Karen has been taking art classes for 35 years.  She has a BS in Therapeutic Recreation with a minor in art from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. where she also received her Masters degree.  She has a passion for pursuing creativity in all aspects of her life from making art to gardening.  She served on the Board of the Aiken Artist Guild as Newsletter Editor for three years and is currently the Newsletter Editor and Website Developer for Tryon Painters and Sculptors.   Karen lives in Black Mountain, NC where she is a current member of the Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League and serves as the Studio Director and Publicity Chair.

She has shown and sold work at:

• Tallulah Gallery in Tallulah Falls, GA,
  
• Catawba Gallery and Kiln Time in Black Mountain,
  
• The Aiken Artist Guild, (!st, 2nd and 3rd Place Awards)Aiken Center for the Arts, The Artists' Parlor, The Hitchcock Center and the Etheredge Center at USC Aiken, Aiken Historical Museum,
  
• The Screen Door in Asheville,
  
• Art with Heart in Saluda, NC
• The TAAS Gallery in Old Fort, NC
• The 2008 Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League Juried Show at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts.
• The 2009 SVFAL Juried Show (2nd Place Award)
• Tryon Fine Art Center
  
• Her work has been published three times in "Sommerset Studio" an international paper arts magazine.
• and most recently at Atelier24 Lexington in Asheville, NC