“I
go where my brush takes me” were Karen Bezuidenhout’s final words as
I departed her art studio on the hillside of Santa Barbara’s Riviera. With
sweeping views of the ocean and lush mountain greenery surrounding
her open-air art studio, it’s hard to imagine a need to go anywhere else.
Standing five feet tall on an easel behind her is “Bareback Rider”, Karen’s
recent finished work. “It came to me when I was listening to Mark Knopfler’s
song about a bareback rider. The music combined with a memory from my
mother; she always told me she wanted to run off and join the circus.” This is
how Karen’s artwork comes to be, through visions. Each piece has a story to be
told, many of them stemming from her days growing up in the wine country in
Stellenbosch, South Africa.
When Karen was six she began drawing horses. She vividly remembers
the drawing book she used to guide her sketches. Karen and her sister grew
up riding horses in South Africa. They both continue to avidly ride: Karen in
Summerland on her horse Jazz, whom she describes as her “medicine man.”
Jazz and a blank canvas are some things that keep Karen content.
Karen’s paintings started with horses as the subject. Eighteen years ago,
she attended a small art school situated in a wine cellar in Africa. This was
her first attempt at formal training, though she said it wasn’t much more than
a group of ladies painting while sipping on tea. She later attended a few art
classes at the College of Marin, but really she feels her art is something that
comes from the heart.
BRUSHING UP
ON FINE ART
by Briana Westmacott
photography by Edward Clynes
88
summer
|
fall
