Karen Kopf

Karen Kopf’s exhibition started with a conversation about a Harpy Eagle which the artist's son observed in Patagonia, Argentina. From the Harpy in mythology the images in the artist's imagination became women and birds as equal partners, coexisting in the same space. On the canvas the idea morphed into women surrounded by birds.

After depicting the women and birds the artist returned to her exploration of plant forms. In all of these paintings the artist uses gold, silver and copper leaf with an abundance of textures to fracture the light and illuminate the rich forms. The interiors of the shapes have a life of their own and shimmer like jewels in nature.

There is also included a double portrait of two friends, who have known each other many years. They are treated in the same way as the other paintings with leafing and textures, but have the addition of humor in the title.

Karen Kopf After studying painting in Austria for a year, the artist established a studio in Marbella, Spain on the Costa del Sol. Five years under the bright Spanish sun added an intensity to the colors of her palette and a wide range of experience and exhibitions to her career as a professional artist. Her works from this period are in collections all over the world.

Upon returning to the U.S., she painted in upstate New York, where she was resident director of Guy Park State Historic Site.

Eventually she moved to Winston-Salem where she earned a Master’s degree from Salem College and worked for twenty years as a teacher while she and her husband raised two sons.

She is currently exhibiting at Artworks Gallery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.