10 and we had the whole place to ourselves. They let you bring food and wine which was great. The instructor was fantastic and we each made our own bowl from scratch with her help of course. We had a really good time and I highly recommend this place for anyone who desires to spin the wheel.

Stephen M. Student