Karen Beauprie
Beaus Art Studio
913 Georgia St
Key West, FL
847-687-2667
Karen discovered the beauty and uniqueness of Key West over twenty years ago. She divides her time with her husband, Scott and their Airedale terrier, Tucker, frequently spotted in her paintings. A native of Illinois, Karen is pursuing a lifelong passion for art, following thirty years as a National Board certified teacher in the suburbs of Chicago.
Upon graduating from the University of Illinois, Karen continued to study art through local Art Schools and Art Workshops with renowned Artists: Sandford Birdsey, Michael Ireland, Frankie Johnson, Jim Salem, Richard Stephens, Alvaro Castagnet, Joseph Zbuvik and Frank Webb.
Artist Statement:
Painting has been my lifelong passion allowing me to translate and to understand my environment. During my childhood, I was constantly duplicating images, always working to trust my eye and become true to those subjects in my art. My paintings today are an attempt to find that child again, by letting the movement of the brushes, paint, and water dance across the surface of the paper with control and spontaneity.
Using primarily Arches 140# rough cold press watercolor paper and transparent paints, I attack my subject matter using a loose, geometric, and impressionistic style, always attempting to suggest, rather than render an exact likeness of what I observe in life. My paintings are unlike traditional watercolors in that I use brilliant, fresh colors for my subjects. I constantly work to portray the essence, mood, and character of my images by deliberately planning my composition way before I touch the brush to the paper. I seek to develop the design of each painting through the use of unusual shapes, the relationships of warm and cool colors, and emphasizing the white of the paper against dark contrasts, all with an efficient use of brush strokes.
