NEW YORK, NY.- For over four decades, and with remarkable dedication, Karen K Wallen has taken numerous chances, both in her painting and photography. Some experiments have exploded back in her face. None are banal.
Powerful and engaging, her work intrigues her viewers intellectually and aesthetically. It asks them to travel with her through darkness and/or whimsy, which are frequently aligned. Perhaps haunting, the work is always vital and present.
Her style is fluid, contemporary, and original, possessing elements of surprise and light. This style reflects her background, from her birth in Stillwater, Oklahoma, beginnings in Art in her early years within and around the Smithsonian galleries in Washington, DC. living in Los Angeles, Seattle, one year in the hills of Italy, and back to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.
Her images float and meld, reflecting a life of adventure and questioning the norm.
Early Career
Literally from early childhood, Karen had pencils, crayons, and paint, with paper, glue, and scissors handy— (when she wasn't out exploring in her family's creek—or climbing trees…). She employed watercolors, tempera paint, and inks on various papers and drew her family, horses, and her natural surroundings incessantly. (Her walls were not avoided for slapping paint on!)
While her four siblings played with toys and watched cartoons, she would be found drawing in her room.
As a student and young adult, Karen studied Egypt and envisioned those Ancient eras. Later, during her High School years, she hit her artistic stride in Arlington, Virginia, immersing herself in the Arts atmosphere of Washington, D.C., visiting the National Museums of History and Art weekly, and falling in love with painting and sculpture.
Finally, while following her major at Penn State University's School of Art and Education, she continued her longing to experiment on Canvas. In the classrooms, she taught from Pre-School through High School in Los Angeles, Seoul, and Taegu, Korea; then, in Seattle, Washington, and, finally, ending in Los Angeles, where she now resides, she used Art to teach every subject. Her students created murals and decorations throughout her schools.
Her concentration, at this time, is Abstract Expressionism with Acrylics and Mixed Media.
Work Process
Donning her blue non-latex gloves, Karen spreads out floor (or porch) coverings, throws out canvases or paper of all sorts, and a multitude of hues in acrylic paints.
She employs her hands, her brushes—and even sticks from her yard to apply her brilliant splashes. Then, as the layers solidify, the images of her figures emerge into clearer pictures of a scene in their lives. Often playful or thought-provoking, her style is unique and very human.
After retiring from teaching, Karen is devoting her full time to exciting travel throughout the World and paint wherever she goes, at home or abroad. Each place she travels inspires her to create a unique body of work.
Karen is active on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. She also has a website where she archives and sells her Artwork.
In addition to her gallery showing around the World, she also has regular Art Showings at her home studio periodically throughout the year.
Sales History
Throughout her entire work process, she has sold several hundred paintings, including Personalized Portraits, Landscapes and Murals, and, of course, Canvases. Since the 1990s, many galleries and coffee shops in and around Seattle, WA. and Los Angeles, CA, have accepted her work.
Here is the link to her social media channels:
https://www.flowcode.com/page/karenkwallenart
