"Jewel Tones" 24x28 Watermedia on Yupo
KAREN SHAW
 Karen Shaw
Karen, a retired vocal music teacher of 30 years, with a Masters in Music from CU, Boulder, grew up as a military brat, moving yearly, living in many states in the USA, as well as Japan, Turkey and Germany. She retired in 1998 from teaching and began the pursuit of art by taking many classes in drawing and painting at the Art Students League of Denver in 1996 to present.
She left Denver in 2001 to teach in Thailand, and relocated to Southern CA when returning to the USA in 2002. She continued to study art and grew fond of painting in her expressionistic style, the beautiful scenery, especially seascapes, as well as the figure, and won many awards for her portraits.
"Bronco Play" 22x26 Watermedia on Yupo
Karen was Manager of the Rotating Gallery in Laguna Hills, exhibited in the Sawdust Winter Fantasy, the National Orange Show in San Bernadino, the LPAPA and SOCALPAPA Shows, CA Art Club Shows, the Balboa Art Walk, and was member of several galleries in the area. She was a member of Oil Painters of America, the CA Art Club and SOCALPAPA, plus other area Art Associations. She received numerous awards in juried shows in Orange County.
In 2011 Karen relocated to the South Denver area and began the study of abstract painting with Homare Ikea at the ASLD. She also took three years of instruction in monotype printing. In 2022 Karen began using her watermedia abstracts on yupo to cut up and create woven images, sometimes adhering them to her oil or acrylic abstract paintings. The "Edge of Dreams" was juried into the All Colorado Fiber Show in 2024.
Karen was also a member of the 931 Gallery on Santa Fe in Denver. She has exhibited her work in various venues and galleries for the past 15 years. She is presently a member of the Heritage Art Guild in Littleton, CO, where she exhibits her work in member and juried shows, both with the Guild and at various other venues to include the Curtis Institute of Art, Lone Tree Performing Arts Center, the Littleton Museum, the Depot Art Gallery All Colorado Show, and other art galleries. Karen has an expressionistic style, painting only from life or from her imagination, and explores all media to include both watermedia and oil. "What better expresses art than the human voice which comes from within our own heart and soul. I have continued to communicate my music of the heart through the expression of my love of painting." |
