Karen Mathis

My approach to painting is using wet-in-wet paint and visible brush strokes while focusing on special qualities of light and everyday subjects.

My interest in art began as far back as I can remember, spending hours watching my mother paint in her studio. It was a natural part of my day to head for school in the morning and to return in the afternoon to see something new and exciting having emerged on what had been a white canvas only that morning.

After a degree in Design at George Washington University, my professional journey in art began with watercolor and in later years continued in oil. My interest in landscape painting is a natural evolution of my love of the water, which began from my childhood spent on Michigan lakes in and around boats, summers with my husband and children on the Severn River in Annapolis, and family holidays on Lake Champlain in Vermont. In recent years those memories  resurfaced while living on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Having spent winters in the Sarasota area and now currently living in Sarasota, Florida I am enjoying the experience of sandy beaches, aqua water and  a new and different quality of light.

My love of painting and the outdoors naturally led me to paint “En Plein Air” across the United States, Canada and France. The sense of light and atmosphere draw me to all subject matter, whether it is a flower in a garden or a figure in the landscape. The impact of light is so varied and changing, one can find sources of inspiration for a lifetime.