KarenOriginalArt

Artist Statement

**Karen Original Art: Embracing Whimsy and Healing Through Mixed Media**

As an artist working with mixed media on various 2D surfaces, I, Karen, find inspiration in the playful and imaginative world of childhood. Influenced by the works of Georges Redon and the meditative Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) technique, my creations aim to evoke a sense of wonder, curiosity, and humor.

Drawing from Redon's ability to infuse humor into his compositions and incorporating elements of ZIA's meditative patterns, my art explores a whimsical and imaginative state of mind. Each piece is a journey into a child-like state, where I encounter surprise faces and characters along the way.

My artistic process begins with engaging my pareidolic abilities, seeking lines and shapes that hint at personalities emerging from surface patterns. These serve as the launching pad for the quirky characters that lead me on creative adventures.

Beyond the joy of creation, my art holds a deeper purpose. I believe in the healing power of art, both for myself and the viewers. Each stroke and collage element weaves together to evoke emotions and connections, creating a bridge between the artist and the observer.

My ultimate goal is to bring a smile to those who encounter my art. Whether it's a momentary pause or a longer reflection, I hope to elicit laughter, sentimentality, or a sense of nostalgia as viewers connect with the idiosyncratic beings that inhabit my work.

My journey as an artist has been marked by various twists and turns. After exploring Fine Arts and Art History at Pennsylvania State University, I ventured into Commercial Art and Photography at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Like many, I became a perpetual student, wrestling with my inner critic, until my sixties when I discovered my niche and decided to take the leap of putting myself and my work out there.

With each creation, I embrace the whimsy, healing, and the joy of sharing my artistic explorations with the world.

Biography

I live in the Tampa Bay Florida area, originally from Western Pennsylvania. Being a creative soul since grade school, I partivipated in as many art related activities as were available to me. I pursued art in college until my fragile ego was crushed by a pompous art instructor. I then changed my major to Art History and never pursued that nor any arts as a career. After college, I went to work in retail trained as a decorating consultant, selling flooring, wall and window treatmemts. During evenings I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, taking commercial art and photography classes. Fast forward past decades of retail and financial institutional jobs, I am officially retired, and well past the "should've could've would've" stage in life. I've always been continuously taking various workshops and classes over the decades , and have never shown anything, or anywhere.  I've spent the pastj ten years getting back as a "recovering creative" by doing Zentangle as a daily practice, drawing, and painting. I am now repurposing my plethora of abandoned and long forgotten pieces, cutting them down into smaller sizes and having fun playing with them. I primarily am a mixed media small format artist, using mostly ink, paint or pigment pens plus a variety of colored pencils. I have a treasure trove of acrylics, oils and watercolors supplies that occasion I use. If you'd like to see my pieces, I'm on Instagram as "#100daysartrepurposing."

Exhibition History (CV)