Meet Karen Standridge!

Karen is one of PPWS’ Featured Artists for May 2024!

Karen has been a member of PPWS since 2005 and is a Signature Member. Karen served as president from 2011 to 2013.

Karen’s Bio:

I cannot remember a time when I didn’t paint or draw. In addition to majoring in fine art at the University of Tulsa (BS degree), I studied at the famous Philbrook Art Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I have studied with some of the most notable watercolorists in the United States.  I enjoy painting in watercolor, acrylic and oil, and I specialize in landscapes, street scenes, and interiors of places where I have lived and traveled, such as Colorado, South America, Mexico, and Europe. I teach classes for Bemis, Shepard Art Institute, and in my home studio. In the fall of 2011, three of my artist friends and I filed for an LLC and Gallery 113 was born.  I am currently president of the gallery which has won many awards for “Best Gallery” in Colorado Springs, and in 2023, I was awarded Third Place as Best Artist in the Independent newspaper’s “Best Of Colorado Springs” awards.   In addition to Gallery 113, my work is exhibited all over the U.S. and abroad in shows, private collections and competitions.  Painting is my lifelong passion.

Karen’s Awards:

I have won many awards and have many ribbons, but my “entering show days” were over when I founded Gallery 113 in Colorado Springs in 2011.  Best award for me was my “Best Artist” award in 2023.

Karen’s favorite things to paint:

A painter living in Colorado never has to look far to find so many favorite things to paint…from the majestic mountains and the glorious sunsets to the wild flowers in bloom and the grandeur of the many waterfalls. There is so much inspiration for painters in this state! However, I love to travel internationally, and cityscapes and their people inspire much of my work as well. I also paint in acrylic and oil on canvas, and I am passionate about the infinite possibilities of ink on paper.

Karen’s favorite or most admired artists:

My superheroes have always been the Impressionists: Renoir, Degas, Monet, Manet, etc.  Painting to me is creating and sharing an “impression.”  If I want a perfect image of something, I’ll take a picture. Each artist’s interpretation is powerfully moving.

Karen’s goals for the next year:

Continue my path of abstraction to see where it leads me. Experiment. Be bold and brave!  Try something I’m not good at and afraid of doing!

FAVORITE ARTSY QUOTE

“The Artist does not draw what he sees, but what he has to make others see.”

– Edgar Degas

“All real works of art look as though they were done in joy!”

–Robert Henri

“Artists who approach perfection do not have many ideas.”

–Odilon Redon

“Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties.”

–Gail Sheehy

Karen’s Watercolor Tips:

1) Keep it lighter longer; you can always go darker but it’s hard in watercolor (since we don’t use much white) to go lighter,

2) That brush is your “meddling mother-in-law”!  Use it less and when you use it use a BIG ONE,

3) It’s called WATERcolor!  Let the water do the work!

4) Stand up to paint so you have full range of motion with the brush in that hand at the end of that arm,

5) Color gets the credit but contrast does the work!  Keep 25% of your painting DARK and 25 % light to preserve the DRAMA,

6) Never skimp on watercolors; cheap tube pigments are full of filler and they aren’t worth even the “savings” The same is true for paper!  Cheap paper will vanquish you and depress you!

Karen’s website and Social Media:

Website