Karen Walter is the only abstract artist currently showing
at studio21south. We are lucky to be
showing an impressive installation of 150 of Karen’s small works on paper in "Black and White (More or Less)"
Karen lives in Boston where she works in paper conservation at Harvard, but she comes to the Berkshires to draw at North Adams' Natural Bridge State Park, whose rock formations and rushing water influence her multi-layered abstractions.
Karen constantly experiments with new media and
compositions. Her playful approach defines her style and makes each one of her pieces
truly singular. Layers of
mediums (which may include watercolor, egg tempera, graphite, and charcoal), as well as her
subtle use of color, lend depth and mystery to her art.
It took two days for Karen to assemble her installation in the gallery, composing it so that the individual works of art are also striking altogether. The pleasure of Karen's work really comes alive by spending some time with it, and following the connecting thread that leads from one piece to the next, and back again to nature.
We have always been pleased to represent Bob Lafond's energetic pastel
paintings and charcoal drawings. However, as a part of "Four Seasons",
we will be showing a selection of his recent oil paintings for the first
time. These paintings teeter on the balance between representation and
abstraction, and, as is true of all Bob's work, blur the distinction
between working from life versus reference. Mud season, the ultimate
inbetween time in New England, has an apt interpreter in these
paintings. 
