Karen is an artist who paints from the heart, but painting from the heart is only meaningful if the artist also has the skill to make the picture work. Born in Chicago, she's among the seventh generation of her family to pursue the arts. She has perfected the process of rendering landscapes with unerring realism, tempered with a touch of impressionism in the passionate yet thoughtful way she applies her paints. "My paintings convey great strength as well as great vulnerability and delicacy.