Karen Darling - Artist & Sculptor

Karen Darling graduated from the Illustration program at Sheridan College. Karen worked as a freelance illustrator for a number of years then turned her focus to the restaurant industry. Building a successful restaurant, which is still going strong 12 years later, took up most of Karen's time. However 5 years ago she was able to turn her attention back to her art career once again. She has now found her true passion in painting and sculpture. An award winning artist, Karen has exhibited extensively over the last few years and is represented in private collections across North America and in the UK.

Because of my training as an illustrator, I was very comfortable doing things in a realistic manner. However, at some point I felt I needed to let go of what I felt most comfortable doing and really challenge myself.

Exploring new ways of expressing myself has led to a much looser and more abstract feeling in my figurative work, and in turn, has led to completely abstract paintings. I usually get past the initial intimidation that a blank, white canvas can bring by just putting paint on. Not having a pre-conceived idea of what it will end up like, allows for interesting and unexpected things to happen. Each mark made seems to dictate what the next should be... on a good day!

Sometimes however it’s an all out wrestling match until finally it feels right. Usually after such a struggle, the painting ends up being completely different than how it started. As the American painter Richard Diebenkorn said, "I can never paint what I want, only what I would have wanted had I thought of it before hand." This way of working may be frustrating at times but I feel that for me, it allows for a completely individual form of expression.