Evening Walk on a Starless Night, 2024

I’m a dedicated and passionate emerging artist working from the Northern Beaches of Sydney. I’m currently working on a series of Nocturne Landscapes. The repeated motif of the night sky facilitates my exploration of colour value. These works extend my fascination with colour and composition. The subjects are mostly found in my local suburban neighbourhood and some from my studio window. I begin the paintings from observation, sometimes later in the evening in darkness with a small headlamp to light my palette. In this situation I’m pushed to also use short term memory and intuition and the resulting paintings can be naive and at times only vaguely recognisable although I aim to depict a nostalgic and atmospheric scene that allows for viewer participation.

Artist Bio – Karen Brock
2024
Finalist in the Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award
Finalist in the Lethbridge Landscape Prize
The Other Art Fair SYD May 2024

2023
Finalist in the Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Prize
Finalist in the Lethbridge Landscape Prize
Where We Live Group Show – Creative Space, Curl Curl March 2023
Manly Art Precinct Group Show – Mosman Rowers Gallery
Finalist in the Mosman Rowers Art Prize

2022 – Karen’s sensitive depiction of local Swamp Gum trees as they appeared in silhouette, with a stormy sky backdrop was selected and sold by the Michael Reid curator Amber-Creswell Bell for her ACB Selects Online Exhibition.
The series of paintings depict the unique tree canopy shapes of the dominant Australian tree species occurring in the Narrabeen Lake area – the Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus Robusta) and Swamp She-Oak (Casuarina Glauca).
2021 – Karen’s Floral Still Life oil paintings were exhibited as part of a Still Life Group Show at Northern Beaches Gallery, Cromer
2021 – From time spent emersed in the natural landscape at Eramboo artist environment, Karen completed a series of plein air oil studies of the bush understory with the native flannel flowers and the pampas grass nestled amongst the upright Spotted Gum trees.