KAREN KURKA JENSEN
How Far?, ink on paper, 18" x 20"

Karen, a native of Minnesota, now calls Iowa home, where she lives with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She studied sumi-e from masters in the Chinese art form for over 15 years. She has exhibited and sold her paintings throughout the Midwest, and has been honored with several awards in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

The world is alive, and Karen conveys life's inner and outer beauty through her medium of natural materials: pine soot ink, rice paper, bamboo brush and grinding stone, and her adaptation of the basic Chinese sumi-e painting techniques.

text and image from The Chait Galleries Downtown