Karen Murphy

Karen showed artistic talent at a young age, winning a blue ribbon award for her art in kindergarten.  In second grade she received a set of oil paints for her birthday and she’s been drawing and painting ever since.  Through her elementary and high school education she gravitated to any art classes she could take.  Karen is mostly self taught but still takes classes that interest her whenever she can.  One such class was “rendering in colored pencil” at her local fine arts center.  She started drawing with colored pencils, a medium that was new to her, and so began her love of drawing with them.  She combined her love of animals with her artistic talent and started to receive commissions for pet portraits.  She won an Honorable Mention Award at the City of Newport Beach Art Exhibition in 2013 for her drawing of “His Majesty”.  That same year she was also honored to have “His Majesty” chosen to be on the cover of a published colored pencil book.  Since 2013, Karen has been a participant at the yearly Balboa Island Artwalk, winning an award in 2017 for her drawing of “Sydney”.  She continues to take classes in order to hone her skill as a colored pencil artist and to learn from other artists.

 

“I feel very blessed to be given this gift from Above.  I’m always touched by the reactions, and usually, tears, from my clients.  As an artist and animal lover, to create a meaningful piece of art for a client that captures their pet’s unique spirit and soul, is as satisfying as it gets and feeds MY soul!” 

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