About Karen
Karen Glassman is a Pacific Northwest mixed-media artist living in the beautiful Umpqua Valley of southern Oregon.
Born in Washington, she has spent much of her life in Oregon, but at times has called Arkansas and Texas home.
Karen’s art experience began with dance. During her early twenties she danced with a regional ballet company in Vancouver, Washington and taught as well. Her last dance performance was in “The Nutcracker” with Ballet Arkansas. She subsequently took a respite from art to raise a family, earn a bachelor’s degree in business and work in education.
Returning to art, Karen became intrigued with painting. Over the last several years she has concentrated on creating abstract imagery. Although she is mainly self-taught, she has expanded her technical & compositional skills through participation in on-line studies. Glassman paints daily and continues to explore and experiment with new techniques and tools.
Karen paints in oils with or without cold wax, acrylics and pastels on canvas, paper & wood panels. She enjoys trying new materials and techniques, the latest being resin and encaustic paint.
You can see her work at Gallery Northwest or on her Instagram account @tkgman.
Gallery Northwest - Artist & Co-Owner
Oregon Society of Artists - Member
Umpqua Valley Arts - Member
Emerald Art Center - Member
Pastel Artists of Oregon - Member
Affiliations:
I’ve always been fascinated by the subtlety of color, as well as the intricacies of structure and texture found in the natural world.
Living in the Pacific Northwest provides an abundance of natural phenomena including lovely flowers, oceanscapes, desert, forests, volcanoes, forceful rivers, rugged mountains, and cataclysmic forest fires. I often scan through photos from my travels or recall images from memory for inspiration.
The feeling I experience when painting is difficult to put into words. The progression towards accomplishing a piece which pleases my eyes, heart and brain is a feeling like no other, and is achieved more extemporaneously than by design.
As a mixed-media abstract painter I use pastels, acrylic paints, oil paints, with our without cold wax, and collage materials applied to canvas, paper, or wood panels. I use a variety of tools and materials to apply paint and to create texture.
Tony and I have been married for over 40 years. He’s an amazing guy who encourages me in my artistic endeavors and builds my wood cradles and frames. I am very lucky and so grateful! He’s my biggest fan and a great craftsman!
