Karen Birchwood

Karen started her career as a printed textile designer. Gaining a BA Hons Degree in Printed Textiles at Middlesex Polytechnic in 1989, followed by working for many years in London for one of the leading textile design studios in the UK. 

Since 2008 Karen has concentrated on painting. Her paintings have been selected by The Society of Women Artists and she is a selected member and committee member of the Rye Society of Artists. Her paintings have sold to collectors across the UK and internationally.

Karen’s painting reflects her own personal perspective on how she views her surrounding, seeing her world in colour and image. She uses mainly acrylic and mixed media, on canvas, board and paper. Collage has become an important element, giving a painting an added dimension and texture. She works intuitively from the start of a painting with colour and form letting a painting develop with spontaneity always trying to create a sense of movement and energy in a painting. There isn't one particular thing that inspires a painting. It might be a group of trees spotted on the horizon, a colour, or crops in a field creating patterns
in the land. Maybe a simple cup or group of pots on a shelf, a twisted wire on a beach creating a pattern. Or simply a strong connection to a place that gets under her skin. Holding that image in her head translates onto the painting. Karen often starts a piece of work without much idea of how it will develop but from a sweep of colour, that memory starts to unfold on the canvas.

Karen has exhibited in a number of galleries and shows locally as well as in London and Cornwall. She is a selected member of the Rye Society of Artists and is currently Chair of the Society. 

New work coming soon..........