instructor

Karen Kurka Jensen

Karen Kurka Jensen is an accomplished sumi-e artist, portraying her deep connection to nature through mystical landscapes and abstract images. Jensen grew up in Minnesota where she was sidetracked from a library career following a traumatic car accident. She went in search of alternative healing after her doctors could no longer relieve her chronic pain. This journey led her to a traditional Chinese healer who not only treated her successfully but introduced her to the Chinese culture and heritage. This, in turn, sent her further down her path, falling in love with the art form of sumi-e. She found and studied with masters of the art form in Minneapolis and has been painting ever since. Early in her career, she developed her own sumi-e inspired style of abstract expressionism; her dreamy landscapes and images take the viewer on a journey into their own souls. This is achieved not with more but with less. Each brush stroke is meaningful, the ink indelible, there is no going back to make corrections. The brushstrokes serve as a good metaphor for life itself; one never truly masters the art of life or achieves perfection. The pursuit of perfection is the journey, no matter what road we are on and the journey is what it's all about.

Jensen resides in Timber Lakes, Utah after establishing a successful career in galleries and workshops across the Midwest. She continues to teach and exhibit locally and nationally. Her work is in public and private collections across the country.

Website: http://www.karenkurkajensen.com/