The inspiration for Karen’s paintings stems from the things she loves: horses, sailboats, the beach, her dogs, Chagall’s moon, and the colors
of Africa. She fills large canvases with acrylic paint, specifically acrylic because it dries so fast – and Karen is not a woman who likes to wait. She is
expeditious with her design and needs those layers to be dry and ready for her next level.
“The layers create a texture. That texture makes movement and atmosphere in my paintings,” Karen pointed out, as we stood in front of a towering
white horse on canvas appropriately named “Prince.” “Prince would pull the plow on the farm in South Africa,” she continued. “He was an enormous
Percheron. I remember three of us would scramble up on him to ride as he plowed the fields.” Prince hangs royally in Karen’s kitchen.
SPOTLIGHTING A DARK HORSE
K
aren’s portraiture of a horse has been described as sophisticatedly primitive. She revealed her process in finding this “look” after years of searching
for it. Karen attributes much credit to the late artist Bill Woolway. Bill mentored Karen and helped her find her signature horse. “I showed a horse
to Bill one day and he said, ‘That’s it! Now just make it five feet tall,’ and I thought, no way could I do that!” She described this memory with a nostalgic
smile. Bill meant a great deal to Karen, and his art will forever inspire her.
Along with Bill’s mentoring, Karen gives credit to homesickness in bolstering her artistic abilities. After leaving South Africa, she spent a short
time in Marin County (California) before landing in Santa Barbara. During this time, she recalled missing Africa so much that the only thing that could
quell her longing was to paint. She spent nights, all night sometimes, painting on the floor of her kitchen, wistfully drawing up images of Africa. “It was
therapy,” Karen admits.
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