Karen Schaaf

Figurative Watercolors

See more of her work at karenschaaf.com and visit her Facebook page to see works in progress.

Karen works in transparent watercolor, drawing inspiration from the amazing people she has had the pleasure of living among in the coastal south, both in Savannah, Georgia and more recently, New Bern, North Carolina.

Having grown up in southern Maryland, she relocated to Savannah for 20 years with her husband, Mike. In the fall of 2019, she and Mike relocated to New Bern and reside in River Bend with their two collies.

Karen has a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Education (Instructional Technology) from Virginia Tech. For over 20 years, she has been employed with Pixelphish Interactive, an eLearning development company that produces training for corporate aviation.

Best known for her figurative and portrait work, Karen is a signature member of the Georgia Watercolor Society and has received international recognition for her work. In 2019, she was named "Among Best 50" in the Global Association of Watercolor Artists (GAWA) Annual International Watercolor Contest.

Karen is a member of the National Watercolor Society, the American Watercolor Society, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, and the North Carolina Watercolor Society. She has studied with Charles Reid and Mary Whyte, as well as other nationally-recognized watercolor figure painters.

Karen is available for commissions and portrait work.

"I use a palette of transparent watercolors, carefully applying each color in a series of layers, to sculpt faces and expressions that glow with life. As I paint, I try to imagine that each stroke, layer (and wrinkle) is an event my subject has experienced in their life. I am not just visually representing who they are at the moment captured in the painting, but also giving the viewer a glimpse of what brought them to this point in time."