Art and Creativity have always played a significant part in Karen's life.
Painting and printing has been part of my her for around 8 years; she developed this need to paint during a 3 year Arts/Therapy course based in London.
Karen now works as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor using 7 different art forms.
Karen has attended various painting and printing workshops at Hills Road College, The Curwen Studio Cambridge and The Newlyn Art School, Cornwall. She recognises that she has learnt the most from the countless hours of experimentation in her home studio, often turning night to day.
karen is drawn to water, whether it be random puddles or the enormity and complexity of the sea. Strong memories linger of times spent on visits and family holidays to Scottish shores, Norfolk and Cornwall. She loves the textures and layers of materials, often drawn to rusts and patinas. A stone or a piece of weathered wood can form the basis of many pieces of work.
The foundations and themes of the paintings and images Karen creates connect to her childhood and her personal ongoing process of discovery and change. Ships, boats, kettles and cups are metaphors representing; journeys, uncertainty, transformation, vessels of holding, storage and containment. These elements are integral to her work - the therapeutic process and the therapeutic relationship.
Karen's work is grounded and rooted in nature, but also contains elements and symbols of fantasy and the ethereal. She uses acrylics mostly and sometimes use oils, pastels, inks and rubber stamping/collage papers and textiles, working on canvas, boards and paper. Some prints are created in a printing studio with a printing press but more often are created at home using glass, metal and gelliplate -a fascination of her as there is always a surprise, often a nice one, when the pulled print is revealed.