Katarina Wells was born and raised in Austria. She came to Australia in 1991 and fell in love with the wildness and seemingly untamed nature of the landscape. She lives and works from her home at Clareville on the Northern Beaches.

She completed a Studio Ceramics course at Brookvale TAFE in 2000. There she was introduced to hand building, especially coiling, and immediately felt drawn to the slow and meditative nature of the technique.

She purchased a kiln and began to research different methods to achieve the colours and textures that suit her aesthetics. They include stoneware with the application of oxides and slip glazes and the subtle surface of burnished earthenware (the clay surface is polished with a smooth pebble to produce a sheen).