About the Artist

Karen Ehart was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest in various parts of Washington and Oregon. In 1985 she and a partner opened a stained glass studio in Alabama, designing and fabricating custom work for homes, churches and businesses. They also did glass restoration work on some beautiful old homes. During that time she began melting glass together, a process called fusing, and incorporating pieces in her stained glass work. She then began making fused glass jewelry and this led to a wholesale jewelry line sold to boutiques and galleries.

In 1990 she returned to Portland Oregon where she worked for Savoy Studios, a major commercial art glass studio, and Uroboros glass factory. Savoy Studios distributes dichroic glass and the studio was instrumental in the initial testing and fine-tuning of this medium for the art glass industry. These experiments resulted in gallery quality art pieces. This amazingly lively and reflective coating allows so many design possibilities that she was soon obsessed with using it. During her time spent in Portland glass fusing became her focus.

A move to Hawaii in 1992 inspired many new design ideas, and this is where she met her husband, Jim. The intriguing petroglyph symbols found on cave walls and lava fields began showing up in her art pieces as well as sea creatures seen while snorkeling the coral reefs.

Spending much of their mainland time hunting Native American rock art led them to the deserts of the Southwest. They fell in love with the wide open spaces and dramatic scenery of Arizona and recently made the state their home.