Karen Billard
About Me
I am a designer and artist who works in a variety of media. I has recently formed Kusala Design, through which I design jewelry and tassels, costumes for theater productions, and websites and graphics. I am also committed to forwarding the central role the arts play in the quality of community and personal life.
I bring a broad range of skill and experience to my creative work. I combine my beadwork with hand weaving, kumihimo braiding, polymer and precious metal clays to create unique jewelry and tassels. As a painter, I am particularly drawn to figurative work. I am a patternmaker with experience in the New York fashion industry, and I have been designing websites and graphics since 2000, when I moved to Rhode Island and discovered I had missed the fiber industry there by about 100 years.
I design costumes for a number of theaters on the Cape, including the Cotuit Center for the Arts, where my work for Sullivan & Gilbert in June 2008 received critical notice. I recently stage managed and collaborated on costumes with Karen Dowcett and Claude Danner of the Living Arts Institute on their production of Missa Gaia with the Chatham Chorale and Grammy award-winning composer Paul Halley.
As a fiber artist and figurative artist, Karen has exhibited and sold her work in galleries and decorator showcases in Westchester County in New York. She is a former member and Vice President of programming for the Handweaver’s Guild of Westchester, and has taught classes in tassel making and beadwork.
My jewelry and tassels can be seen at Color Obsession Gallery in Mashpee, where I am Marketing Director. I also devote my time and skills to a number of non-profit organizations and events. I am a member of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the Falmouth Artists Guild, Cape Cod Museum of Art, committee member for Philanthropy Day, member of the Falmouth Cultural Council, and board member for the Provincetown Theater Foundation.