Karen Tusinski lives and works in the Cape Ann region of Massachusetts. She graduated with her B.F.A. in Painting from Montserrat College of Art in 1998. Her first passion in her work is color relationships. Her palette is balanced, earthy and vibrant. With flat space as her agent, Karen paints images that remind us of the comforts of home. Bowls, vases, bottles, flowers, and textile design serve as shapes to inform/inspire color dynamics. While in the process of painting, Karen challenges herself by playing with the space between and around her subjects; composition is a playground where relationships between space, color, and form develop.

In her work, she often calls upon one of her favorite muses; the fleeting, red bloom of the Poppy flower. Karen uses her imagination to create whimsical and wild arrangements of poppies, grounding them in hearty vessels. Often, she’ll use geometric patterns acting as banners at the base (and occasionally up the sides), of her paintings to further anchor her subjects in space. Her paintings easily tap into joy and the effervescent quality of hope.