“Painting doesn’t do it for me; I need to touch it,” says Celine Cannon, stone carver and fiber artist. “I love the tactile contrasts and layered stories.” Celine expresses herself in three mediums: stone, textiles and wax. Urban Zen supports them all, from stone sculptures and artistic candles to handwoven fiber art, whether the kind to wear or hang on the wall.

“Celine is part of the family. I have watched her grow as an artist,” says Donna Karan. “There are so many dimensions to Celine. She has a purist’s soul, a true artist who loves creativity and expression.” Donna first met Celine when she was an assistant at DKNY. The relationship deepened when Celine came to work with Stephan Weiss in his art studio, now home to the Urban Zen Center.

Celine, who works alone and lives in New York City, comes from a centuries-long line of stone carvers. She learned to carve at her family’s quarry in Dublin, Ireland, and works primarily in limestone, granite and marble. Trained in ancient techniques, she favors modern clean lines and acute angles. Carving is her first love. “It’s my heritage. Stone may be unforgiving, yet for me, it’s intuitive, reading the grain and knowing how to approach it.”

Celine’s wax sculpture grew from her stone work. She creates huge monolithic candles, the first at Donna’s behest for her zen-inspired gardens. People saw them, and demand soon had Celine in the art candle business.

The fiber art was more happenstance. Celine admired a photo of loom, not for what it did, but as a sculpture. She had an idea for a swatch and went to a professional weaver to have it made. The woman suggested Celine take a class and make it herself. She was instantly hooked. “It’s so different from stone,” she says. “I love the pedal action, and what you can make from a simple gesture.” Yet each piece is time-consuming, as first laid out on a frame with 200 pegs and then carefully transferred to the loom.

Celine is now taking a course in spinning. Each fiber, she says, has its own hand and possibilities. Celine views weaving as “a tactile record of a day and a life.” She tells the story of working on a piece when her mother had a heart attack. Celine flew to Ireland and stayed until her mother was well. When Celine later saw the piece she had been working on, she could see the story of what she had just been through.

Celine’s work sits in the homes of such notables as Goldie Hawn, Tom Ford, Meg Ryan and the Calvin Klein Company, with whom she recently did a stone installation. Yet she credits Donna and Stephan for helping shape her art. “They have influenced and inspired me tremendously,” Celine says. “Donna’s continued support means the world to me.”