09/24/2021
Hamden Art League to Host CT Artist Karen Israel at October 12, 2021 Meeting
The Hamden Art League is very happy to continue our in-person* meeting schedule for our 2021-2022 season by welcoming CT Artist Karen Israel to our Tuesday, October 12th, 7:00 pm meeting with her presentation, “Water Reflections in Pastel”. In her demo, Karen will paint a landscape against still or slightly rippling water using soft pastel on sanded paper. Prior to applying the pastel, she will demonstrate an under painting technique on this paper using rubbing alcohol to tone the surface.
Ms. Israel is an accomplished and celebrated artist based in West Hartford, working mainly in watercolors, oils and, most recently, pastels. “Being an artist has helped me become more sensitive to the richness of the world around me. I’m constantly noticing how the light is shifting, or finding shapes and patterns hidden in plain sight… Over the years, my work has evolved from the representational to the impressionistic, with an occasional nod to the surreal. Giving each painting a solid design pattern, exciting color harmony and interesting edges enables me to hook the viewer and take them to new, surprising places…I now take great joy in teaching others how to see and commune with the world around them so that they, too, can record their reality.”
Ms. Israel currently teaches classes and workshops in pastel, and gives instructional demos for art organizations. Her work has been featured in the websites of Artsy Shark and Dutch Art Box, and in the art journals, Practique des Arts, Pastel Journal and Southwest Art Magazine. Over the years, Ms. Israel’s work has won numerous awards in national and international juried exhibits including Best In Show at the Pastel Society of the West Coast’s National Exhibit and the Flora Giffuni Memorial Award with the American Artists’ Professional League. Five of her artworks will be included in the “Pastels of the World in Bourbonnais International Exhibition” in Montlucon, France in 2022, an exhibit honoring American Women Pastelists. Karen has exhibited locally in “A Century of Connecticut Art from the New Haven Paint and Clay Club”, Lyman Allyn Museum, and “Capturing Life and Beauty: Women Artists of the New Haven Paint and Clay Club”, New Haven Museum.
All of the meetings of the Hamden Art League will be held in the Social Hall of the Hamden Senior Center, with parking and entrance in the back of the Miller Memorial Library Complex, 2901 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden. *Following COVID protocols, we will be meeting with masks and social distancing, and we will not be offering our usual food and beverages. We will also have to sign in, in case we need to do any contact tracing. For more information on the Hamden Art League please visit our website, hamdenartleague.org, or call (203) 287-1322.
