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The Art of Karen Lewis

 

Karen E. Lewis

Painting the Many Moods of Water

 

If oil is my medium, then water is my element.  My attachment to water began when I was a kid, at a lake cabin in the Poconos, where I swam among the water lilies and Sunnies. I graduated from the rowboat to a canoe and went rock-hopping down the Monongahela.  Whitewater kayaking escalated to slalom racing in the Northwest, then nationally, then at pre-world championships in Bala, Wales.  With Northwest Outward Bound, I guided rafters down the Deschutes River.

When you spend that much time on rivers, you learn to read the water, looking at swirls for clues to what moves beneath.  Which way is the river flowing?  Which little ripples signify underwater rocks, and which are a disturbance of wind?  Contemplating the sky, I notice that it has its own currents, and a radiance that comes from heat, atmosphere, and the intermixture of air masses.

Water became a natural subject for me to paint.  And hey, I just like being there.  For many contented hours, I paint from some special spot with sights, sounds and smells of the outdoors around me. River, lake, ocean, water of any kind is always my favorite.  In the studio, these plein-air sketches expand into larger works, creating retreats that transport me to that special place.

From intimate experience, I use oil paints to describe the natural world as color in motion: skies, waters, even growing things in their relative stillness.  Sweeping brushstrokes express the fluidity of air and water in richly colored shapes.  The solidity of rock and earth give grounding to this motion, carved with form-defining marks.  Connecting earth and sky are the reaching growths of grasses and trees. 

I have been out painting the many moods of water.  Here, I share my journeys with you.

 

 

 

 

 



Big Sky Currrents by Karen Lewis
30 x 30 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting

 



Bamboo Cluster L by Karen Lewis
36 x 18 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting

 


Bamboo Cluster R by Karen Lewis
36 x 18 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting



Oregon City Falls by Karen Lewis
6 x 8 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting

 


Mountain & Valley
by Karen Lewis
6 x 8 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting


Deschutes Riverlight by Karen Lewis
24 x 18 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting



Sky and Water Trails by Karen Lewis
(Lincoln City Area)

30 x 30 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting
 



SOLD Deschutes Awakening by Karen Lewis
36 x 48 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting
 



SOLD Sunriver Bridge and Birch by Karen Lewis
6 x 8 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting
 


SOLD Deschutes Downriver Palette by Karen Lewis
6 x 8 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting


River Meadow by Karen Lewis
(Sunriver)

6 x 8 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting
 

 


Cascade Melody by Karen Lewis
(Bull Run)

18 x 24 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting

 




 



Lake Waves by Karen Lewis
(Detroit Lake)

12 x 16 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting

 



Sunflower Row by Karen Lewis
(Hood River)

12 x 24 Original oil on panel
Studio painting
 


SOLD Sunflowers Against the Hills by Karen Lewis
9 x 12 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air painting
 



Drop in the Shadows, Multnomah Falls
by Karen Lewis
12 x 24 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting

 



Gold Hills and Blue Water by Karen Lewis
36 x 48 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting



Deschutes Fall Grass and Willow by Karen Lewis
18 x 24 Original oil on canvas
Studio painting

 



Morning Aspen Shadows
by Karen Lewis
16 x 12 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting



Golden Mount Hood Dawn by Karen Lewis
12 x 24 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting




Sunlight though Status
by Karen Lewis
18 x 24
Studio painting

 



SOLD  Clouds and Calm Water by Karen Lewis
12 x 16 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting
 

Spring Cloud Promise
by Karen Lewis
18 x 24 Original oil on canvas
Plein Air Painting

 

Shaffer Fine  Shaffer Fine Art Gallery Portland Oregon  Art Gallery
Phone (503) 957-3301

info@shafferfineart.com

 


 

 

 

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