Isn’t life lovely when you look at it, just right, or crooked, or without your eyes at all?

My artwork is observations of people in the world around me and the characters that live in my head. I distill out the noise around us so the peace and joy of that moment belongs to that figure – finding beauty in darkness, not the darkness. Beyond chronicling the world, my desire is to share joy with those who share it with me.

My tall slender figures represent an individual’s space in their existence – like a single line on a vast page. The Tall Men Series comes from bits of conversations I have and hear, the emotions in them or what’s left after things are said. The Tall Men Surfers are an attempt to share the incredible sensation of standing before the ocean, taking in its beauty, being both in awe and at peace.

The pieces in my City Girl series are about finding a sense of glee in every day of your life, choosing to see the positive in any moment. Through capturing gestures that live beyond the edge of the page, I let the viewer complete the story. I’ve created the world, but they get to decide how to see it.

I fell in love with the immediacy, sense of depth, and unique texture of oil monotypes. I work in the moment, creating the image in one pass. There is a serendipity to the process, the moment when I have to turn over control to the press, and let the universe finish what I’ve created.

Originally from Minnesota, I moved to San Francisco, escaping my day job in advertising and my detest of the cold. Now I’m pursuing my art and writing full-time.

Hope you smile. –Karn