Karen's Whimsey
The slide show below includes some of Karen's more recent whimsical paintings.
The Gathering 9x12 inches Watercolor Private Collection
Why Snowmen Don't Have Noses
16 x 20 inches
Acrylic on Gessoboard Sold
We hope no one from the Alaska State Troopers sees this painting because it includes elements of illegal activity. In Alaska there is up to a $10,000 fine and a year in jail for feeding wildlife -- similar to what you might get for outrageous poaching of wildlife. Yet, here's the evidence -- deer in our yard eating the noses right off a family of snowpeople. Karen also took some liberties with this one. She moved our house across Wrangell Avenue and turned it around. I hope she wasn't predicting a combination earthquake and landslide in this whimsical portrayal of the view from her studio window.
It's Not Who-o-o You Are, but Whose You Are 9 X 12 inches Watercolor Private Collection
After seeing Karen's "A Note of Whimsey," painted for a former Petersburg Lutheran Church Pastor (see further down on this page) another of our former Pastors and his wife declared they want one, too. Little statements like that can have a major impact on Karen's activities and soon her whimsical side was flowing profusely onto yet another sheet of watercolor paper.
A Note of Whimsey
7 X 10 1/4 inches Watercolor Private Collection
"A Note of Whimsey" originated when Karen showed visiting friends the score sheet for our usual evening game of Upwords -- kind of a vertical scrabble. The game is our after-dinner routine (which Karen usually wins) but we don't write our names at the top of the columns. Instead, Karen makes the most delightful drawings of whimsical critters. I've long suggested she paint some of them, but it took a promise to paint one for our guests to begin what I hope is a new series.
Now that Was a Good Cup of Coffee
4 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches Watercolor NFS
Rifling through a pile of her previously unfinished art, Karen spotted this chicken. "Should I finish it?" "Yes," I emphatically responded and before long another whimsical hen entered the world of art.
Pretty Picky 6 X 9 inches Watercolor Sold
Here we see the whimsical side of Karen -- a side I see a lot of every time she draws the headings on our evening games of Upwords. There's a lot of this in Karen.
A Mother's Work is Never Done 9 X 12 inches Watercolor Sold
We attended a "White Elephant" party after Christmas. Karen fell in love with a sculpture of -- well, look at the painting. She didn't end up with it, but knowing how much Karen liked it, a friend made a trade as we walked out the door. What was Karen to do but paint it to show her appreciation. Of course Karen had to add her "flying feathers" twist to the subject.
Nesting Instinct 10 X 13 inches Watercolor Sold
Seaside Lass 10 X 13 inches Watercolor Sold
Quest for a Nest Approx. 6 X 8 inches Watercolor
Private Collection