Karen Gelardi lives and works in South Portland, Maine. She studied painting at Rhode Island School of Design and has been influenced by the design and manufacturing processes of her family's plastics factory in Biddeford, Maine, her mother's obsession with Asian brush painting, and the plants found in her neighborhood. Karen makes and stockpiles all sorts of wonderful customized materials and handmade components to use in her exhibitions. Some of these things (such as her drawings printed onto fabric) are used to create panel products for Panelshop.   karengelardi.com