Meet Karen Fincannon | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karen Fincannon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karen, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
One of my favorite song lyrics is from “Anthem”, by Leonard Cohen. I incorporate this quote in some of my pieces. “Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” My interpretation of this lyric is to make the most of what you have, and be persistent even when going through a difficult time, without trying to achieve perfection. As an artist, sometimes there is the tendency to try to make “the perfect piece”. The same can be said for anything we attempt to accomplish in life. The last line of the lyric offers comfort, essentially saying to embrace the cracks, the blemishes, whatever we attempted that fell short of perfection, because sometimes the positive can be found in the negative. The crack in everything is inevitable, we need to accept ourselves and whatever we attempt as part of the process and part of our growth.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
How did you get to where you are today professionally? Was it easy?

It’s been a journey! I started with degrees in Photography and Art History at SUNY Potsdam, but I didn’t really find my way to clay until I took a tile-making workshop. That sparked something in me, and for a few years, I focused on relief tiles. Later, I took a workshop with ceramic artist Lana Wilson, and everything changed. She introduced me to a completely different way of working with clay, and from that moment, I knew I had found my artistic voice.

No, it wasn’t really easy! Working as an artist is always a learning experience. There were plenty of times I struggled—figuring out my own style, refining my techniques, and learning what worked (and what didn’t). But every challenge helped me grow.

How did you overcome the challenges?

I think the biggest thing that helped me was staying curious and not being afraid to experiment. Every time I felt stuck, I took a new workshop or tried a new technique. For example, a doll-making workshop with Akira Blount also inspired me to explore storytelling in sculpture.
Another thing that helped was remembering why I create in the first place. My work is all about joy and whimsy. And I have had to practice patience. Clay is not a fast process. Sometimes things break, sometimes firings don’t go as planned, but you learn to roll with it and keep going. Remember, “there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”!

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?

Follow what excites you. If something sparks your interest, go for it, you never know where it might lead.
Art doesn’t have to be serious to be meaningful. There’s real value in creating things that bring people joy.
Learning never stops. Every new workshop, every experiment, every mistake—it all adds to your growth as an artist. Perfection is overrated. Sometimes the best pieces come from happy accidents.

What do you want the world to know about you and your work?

At the heart of it, I just want to create art that makes people happy. My sculptures are playful, full of personality, and meant to bring a little joy into someone’s day. I’ve always been drawn to the whimsical, and that’s what I love sharing through my work—whether it’s a dog holding a puppet, a smiling raccoon, or a fat, happy cow!
Every piece I make is hand-built, one-of-a-kind, and crafted with care. I use different clay bodies like earthenware and paperclay, experiment with textures, and bring everything to life with bright, colorful underglazes. The process takes time, but that’s part of the magic.
If my work makes someone smile, then I’ve done my job. That’s the best compliment I could ever get. 😊

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love living in Atlanta, it is a great city for food, art and fun. I don’t visit a lot of places in the city, but I am a member of the High Museum of Art, the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States.. The High has a great permanent collection, which they tap into quite a bit, and always has interesting exhibitions year round. Atlanta also has a vibrant music and nightlife scene, but I don’t partake of either as much as I did in my younger days!

I participate in several outdoor art shows in the Atlanta area, it’s great to meet with customers and other artist friends as we are able to get out of our studios. Some of the shows I participate in are the Atlanta Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park in April, the Inman Park Festival, also in April, Virginia Highlands Summerfest in June and Marietta Art in the Park on Labor Day weekend, On some Saturdays when I am not doing an art show, you will find me at the Peachtree Road Farmer’s Market at St. Phillip’s Cathedral in Buckhead in Atlanta.

Atlanta is a great food city, thanks to the melting pot of ethnicities that make up the city. I really enjoy the restaurants on Buford Highway, where there are a plethora of ethnic restaurants for miles from the north Atlanta suburbs into the city. Atlanta also has quite a few indoor farmer’s markets, and I admit that when I have guests I make them go with me to these markets, which are really more like large ethnic grocery stores. My two favorites are the Buford Highway Farmers Market and Your Dekalb Farmers Market.

Some of my favorite hometown restaurants in Tucker are Matthew’s Cafeteria, Taqueria Los Hermanos, Ibu’s Kitchen and Everest Gorkhali Kitchen. Matthew’s has been a Tucker staple since 1955. Close by in Lilburn is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, Frida’s Taqueria. Chamblee, also near Tucker, is where you will find my favorite place for dim sum, Best BBQ, my favorite Mediterranean restaurant, Sabaraba’s, and my favorite Asian fusion restaurant, Food Terminal. For Szechuan food in Chamblee I like to go the Chinatown food court, which has several restaurants in one area, all worth checking out. I could go on forever, there are so many good ethnic restaurants in Atlanta, but I have to mention one of my favorite Latin go to spots, Little Rey. “Al Carbon”. Get the breakfast with the warm salsa, delicious!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my mother, Jane Kradel, who always encouraged me to explore my artistic talents.

Website: https://www.karenfincannon.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenfincannon1/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtworksbyKarenFincannon

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@artworksbykarenfincannon7992