Drawings
Figures
Watercolors
Gestures
Collages
Tiles

My childhood memories are rich with sensory input and shot through with imagination. Because that is still my natural habitat, I’ve never been bored in my life.

By now, there has been a lifetime of making images with drawing as a mainstay and side trips into other media. It has been a way of recording youthful ecstasy, curiosity, some traditional angst and now, mostly celebration.

I think my best pieces contain a demonstration of awe at what is: Look at the way that line flows! Look at the shape of that shadow! Look at that green lily pad, riffled by the breeze, revealing a surprising pink underside! I see my role as witness to these everyday miracles, someone who bends their skills into gratitude.

As for the figure…we people are endlessly fascinated with our own species. We learn about ourselves by studying the other guy. It’s all there in the universal language of the body–heroism, tragedy, romance, transcendence, confusion, pride, longing, reverie, apathy, humility, power, grace.

Through the unique loop of eye-mind-hand, one can work on being a better person by working to make better drawings.

Karen Braun Malpas