Artist Bio
Karen King has a bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Tyler
Background
Art has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I truly believe certain talents run in families because my parents, siblings, as well as my own four children are gifted artists. It was many years before I realized that not everyone can just pick up a pencil and effortlessly draw exactly what they see with precision. We often don’t value things that come easily but I have since learned to truly appreciate being blessed with a talent and as such it is my responsibility to use it in a positive way.
I Grew up in the countryside by a lake in East Texas. I had all kinds of pets, the raccoons were my favorites. I spent most of my hunting for turtles and snakes, playing with my eclectic menagerie or drawing them. I was very much a tomboy, in fact when I was little I wished I was a boy because I thought they held the keys of freedom and power. Boy was I wrong. Power it seems was a real driving force with me from a very young age.
When I was 13 I sold my barbies (yes I had barbies} at a garage sale and $75.00 dollars later I had the horse of my dreams. He was a swirling mass of mane and tail, young spirited and half wild. He had a bad habit of bucking while running full speed through the woods. I always rode bareback so I frequently found myself hanging from a tree or flying through the air on my way to the ground. I could have used a saddle but I liked the freedom and spontaneity of being able to run out the door at a moments notice, jump on the horse and fly away. I was fearless. This fearless abandon would later show up in my art, so would horses.
Inspiration
Although I was exposed to a lot of different genres of art from an early age, my biggest inspiration came during a visit to the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth Texas. I was 16 at the time. My dad and I were touring the museum when I came across the well known painting by Frederick Remington called, “A Dash for the Timber”. I had seen prints of this painting before but the original was larger than life and so powerful. The painting depicts a group of soldiers being pursued by Indians on horse back. The horses look as if they are about to run right off the canvas over you. Although I admire the styled and technical ability of the artist in this painting it was the drama and power that caught my attention. I stood there mesmerized. At that precise moment I knew that some day I would paint with the same kind of larger than life drama and power, but in my own way with my own message. I found out many years later that when my Dad was a little boy, this particular Remington painting {print} hung in his childhood home at the top of the stairs and he used to see it every day.
I like big things
I like big things. I’m from Texas. I like big hair, big horses, big dogs, big mountains, big paintings, big ideas etc. I love being a big spirit inhabiting a petite body. I am still a tomboy on the inside but on the outside I like to decorate myself like a Christmas tree. I decided that since I am a girl I am going to make the most of it with makeup, over-the-top clothes, jewelry, you name it. I love to glam it up. I could go to the academy awards for the rest of my life and never have to buy another thing. You don’t need money to dress with style; you just have to be creative. I have a t-shirt that says, “I’m everything I pretend to be”.
Beauty is an illusion but beauty does in fact have power. Beauty and Power would later show up in my art.
Believe it or not I did not go off to art school which is what everyone my entire life thought I would do. I decided for some unknown masochistic reason to go to nursing school. Art was my life but I did not want to be a starving artist so I did what I thought was the logical thing. Uncharacteristically I let fear guide me. This tortuous episode lasted two years. I was so miserable that I used to set my alarm clock for every hour on the hour so I would wake up as many moments as I could and make the night last as long as it could before I had to get up and go to nursing school. One day I woke up and suddenly realized that I did not have to do this. That is the day I quit nursing school.
It is true what they say about the value of doing what you love. I vowed never to let fear rule my life or my work again and I went back to being myself.
I eventually got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Tyler. I always had a very fast almost impatient loose way of drawing. I had a wise instructor there that told me once that if I ever learned to paint the way I draw I would be on to something and that is what I did. I had always drawn and painted very realistic scenes of animals, horses, landscapes, etc. until the day I found my GROOVE! It happened three months before I graduated and my art exploded.
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Style and Technique My personality mixed with access to all the lacquer paint and boards I could possibly want, rapidly developed into what I do today. My parents owned a manufacturing plant that created chalk boards and dry-erase boards for schools all over the country. I had the big boards, I had the big barrels of paint and I just took off. All I needed was a few sticks off the ground and I was in business. With quantity comes quality and practice does make perfect. I have since painted so many horses I could do it with my eyes closed. My technique of painting could almost be described as PERFORMANCE ART. I hover precariously over a board on the ground with a stick in one hand and a can of paint in the other trying not to fall into the middle of my work. Since moving to Colorado from Florida I at least no longer have to slap mosquitoes at the same time. I drip, spray, toss, throw, pour, and sling paint with a very precise haphazardness. The style is similar to that of the artist “Jackson Pollack”, the difference being my paint lands in the shape of a horse. Paint is falling fast and it takes courage and confidence to let it fly. I find myself painting with the same fearless abandon I had from childhood. I trust myself and never hold back. There is no place for timidity. Fear of failure is no longer an option. At this point the technique morphs into the CONTENT. My art is about fearlessness, risk taking, power, strength, and trusting ones own knowingness. The paintings have so much life force it is palpable. The horse is the subject and why not. The horse has always been a symbol of freedom. They are strong yet gentle, powerful, yet humble. They are also beautiful. |
Past to Present
I recently moved to Colorado from Sarasota Florida to be a fulltime artist. I owned and operated an Art Gallery for several years in Sarasota and although the gallery business had its rewards such as immediate daily contact with the public, it was at the same time a catch-22 situation. Running a gallery left me little time to paint. The gallery was beautiful and I loved having total control over the presentation of the art but I am happy now to leave the business side to others. Having been on both sides of the fence, I have the utmost respect for Art Galleries. They do a wonderful service by promoting art, and artists, and helping educate people in the arts.
It is okay to buy art in fact it is quite wonderful. Where would artist be without their patrons and where would the world be without its artists.
My Message
I have deliberately chosen to create art that is strong, positive, powerful, and uplifting. I do not believe art has to be fringy, edgy, or full of angst to be considered “real art”. I experimented with these themes in my art as a teenager and I simply outgrew it. I am not saying that exposing suppression through art is a negative thing especially if the higher purpose is to promote awareness and positive change, for instance, “Picasso’s Guernica”, but darkness for darkness sake can sometimes turn into a case of “The Emperors New Clothes”. In the end beauty is in the eye of the beholder and one can always choose to admire the perfect grotesqueness or horror of something, especially if it is well rendered and it communicates. Beauty has its own power and legitimacy and it is okay for a “real” work of art to be beautiful in a traditional sense or otherwise.
A famous 20th century philosopher once said, “A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists”. Art is the language of the spiritual nature of mankind. Artists create the future and that future can be one that we would like to have, not just for ourselves but for future generations. The world is ready for this kind of positive creating. My goal is to contribute to the world by creating powerful uplifting art that communicates on the highest plane. My philosophy in life is “Be strong, be brave, be playful, be kind, and be productive. Hold your head high and make your dreams happen and help others achieve theirs. May the Force be with you! How can it not, you are the Force.
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