KAREN COOPER
To The Wharf, acrylic on canvas, 30'' x 30'', 2008

Karen is a self taught painter, who spent her college years at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, sampling just about every department available, with textile and fashion design eventually seizing most of her attention.  Although based in the home economics department, that course of study required a fair amount of drawing classes from the art department, and the introduction to life drawing was made.  Many years and many experiences later, the focus of Karen's work is again with the figure, intrigued by the stories that can be told with paintings of people, their postures, and their relationships to each other.  "I have been known to say that a painting that's clever or pretty is not enough—it has to tell a story that holds my interest."  Karen's current work is acrylic paint on canvas, with the occasional mural added in just for fun.

About her work, Karen writes,"'There are but three fundamental colors—red, yellow, and blue.'  Vincent van Gogh

And if Vincent said it then it must be true!?  So I go with it, but I go with it because I like it that way.  Three primaries, with maybe a daub of violet, and a bit of green, that which some people would call a limited palette.  For me, it's all that's needed to make a painting that feels fresh and alive.  And that's where I need to be at this space in my life.

I paint with acrylic paint on gallery wrapped canvas.  Occasionally I do 'color sketches' on paper which sometimes end up at exhibit as matted paintings.  I do not make reproductions of any of my paintings, so each one that you look at is a unique rendering of my point of view.

Enjoy, and thanks for looking."

Karen Cooper's website