Artist - Karen LaValley

Karen is also a member of the Ohio Plein Air Society, Central Ohio Watercolor Society, Ohio Watercolor Society,  Westerville Art League, Lancaster Art Guild

It seems many years ago that I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting from the Ohio State University.  From that day forward until recently instead of making art, I held a variety of jobs that had nothing to do with art but were simply a means to an end that left me feeling caged.   Because of the death of a dear friend, very supportive family and friends, and a ticking clock, I came to my senses, quit my 8 to 5 office job and started walking the path of my dreams.  A Tae Kwon Do class also let loose my inner adventurous tiger and at last I knew I had the power to explore the distance my artistic skills might take me.

 I have always enjoyed the urgent feeling that compels me to create.  What sparks me to begin a piece is the desire to make something beautiful, magnetic or bold out of an everyday sight.  I want to bring images to life with bright unusual colors or brush strokes and make the viewer look twice at something normally overlooked as trivial or uninteresting.  Generally I have a sense of the finished product in my mind similar to a slowly emerging Polaroid image.  I infuse additional colors that may be unnoticed by the viewer's eye, but seen by me as the "aura" of the subject.  Glazing  frequently assists me in creating depth and form while permitting light to show through.  Often I use the "loose" approach to watercolor that utilizes my initial brushstrokes as my final statement.   This keeps my work fresh and spontaneous.  For me, drawing and painting are extensions of the energy that flows through my brain to my heart and out my fingertips onto the paper.