Karen Rossi Biography
Karen Rossi's childhood in an agricultural Connecticut River Valley town was tranquil and sheltered. As a youth, Karen loved to paint and draw, and did so prolifically. Summers were especially quiet, and Karen's mom encouraged her three daughters to use their imaginations and keep active. She told them stories from her own childhood, and of studio visits to her sculptor neighbor, Alexander Calder.
The Calder stories were the first of many strong influences on Karen. Her parents started their own aerospace welding business in the garage of their home. Struggles involved in running a fast-growing company consumed the entire family. During Karen's high school years, the '70s exposed her to politics, people, folk music, and storytelling. She loved nature and drew scenes from around her home, studying human life in her daily surroundings.
Karen's passion for art continued through university life where she studied foreign languages as well as a traditional foundation in painting and drawing. After college, she found community and a sense of belonging by volunteering and teaching children art, while taking classes and experimenting in different mediums. She took welding lessons from retired State of Connecticut Parks Department worker, Joe Coreale, and created a welded trout from mild steel, which she had to convince her welder father she'd crafted herself. Karen's dad was so impressed with her piece, he immediately set aside space for her in his welding shop. Once there, Karen found her father's love of metalworking infectious, and quickly started experimenting with steel, titanium, copper and brass on her own.
Soon, Karen was invited to show her works in metal at an emerging New England folk art gallery. She sculpted Gabriel the Herald Angel, often portrayed on the mastheads of ships, antique signage, and weathervanes. Her work caught the eye of several large Connecticut galleries, as well as restaurants, hospitals and corporations. Karen began to add broken crystals, charms and pieces of jewelry to her artwork. Inquiries for her charmed pieces skyrocketed, fueling her imagination and resulting in the development of more than 500 original characters… celebrating the seasons, holidays, professions, friends and family, children, hobbies and a host of other life-inspired themes.
After years of attending trade shows and marketing her original works, she developed a plan to license her designs. Managing both fine art and licensing careers consumed her. She licensed her artwork to several manufacturing companies, eventually signing a contract with Silvestri®. Within two years of the initial January 2000 release of 12 three-dimensional metal characters for that company, retail sales of Karen Rossi's Fanciful Flights™ by Silvestri® topped $30 million annually. Karen is currently licensing her characters to a variety of firms who produce and market embroidery design cards, dolls, promotional and stationery items, scrapbooking and papercrafting supplies, gifts and decorative products, and garden statuary and accessories.
Karen relates art to the healing process as artist in residence at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Conn., and considers this work to be the most meaningful part of her career. Participating in charitable endeavors and showcasing her works in the places where everyday life is played out continue to be of paramount importance to her. She holds fast to her New England roots and will forever be influenced by her family and interactions with others. Today, in her studio, Karen Rossi continues to create her stories in metal as well as in paintings, murals, and clay. It's a gift for which she is very grateful and feels compelled to share with the world.
Where it all happens
Karen Rossi Studios
Rossi Studios is the New England based studio for artist/designer Karen Rossi. Rossi is a highly regarded artist/designer of one of a kind metal sculptures featuring whimsical characters, places and lifestyles. Her commissioned pieces are represented in public and private collections including hospitals, corporate lobbies and museums. The company was founded in 1980 and has quickly become internationally known. Rossi’s metal sculptures are represented in over 100 galleries in the United States and abroad, including Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the Caribbean. Collectors include the White House, Howie Mandell, Ernest & Tova Borgnine, Helen Boehm, Susan Buffet, Booz Allen & Hamilton, Lucy Arnaz, the Mayo Clinic and The Baltimore Sun.
Norfolk, CT
Rossi Studios at 60 Estey Road, Norfolk CT
Workshops for kids & adults as well as open houses are located here!
During the summer, you can also often find Karen displaying and selling works at the Norfolk Farmer's Market.
Directions:
From Winsted, CT: Use RT. 44 to Norfolk. At the Village Green in Norfolk take RT. 272 south towards Torrington. Proceed 4 miles to Estey Road (right turn onto Estey). Proceed up the hill 1/4 of a mile to the red house on the right.
From Torrington, CT: Coming from RT 8 to RT 4 to RT. 272 north to Estey Road. (Approx. 8-9 miles) make a left turn onto Estey Road. Caution = Estey is on a road curve of RT. 272 which requires caution in making left turn. Look for the old red school house on the left at the corner of 272 & Estey RD, and the old Goshen Rd. forks into 272 just before the sharp curve at the corner of 272 & Estey Rd.
This is the original home that was on the Norfolk property when Karen purchased it. Her colorful wall sculptures now grace the walls of the quaint little house.
The new barn houses many of Karen's original sculptures, and will eventually serve as a living space and a metal working studio.
The "pond house" overlooks the tiny lake that is located on the far end of the yard in Norfolk. This "Studio in the Woods Gallery" houses Karen's original metal sculptures.
A Place to Call Home
Karen's house is now the new location for
Rossi Studios.
Garden Art
Karen's garden sculptures surround
our new location.
Artistic Inspiration
Beaver Pond, which lies right outside the
windows of the new studio room, is a
perfect sight for daily inspiration.
Where it used to happen!
Windsor Locks- Original Studio
