ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Kathleen Karlsen's Art-Related Education and Interests

In my early twenties, I fell in love with the West on a cross-country trip through the nation’s national parks. After completing my bachelor's degree in studio art in 1987 at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, I moved to Montana and eventually earned a master's degree in humanities (art, music and philosophy). The focus of my master's thesis was the psychological and emotional impact of the arts, especially the connections between art and music. I also studied extensively about the healing power of art and the symbolic meaning inherent in visual images.

I am impressed by research demonstrating that images of nature are a powerful way to reduce stress, speed recovery from illness, and relieve depression. Abstract images have also been shown to improve brain activity, especially in those who have suffered from a traumatic illness or shock.

I launched my career as a professional artist in 2001. Over the years I have taught both art and music in classroom, community and private studio settings. At present I co-teach art for students in grades one through five in a Montessori school. I am also the project manager for Living Arts Media (www.livingartsmedia.com), a web design, instructional design, video production and marketing company I run with my husband Andrew.

I have published nearly 200 articles online and in print, mostly on art-related topics, with approximately 500,000 article views. I am an Ezine Articles platinum level publisher. All of my articles can be viewed by clicking on the logo to the left. I have now been living in Montana for twenty years and reside in Bozeman with my husband and our five children: Rose (18 yrs), Benjamin (16 yrs), Joseph (11 yrs), Michael (9 yrs) and Christopher (5 yrs).

See Kathleen Karlsen's resume.

Original Paintings: Textured Impressionism and Acrylic Flow Techniques

As an artist residing in a rural, western state, I have striven for years to find a unique niche that would be a contemporary approach to expressing the expansive spirit of the west in visual form. My work includes colorful florals and landscapes in a bright, textured impressionistic style and abstract acrylics with flowing colors and complex layering.

The connection to nature, felt so keenly in the unspoiled Montana landscape under a vast blue sky, actually extends beyond what we see in the physical world. There are hidden realities that come to light through telescopes, microscopes and through the added element of imagination that takes the viewer to a place where nature is infinitely varied and is always bursting with vitality.

Montana's incredibly clear, dark night skies have made this a favorite spot for both amateur and professional astronomers. The expansiveness of the universe revealed by the Hubble Telescope extends my own artistic vision to include natural phenomenon that would normally remain unseen by the unaided human eye.

These original paintings are created through a process of multiple layers of thin acrylic washes. Some paintings include gold paint or glitter to simulate the effect of twinkling stars. Through this series of paintings, created beginning in 2008, I am adding my artistic interpretation to the amazing vision of the universe provided by the Hubble telescope.

Artist Statement from Kathleen Karlsen

"Art is a universal language that brings comfort, healing, inspiration and joy to others. The central focus in my work is conveying vibrancy and energy. I seek to create art that is connected to the natural world around us while transcending that world. I believe that the power of art is more than the depiction of objective, physical reality. The real power of art is the feelings embodied in a particular visual image.

I see art and beauty as having a major impact on human life. I believe that art has tremendous practical as well as aesthetic value. Research shows that art can help heal hospital patients, increase learning rates in classrooms and improve productivity in work places. For me, art enriches the entire process of living."

Artwork Publications and Awards
Book Cover Art, Fortunate Wisdoms by Theresa McNicholas
2009 Magazine Cover Art Work, Natural Life News and Directory, May-June Issue, 2007
Book Cover Art, Sunday Roses, Sirius Publishing 2007
Cover Art Work, Natural Life News and Directory, May-June Issue
2004 Featured Artist, Early Learning DVD Program, Soul Learning Company, 2004
4th Place Winner, Judge Larry Zabel, MIA 3rd Annual Art Show 2004

AN INTERVIEW WITH KATHLEEN KARLSEN
Artist Case Study by Robert Dickman

Artistic Development

While studying modern art in graduate school, did you find abstraction challenging both practically & compositionally?

I had a prejudice AGAINST modern art prior to going into graduate school. The majority of abstracts seemed to be expressing negative emotions and thoughts, so I had no attraction to this since a big part of my focus is on the healing value of art. However, while getting my master’s degree I discovered the American color field painters Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler). I also became a fan of Piet Mondrian. Their work is a joyful celebration of color and the phenomena of interactions between colors and the visual play of juxtaposed colors.

I really appreciated the geometric structure in the work of Noland and Mondrian and the looser but still balanced structure in the work of Louis and Frankenthaler. My work is more in the latter tradition of the free-flowing abstract acrylic style. I also have adopted some of the multiple layering techniques often found in Louis’ work. So, my compositions and practical approach is closest to that of Morris Louis.

Did art criticism help you to discover other parallels to your development?

The predilection of art critics for work that is “socially responsible” led me to redefine what that means to me. Perhaps social responsibility is generally interpreted as using art to point out the problems in society that need attention. I began to feel that I had a responsibility to also point out the wonderful things in life—the pure joy of exploration, spontaneity and color.

What did you find useful about your degree in studio art / graduate school & what were your key moments?
The most useful aspect was the opportunity to study particular artists and art movements in depth rather than just survey courses. I also found highly useful the chance to study some related disciplines such as music, philosophy, architecture and psychology.

Where there any aspects to your degree or graduate school that you didn’t enjoy, or thought where irrelevant in the real world?  

Nothing was really irrelevant, though I liked philosophy the least.

Art Mediums and Art Techniques

Do you make any preliminary experiments or sketches of your natural phenomena subjects before you create a piece of artwork?

I do not make any preliminary sketches on the canvas, though I study photographs (from the Hubble telescope for example) to think through how I will approach the painting. Paintings may end up being very different than intended, but I still work with what’s happening to keep it connected to natural phenomena in some way.

Do or have you used other mediums than acrylic in your work?

I started as a watercolor artist (1980-2001), then moved into oils (2001-2004) and finally acrylics (2004-present). I may do an occasional oil painting again, but I do not think I will return to work in watercolors. With acrylics, I sometimes use glitter, gold leaf, spray paint, sand, sawdust  or impasto medium to get a variety effects.

Do you execute your work in a controlled manner or do you to take uncontrolled risks thus relying on spontaneity? 

My work is a combination of control and spontaneity. I sometimes control the drying time (which in turn creates different effects) by raising the temperature in my studio or even using a hair dryer or fan directed towards the painting. I also prop the canvas so that it is tipped in different directions to direct the paint flow. I use sponges and towels to remove excess paint or layers of color if I want to add new colors or forms into the area. I may repaint a particular area three or four times if needed.

What do you look for in a successful abstracted piece?

The underlying structure must be strong. I test this by looking at the painting in very dim light. If there is still a sense of general shapes and balance, that is characteristic of a successful painting. If the forms merge so that they are undifferentiated in dim light, then the structure is too weak. I generally feel that 4 out of 5 paintings are successful.
Do like to take the formalism approach when viewing a painting, taking away any reference to the literal subject matter?
I never compare an abstract piece to the photo or photos that were the take off point or original idea. It doesn’t matter whether I have captured the exact form (photography can do that), but rather that I have created a form which is believable in some way. If it looks like it COULD exist—somewhere out in space or somewhere in the “unseen” world of energy and vibration—then the painting has a reality of its own. I am not purposely hiding the original form, but it becomes less relevant.

Career in Fine Art

A fine artist’s career is very open ended with many opportunities to choose from, what inspired you to get involved in art therapy?

I entered college thinking I would go to medical school. However, I had a series of difficult life experiences that convinced me that there are things that hurt worse than broken bones and diseased bodies. There are conditions of the mind and spirit that go deeper and are more agonizing. My path turned towards the spiritual and an exploration of the human potential for creativity and healing. There is something about the act of creating art that is like prayer, meditation or other altered states. The viewer can catch a glimpse of this state, this other reality, in the artwork itself. Music and art are universal languages that can touch something in the heart or spirit beyond the intellect and maybe even beyond the emotions.

At what level do you teach art, & what is involved in the structure of your teaching sessions, i.e. painting, drawing, theory?

I teach art to children ages 6-12 in a private elementary school. My art classes are based on freedom of choice. I present a new project each week, but students do not have to do the project for the week if they would like to spend more time on a prior project or a project of their own creation. I also believe that the entire physical world is art: the clothing we wear, the dishes we eat from, the furniture we sit on. I do not see the “higher arts” (painting, drawing) as more valuable than the “lower arts” (sewing, crafts, functional works).

Any given class could find students drawing an animal, painting a color wheel, building a castle from clay, making bead jewelry, building a treasure box from popsicle sticks, working on a large group mural or listening to a guest artist talk about their art-related career. Usually there are four or five different things happening in the classroom at once. We have guest artists once each month teaching a variety of skills such as illustration, weaving, architecture, batik and so forth.
I have done quite a number of abstract art projects with this age group. They are very excited about the spontaneous aspect of abstract art. We have done projects based on the work of Kenneth Noland, Piet Mondrian, Morris Louis and my own works.

I have taught classes based on my own techniques art to adults in small groups. However, I think I prefer to work with children and have more experience in that arena.

There are many aspects involving your current career within Marketing Communication; could your business help a fine artist who would like to present their work & artist statements on the web, thus expanding their potential for sales plus being noticed?

The web is fantastic! I have had people buy my work who would have never had the opportunity to do so otherwise due to my location in the rural state of Montana in the USA. I have also made contacts with other artists with whom I can share my ideas and from whom I can also learn. Every artist MUST have a website. I began my own “day job” in marketing communications by designing websites for other artists. I have since expanded into working with clients of various types: natural products producers, social services providers, lawyers, alternative practitioners and more. An artist must learn to use the web in today’s economy.

I can definitely work with other artists to help them create a web presence. That is my “day job” and a critical factor for the success of my clients, whether they are artists or not.

In light of ‘what I see’ to be your successful career within teaching & marketing communication specialist & artist, is there any advice that you could give to a fine artist just entering the world after graduation?

You have to have another skill (preferably related to art) that can help you to earn a living either in the early years of your career or ongoing. Graphic design is a fantastic option, teaching is great, writing or marketing or other aspects of visual design are also good. This gives you leverage to stay true to your own art, to go out on a limb creatively, because you have a means to provide a living for yourself as necessary. You do not have to paint “what people want to buy” to survive financially. You are free to choose your art from the inside rather than paint based on external forces.

Your art should be a source of joy, not suffering! The “starving artist” is not a heroic figure. To have another source of income gives you the freedom to develop your art. If you love art enough, you will paint late at night at every opportunity, all night when you can, on the weekends, early in the morning and on holidays when everyone else prefers to watch movies and drink wine. You will paint while you are living your life, perhaps until your success with art becomes sufficient to devote yourself full-time. Don’t think that the time away from the easel is wasted. Everything you do and everything you experience can be brought back to the easel the next time you paint.

And you have to know what you are doing in terms of defining and marketing yourself as an artist. Knowing how to write about your art and tell the story of your art is the half of an art career that many artists neglect. You need to know how you fit into the history of art, what innovations you are bringing forth and why your art is valuable and unique. Then you have to be able to communicate that with humility and humor if possible.

ABOUT MODERN ARTS PAINTINGS

By Kathleen Karlsen, MA

The Era of Modern Arts Paintings
The era of modern arts paintings has been marked with an unprecedented pluralism in styles and movements. Beginning at the time of the French and American revolutions, this period has witnessed myriad attempts to create a new visual language in keeping with the complex political, technological and social changes that have taken place in the last hundred years.

Modern arts paintings both reflect these changes Themselves and demonstrate attempts to influence the speed and direction of change. Responding to a world in a state of perpetual flux, contemporary art renews itself by delving deeply into the most hidden and the most sublime aspects of life.

Political and Social Aspects of Modern Arts Paintings
The political changes wrought by the democratic revolutions in the second half of the nineteenth century resulted in a new class of citizens who could enjoy the luxuries of life which had been long reserved for the nobility. Art itself became more democratic as the bourgeoisie commissioned works which only royalty had been able to afford in earlier times.

The age of the gallery soon followed and the opportunity for artists to pursue their own inclinations rather that those of their patrons infinitely expanded the realm of potential subjects. As this process unfolded, the definition of modern arts paintings was brought into question time and time again.

The Art of the Imagination
Although various movements continued to serve as the theoretical and philosophical moorings for groups of artists, individual artists also experienced greater freedom to forge into uncharted territories as their imaginations and skills allowed. The advent of the machine was a further influence that shifted the perceptions of artists about life, artistic vision and man's place in the world and universe.

The euphoria created by the power and potential of the machine was in stark contrast with the static, fixed and predictable world of the Renaissance. Reality was no longer finite and measurable. The single, rational perspective of the formerly earthbound artist was multiplied and altered forever by the views experienced in cars, trains, and airplanes. Even stationary towers and skyscrapers revealed vertical vistas of unprecedented vastness.

The Styles of Modern Arts Paintings
Artists quickly endeavored to fully exploit the visual possibilities of this changing reality. Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Pop Art, Expressionism and Impressionism are just a few of the multitude of modern arts movements beginning in the twentieth century. The themes which separate modern arts paintings from that of the classical era help to unify these diverse movements.

All forms of modern arts paintings accomplish the following: they challenge the traditional definition of art based on easel paintings striving for literal realism and illusion; they touch on or are affected by some aspect of the changing technological, political and social boundaries in which the artists work; they seek to create a new visual language for the modern world; and they remind the viewer in one or more ways of both the hidden and transitory nature of reality.

The Value of Choosing Modern Arts Paintings
Choosing modern arts paintings for you home or business space makes a strong statement: you are willing to take a risk on something new and different, you are looking for innovation and new approaches to life and work, you are personalizing your space in a unique way. Social psychologists have come to realize that choosing artwork and decorating your environment is not a frivolous activity, but is a way of claiming and marking your territory that can be as significant a decision as choosing your career or choosing your mate.

Modern arts paintings are fluid and allow for multiple interpretations. This can be a subtle indication to visitors to your home or place of business that you are willing to listen to the viewpoints of others. You are not telling them what to see or what to feel. Modern arts paintings tend to invigorate their surroundings and invite curiosity and discussion.