About

Karen Welsh

Karen Welsh is a contemporary painter based in Wiltshire, whose work explores the shifting colour, space, and atmosphere of the landscape. Working primarily in acrylic, she develops abstracted compositions that exist between representation and memory, capturing the essence of a place rather than a literal depiction.

Karen worked with her father as a sign painter and commercial artist producing bespoke signs and pictorial art in the traditional way until 2011 when she moved to Wiltshire to paint full time.

Wiltshire, with its open chalk hills and wide valleys covered with hardy grasslands, provided the unique landscape that inspired her. The occasional tree dotted on the horizon accentuates the clean line between the earth and the sky.

Karen has been on a journey to abstraction. Her paintings have developed from figurative through to semi abstract and total abstraction. Starting with gestural marking then layering the paint, concentrating on balancing tonal value with colour harmony, she develops the works until she has achieved the desired outcome.

Artist statement

"Drawing from the landscapes of Wiltshire, my practice explores the intersection between abstraction and geography. Working in acrylics and charcoal, I use bold colour and contrasting lights and darks. I use layers and form to reimagine the familiar terrain around me."