Karen Paust is inspired by bugs, butterflies, plants and the natural world around her. Some of her favorite artists include Paul Klee, Georgia O'Keefe, Pierre Bonnard, Magdalena Abakonowicz, Ruth Asawa and Joyce Scott. Quite a range of styles and forms, but that makes sense since Karen's work includes knitting, crochet, sewing, painting, sculpture, drawing, paper making and beading. For this blog entry we are focusing on the latter, Karen's extraordinary beading.
Karen studies botany before entering art school. This evolved into her obsession with beading. "It is one of the best mediums to reflect how the work is make of tine particles that are connected in a mysterious way. The other amazing property of beading is how the beads interact with light," according to Karen. Beading has given her the vehicle to combine her love of nature and art together. "Beading evolved very naturally to me. The beads seem to fit together like plant cells. it is like painting in three dimension."
Karen collects specimens and studies them carefully through sketching and painting with watercolors in order to understand color and form. She describes the process "like collaging piece together. I have a dressmaking form, and I pin elements to it so that I can step back and see what it needs. In is an intuitive process." She loves to make paper, black walnut ink, spin, dye, design, and make her own clothing. Her favorite outdoor activity is wild mushroom hunting!
For more information about Karen Paust and her beading, knitting, crochet and painting, visit her website: Karen Paust We are sure you will be as excited as we are about this work.
Red Poppy with Black-Eyed Susans
Summer Rose