Karen Brazeau

My art is about color, shape and light. It’s about the real world – but not a replica of the real world. As a child my vision was limited and wonky. I had to fill in or skip over the details. Now I see just fine but still imagine a world that is a little bit off.

When an older woodcarver asked where I go my images, I just pointed to my head. In response, he said, “they remind me of the last of my psychedelic days and this side of innocence”.

I started out using only transparent watercolors and often return to them for their pure color and light. More often I paint with whatever medium best suits the needs of the work at the moment, including acrylic, gouache, ink, crayons, other mark making devices and occasional collage.

I have lived nearly all my life in the Pacific Northwest – usually just a short drive or walk from the ocean. Growing up, I couldn’t wait to go someplace warmer, drier, sunnier, snowier, busier, faster, - any place else! I eventually went to all those places but always returned to the Northwest with renewed appreciation for my own place.

I now reside in Portland, Oregon, and on the Long Beach Peninsula; a 28 x 1.5 mile strip of sand and trees that juts northward between the Pacific Ocean and the Willapa Bay at the southernmost edge of Washington State at the mouth of the Columbia River. It’s literally life on the edge.

Galleries

J Brunner Fine Art

161 Howerton Avenue, Port of

Ilwaco, WA. 98624

White Bird Gallery

251 N Hemlock Street

Cannon Beach, OR 97110

BOLD Gallery

711 Pacific Ave North

Long Beach, WA. 98631

Trail’s End Art Gallery

656 A Street

Gearhart, OR. 97138

Affiliations

Southwest Washington Watercolor Society

Trail’s End Art Association

Peninsula Arts Association