September Artist of the Month Karen Pittman
"As an artist, my passion is to use color, light and texture to share the beauty of the world around me.”
The quiet contemplative nature of painting transports one into the places I portray in oil and watercolor. My work is mostly landscapes and seascapes, as I have an ongoing love affair with the sea and sky.
I am from Virginia Beach, and moved to the Blue Ridge region where I attended Ferrum College and then Virginia Tech. Upon Graduation I moved back to Virginia Beach and lived there until I met and married my husband of 39 years, then, moving to Roanoke, until February of 2020, when we moved to Mathews County to live.
From Childhood, I was driven to create with a pencil or paintbrush, although I had no formal Art training until attending Ferrum College. Obtaining an Associate’s in Fine Art, from Ferrum, I continued with a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design from Virginia Tech.
I began painting with watercolor and switched over to oils in 2006 and in 2016 added Acrylics. Currently I paint in all three.
Studying under then Blue Ridge Regional Watercolor artist, Ernest Johnson, Richmond Watercolor Master Robert Carter and Regional Oil Painter and Ferrum Art Professor Jane Duncan Stogner I gained many great techniques. In recent years I have attended workshops at Art of the Carolina’s in Raleigh NC and studied under nationally known Artists Robert Burridge, Lisa Boardwine, Kimberly Maselli, Sterling Edwards and Tom Lynch. With the different mediums and teachings, I have gained a wide perspective on painting, and love learning new viewpoints.
Shows:
Multiple shows in 2020-2022 The Bay School Community Art Center/Art Speaks Gallery, Mathews Va.
The Arts in the Middle Show Urbana, 2020 Virtual show, 2021- Local Artist Merit award and 2022.
The Spring Garden Show at Gallery on the Hill Yorktown 2021.
The Members Show Memories of Yorktown 2022.
The Lynchburg Arts Festival in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Roanoke Sidewalk Art Show from 2001 for multiple years.
Ocean Isle Oyster Festival in N.C multiple years
The Bald Knob Annual Show at Smith Mountain Lake-winning second place.
Galleries:
Currently my works are in The Bay School/Art Speaks gallery in Mathews Va.
Arts on Main Gloucester Va. (by show submission)
The Made in Mathews Open Studios tour 2020 and 2021
Gallery on the Hill, Yorktown (Member and by show submission)
To view Karen's collection CLICK HERE