Karen Lee Crenshaw, Jacksonville, North Carolina

karenleecrenshaw.com

Karen Lee Crenshaw has been drawing since she used to scribble on the walls as a child. She earned a BS in Art Ed from Concord University and an MFA in Painting from George Washington University. Karen has lived in Jacksonville, NC, for nineteen years where she maintains Crenshaw Art Studio in her home and at ArtExposure in Hampstead, NC. She has fallen in love with beautiful coastal North Carolina. Marshes, rivers, lakes, and the vessels that sail upon them capture her eye. 

In addition to landscapes, Karen accepts portrait commissions, specializing in portraits of women and children. Her work is traditional and lifelike, yet it maintains a painterly quality. She enjoys providing clients with an heirloom that will last for many generations.

“A sense of place. That is the goal of my landscape paintings, for the viewer to "see" what I am seeing and to feel that is a place they have been or would like to visit. Plein air painting inspires me to capture the quality of the light that sets off that connection. Many of my paintings depict the pinkish-blue tones of early morning light or the amber tones of late afternoon. I love the contrasts of forms and oblique angles and shapes that occur when the sun is low on the horizon. My challenge is to capture that moment in time, working quickly and keeping a dynamic abstract pattern with energetic brush strokes.”