Karen and her husband are keen sailors and spend the winter months cruising the Queensland coast in their boat Island Girl, a cutter-rigged sloop.
The close proximity to water; somehow makes you happier, feel more connected and be the best you can be at whatever you do.
At the moment I’m concentrating on how we live by the sea. I’m constantly inspired by the wild places such as K’Gari, Pearl Bay and Island Head Creek favourite anchorages and islands we visit on our boat. In Australia you don’t have to travel far before you find yourself in a totally inaccessible wilderness.
If I had to sum up my art practice in five words or less it would be: Observing life from the cockpit. I use colour, repeated shapes and directional movement to create an atmosphere within the painting. I’ll allow the painting to take its own shape with many layers before any decisions are made, there is no end objective. At some point I slow down and control the chaos with composition and structure. Abstract design elements of value, colour, form and line are all in play; but it’s the painting that’s often the driver of the final outcome.
By taking such risks and trusting your natural instincts, inspiration and magic happens.
I acknowledge the ongoing connection to country of the Kabi Kabi people, traditional custodians of this beautiful region, on which I work and live today. I further pay my respects to their Elders past, present and future, and extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coastal peoples.