Welcome to the colourful world of Nameless Wonders. I’m Karen, who takes care of all the animals and other random creatures living there. Hard work – some of them get a bit out of hand at times.

I’m based in Glasgow and was a ceramics maker for many years. Then I realised I was more suited to making animals in fun and experimental ways than making pots, and that the way forward was in textiles and mixed media. So now I knit mobile phone covers, sew curious creatures in mixed materials, knit and sew animal brooches and paint creature portraits (none of them realistic...).

I’m inspired by old toys – especially my own (why grow up?) – and the wonderful animals, particularly cats, that I’ve found in Japan, made from scraps of kimono fabric; also by the amazing work of Louise Bourgeois. I’m completely led by the physicality of materials and can’t resist the urge to try out new combinations of materials and making techniques to see what will happen. Every piece of work throws up a host of new questions and ideas, so my mind is always on a dozen projects at once – here at Nameless Wonders on Folksy is a small sample of those.

I hope you enjoy the work – please tell me what you think, and suggest ideas for things you’d like to see in my shop!