My Story
Hi, I’m Karen. I’m a multi-disciplinary painter living in Ottawa, Canada with my husband and two beautiful children. I work primarily in watercolour, pastel, and acrylic and am inspired by nature, form, and personal stories—often creating from a deeply intuitive space.
As my paintings live on your walls, I hope they inspire pause to reflect on life’s simple joys and pleasures. I hope they become a place of wonder, nostalgia and hope.
My journey has been about finding and following my true passion. The earliest memories I have as a child are of me drawing and painting. I spent my weekends studying and taking art lessons at the Art Gallery of Ontario and soaking in all the greats with an insatiable fervour. From figurative drawing, to sculpture, to silkscreen, to still life—I LOVED it all.
As I grew up, I put down my paintbrush and traded it in for the pursuit of a ‘serious’ corporate career. However, no matter how academic my life became I always found a way to incorporate creative and tactile elements into my work —it is how I best learn and communicate.
In 2015, we moved halfway across the world and I found myself not only a stranger in a new country but also a stranger to myself - having only then recognized the limiting beliefs I held and external validation I coveted. At a loss, I turned back to the one thing that I knew never left me. Art. I started taking lessons again and pouring myself into my creative expression. The best part was that it came back, as if I never put down that brush to begin with.
I’ve been painting ever since and am driven more than ever to lean into my art and relish in the sheer joy it gives me to create and make meaningful connections with beautiful people like you.
I am home.
I am happy.
I am me.
