Karen Lucas was born in Milwaukee, Wis. Her mother was an artist and introduced her to the world of fine arts at an early age. Lucas wasn’t sure how her interest in art would pay the bills, so she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., in 1980, followed by a master’s degree in art therapy at the University of New Mexico in 1984. From then on, she was a working artist. Hawaii became her home in 1991.

Lucas received a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1998. She taught figure sculpture as a lecturer at UH-Manoa while also working as a commissioned artist.

Although Lucas, 65, is visually impaired and legally blind, she recently completed work on a mosaic at one of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) rail stations. (State law requires that 1% of the construction cost of all new government buildings be used to buy or commission artwork.) She continues to create as a painter and sculptor.

For more information on Lucas’ work, visit karen-lucas.com.

How did you become part of the rail station art program?

Many years ago they put out a call for artists, and I threw my hat in the ring and then totally forgot about it. A couple of years later they contacted me and asked me if I would do one of the stations.

One of the things you’re doing as an art therapist is creating statues of hospice patients’ hands for families who want a keepsake of an ailing family member. How did you get started doing that?

I had a two-year grant to work at a hospice and then they kept me on. What I started doing for them — which I’m doing to this day, although I’m not getting paid for it anymore, now I do it as a volunteer — was make a mold of the patient’s hand and cast it using gypsum cement, for the family. At first I thought that the families might be a little creeped out, but once I figured out that I’d have them holding hands with a loved one, it was such a hit.

I found some of your art on Cedar Street Galleries’ website. Are you primarily a commercial artist who makes art to sell?

No, I’m a fine artist first. For the most part I’ve made my living doing these large commissions, but I do small artwork for myself at home. After a while you get “art buildup” if you’re not careful, so I’ll haul ’em over to Cedar gallery so he can sell them for me and they’ll find homes.

The rail station is going to be closed to the public for the foreseeable future, so please tell me about one of your works that the public can see now.

Keone‘ula Elementary School in Ewa Beach qualified for an art installation, and I was commissioned to do a bronze sculpture. What’s particularly poignant about that piece for me is right at the onset of that project my mother died, and that piece looks like my mother. I was trying to go for a Hawaiian woman. … So there’s some sentimentality in that one for me. Behind her is a mosaic that I collaborated on with the students.

Going back to the beginning, what drew you into the fine arts?

I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t consider myself to be an artist. I’ve just always made art. I never thought that I could make a living as an artist, so I became a registered art therapist. But it turns out I was able to make a living as an artist.

Something that might surprise people is that you swim in the ocean every day. How does that fit into your schedule?

It becomes the highlight of my day. I love to do it right at sunset and watch the sun go down. It is such a good meditative thing that I find I do my best problem-­solving while I’m swimming.

Another surprise might be that despite your failing sight, you learned how to play piano. Ray Charles played piano and so does Stevie Wonder, but it still seems tremendously difficult. How did you do it?

Although I’m legally blind now, I still see enough that when I use my devices to enlarge (sheet music) I can see it well enough to memorize the music as I play. It’s got to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do. What I like about it is that it really challenges my mind.

Do you have a next “big project” scheduled?

I do not have anything big on the horizon now. I would love to do another bronze. I’m ready!

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Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.