About the artist

Karen Haines is an award winning Albertan artist who loves to paint in oils; anything from portraits to still life to landscape - and especially Plein Air (from life outdoors). She was drawing all the time from her earliest memories; drawings of people were found on every paper that came near to her - including her homework.

She began painting in oils in 2002 when her goal initially was to learn to paint realistic portraits. She studied realistic painting in Edmonton and then, after learning about values and how the masters painted in layers, she realised that she was very drawn to looser paintings. She wanted to learn the secrets of how that extra energy could be painted onto a canvas and that led her to various teachers and books which all pointed to one direction - if you want to improve as an artist - you must paint from life. She is now absolutely in love with painting plein air paintings (from life outdoors). Always learning, she has studied under a number of artists both in person and via video tutelage. Her work can be found in private homes and businesses across Canada and beyond.

Karen currently lives in Edmonton and Legal AB with her husband (and fellow artist) Keith Nolan. When they are not painting they are often singing and playing the guitar, gardening, or exploring the back roads and woods to see what they find!