Eight years ago, Karen McKee left the corporate world in Pittsburgh for the pottery world.

She quit her administrative position and hasn’t looked back.

“I don’t miss it — not one bit,” says McKee, 64 and a Plum resident, sporting a clay-splattered, unicorn-emblazoned apron over a functional T-shirt. “I love being my own boss.”

McKee now owns and operates Robyn’s Nest Pottery from her home studio in Plum.

Back in 1970, McKee was in Rockville, Md., with a buddy and tried her hand at pottery.

“I knew right then I wanted to do this the rest of my life,” McKee says. “Only thing is, I was busy raising five kids and working — so now I am living my dream.”

Some call it ceramics — some call it pottery.

“Its one and the same,” says McKee, who happily works five days a week in her spacious studio that boasts a large full bathroom. “My potter friends are jealous of that, but I am jealous that some of them have windows and a view.”

At one time a finished basement-gameroom, the working studio is brimming with various stages of her ceramics, materials, glazes and the heavily used potter wheel in the corner, which is her own private art oasis.

“I named this studio after my daughter,” McKee says. “She suffered a brain injury at age 4 and the countless support-team members that rotated in and out of our home always said, ‘There was something good going on in Robyn’s nest’ and the name always stuck with me.”

McKee produces hundreds of original porcelain clay-pottery pieces annually and sells them throughout the Pittsburgh region and at art shows in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia.

Her handmade pieces emphasize functionality with creations of sugar-creamer sets, candlesticks, bowls, dessert cups, dipping bowls, pie dishes, spoon jars, oval platters, trays and even sushi serving sets.

Her pieces feature colorful underglaze patterns — often encompassing nature symbols such as dragonflies, flowers, ginkgo and eucalyptus designs.

“It is so enjoyable to start with a slab of soft clay and watch something develop right before your eyes,” McKee says.

McKee prices her art to sell in the $20 to $150 range.

“I sell a lot of bowls, which are great functional pieces,” McKee says. “The pottery world can be frivolous, with customers tending to splurge more during the holidays.”

McKee values the importance of continuing education and is self-taught. She is a member of the Potter’s Council, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh Society of Artists and the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.

She has studied at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts since 1995, and now teaches ceramics there three days per week. McKee also offers classes from her home studio and has a mentored apprentice, Tess Bunting.

Bunting, an art student attending the University of Pittsburgh, works alongside McKee, fine-tuning her pottery technique.

“Its nice to learn from a professional,” Bunting says. “I learn from her style, and I have learned a potter’s life is never easy.”

McKee saves her dried ceramics, collecting them until she can fill her kiln in her backyard with 40 or so pieces.

“My electric bill can exceed $400 running that kiln, so I have to be smart about using it,” McKee says.

Her goals include teaching more students at her studio and “creating a voice that is well heard in the ceramic community.”

You can see some of McKee’s ceramics Sept. 27 at the Mt. Lebanon Artists Market at Washington Road and Academy Avenue, or shop her collections at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts store in Shadyside, Boulevard Gallery in Verona and the Artsmiths of Pittsburgh, Mt. Lebanon

Details: robynsnestpottery.com

Joyce Hanz is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.

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