My approach to my paintings is experimental and energetic. I relish the visceral engagement of the surfaces of the paintings. Through multiple layers, I try to reveal the rawness of the landscape and what lies beneath. Using mixed media on canvas, board or paper, I express my emotions to the landscape by using strong value contrasts, variations in texture, fluctuating amounts of detail, and free mark making. I abstract forms, lines and textures from photographs, sketches and visual memory of my local landscapes. I apply marks loosely and economically, creating textures through splattering and scraping paint with palette knives, bare fingers, rags, hands – and occasionally a paintbrush – in order to explore the many layers of paint and drawn media. My colours are muted reflecting earth tones with small jewels of saturated colour reflecting the light and mood of the place. I keep working until I am satisfied that through the building up and removing of layers, I have created a painting that resonates a sense of serenity and solitude.
I exhibit my work at art fairs as well as art galleries in Norfolk and Cheltenham. In 2023, my work was selected for the Society of Women Artists and the ING Discerning Eye exhibitions at the Mall Galleries in London as well as the Lindon Hall Studio Winter Group Show in Deal, Kent.
Karin paints in response to her daily walks with her dog in the British countryside. Karin interprets the landscape in an emotional way, rather than representational. Moved by the way light falls on the land such as on a distant field, over a horizon or on trees in a wood, as well as the vastness and lines created by open spaces. In addition, Karin is fascinated by changing seasons and how weather transforms the mood of a place. This provides visual stimulation, which translates into painting through energetic and intuitive mark making exploring the sense of place in a moment in time.
Karin's relationship with nature is restorative. Karins paintings explore the connection between the transcendency of nature and a feeling of freedom, tranquillity, and inner peace. Being in the open and through the realisation that time spent alone in the landscape and away from daily distractions, provides her with solace. Karin hopes to make a connection with the viewer that touches this emotional space making sense of what it is to be human, reflecting on our struggles and how through quiet contemplation, we can achieve a sense of calm and stillness.
