About Karla and Tiny Acres Studios

The unique path that brought Karla to where she is today is a sweet sauce of meditation, yoga, pottery, and connection to the earth. Her desire for adventure led her to the Appalachian Trail but the walking meditation eventually brought her back home. As she walked she envisioned her own wooded space in upstate New York where she would grow a small garden, live in a tiny house, and create her pottery studio. Tiny Acres Studios is the manifestation of that vision.

About Karla

A ceramic artist originally from Richfield Springs, NY, Karla Andela has a Bachelors degree in Art Education from Calvin College, Grand Rapids Michigan. It was in the Calvin Art Department that Karla began working in clay and it was a perfect fit! After college, she taught clay classes for adults and children at Clay Dreaming, a privately owned pottery studio in Beverly, MA. The draw of the community and landscape of home brought her back to the Cooperstown, NY area, where she has been teaching and creating at the Smithy Arts Clay Studio since 2012. Karla has a strong connection to the community and the local coffee shop, Stagecoach Coffee, which has frequently sold limited runs of “Karla Mugs.” Commissions and sales at farmers markets and various pop-up shows have been primary sales locations. Karla followed her interest in yoga from Beverly, MA to Cooperstown and eventually to Kripalu, a school for yoga and Aryuveda, where she earned her 200 hour teaching certificate. Karla has taught yoga since 2014 at various studios in the Otsego County, NY area.

 

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts, K-12 Program, May 2010, Calvin College – Grand Rapids, MI

  • Certified Yoga Teacher 200 hour Training- Summer 2015, Kripalu Center for Yoga - Stockbridge, MA

Teaching

  • Yoga Instructor, 2016-present, Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown NY

    • Kripalu style gentle yoga classes for all bodies and abilities.

  • Ceramics Instructor, January 2012- Present, The Smithy Center for the Arts - Cooperstown, NY

    • Incorporating yogic breathing and body awareness into clay making.

  • Assistant to the Director, January- May 2012, Richfield Springs Community Center - Richfield Springs, NY

    • Developed character-building curriculum for after school program.

  • Ceramics Instructor, Lab Technician, September 2010 to May 2011, Clay Dreaming – Beverly, MA

    • Introduced basic hand-building and throwing techniques to diverse classes.

Hiking

  • Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker- April 9-October 1, 2015

    • Walked 2,189 miles from Springer Mt, Georgia to Katahdin, Maine.

 
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Artist Statement, “Memory Spaces”

Home is not only the objects in my life, but the human relationships formed while using these objects. My vessels become memory spaces when they are used for a harvest dinner or morning coffees. I invite you to incorporate my pottery into your home space. Handmade and home-bound my pieces are functional, beautiful, comfortable. All pieces are dishwasher and microwave safe.

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