“Karen Weihs is a native of Charleston, SC with a BFA from the University of Georgia. She began her professional career as a graphic designer for Sea Pines Corporation. After marrying restaurateur Chris Weihs, she worked with him to develop and operate 7 restaurants in the Charleston area over the next 28 years. She also multi-tasked as a mother, businesswoman and artist. She started showcasing her works of art in the family restaurants before founding a gallery space in Charleston in 1995-2009. Presently Chris and Karen live in Sarasota. FL. She paints the inspiration found from her native South Carolina and Florida scenes that move her. Traveling to paint, teach and study has nourished her art career. Using palette knives, Cobra Oil paint products, she continues to evolve her style with the richness of green, violet and orange in which she finds a counterbalance. She is always looking for ways to make one color play against another rather than merely being representative of what the eye thinks it sees. Lately she has explored a more abstracted mark-making textural style, but loves to explore anything that is challenging to her. She sometimes uses realism as a base for coloristic simple impressions, which she calls intuitive paintings, having a modern abstract feel. She feels that UGA instructor Lamar Dodd and mentor Frank Licciardi inspired this type of painting. She credits the now deceased Frank Licciardi of Charleston for her vision and love of painting, and plein air painter Andrew Peters of Iowa for teaching her proper color mixing. She has been called the Colorist of the Carolinas by her colleagues, and now is a self-described Colorist of the South.

Karen feels that an artist’s life is ever changing and ever challenging. “If I painted the same subject over and over, I would feel like it was a repetitive job, so I look for the cutting edge of something that moves me. Art is my heart and soul, so I have merged my life with art.” Karen teaches much of her philosophy from her book Out of My Mind, a creative journey published in 2000. The book has many of her intuitive paintings in it to impress upon the reader her feeling that art is about freedom of choice and personal goals; letting go and letting something in, that is deep and personal. The book portrays a personal journey to pursuing a goal, using life’s lessons, all the good and bad… for a reason… to be fulfilled, which in Karen’s case is art. Karen feels she has been so lucky to have great support from her family, crediting husband Chris as her creative partner in her art business. He is also her partner in competitive croquet, a sport they discovered while traveling. Now they travel combining croquet tournaments and art experiences which both brought them to Florida where the largest croquet club in the US is year-round.

Karen says, “When you can trust someone with your art career, you feel lucky and solid. I’ve learned that my buyers are not only buying the quality of the artist’s time but the artist’s vision. Art collectors that know this to trust me with a cherished commission for their home make me very happy.” Showing art in fine art galleries is her lifetime desire. ”

On the Jetties

Cobra Oil on Canvas, 30x36, 2020
$4000

This palette knife oil was inspired by my trip to Cuba, standing near the jetties with Havana behind me. I look for the simple objects in a scene that speak to me. Lonely, battered concrete, stone and piers that made me think of time passing in this haunting place.

Cathedral

Cobra Oil on Canvas, 30x40, 2020
$4500

Cathedral - This palette knife oil on canvas was inspired by my walks by the Seine River in Paris, while visiting the museums and eating fab foods.

Pier House

Cobra Oil on Canvas, 36x48, 2020
$5800