"She has an innate sense of color and composition and when it is coupled with the way she handles the media, magic occurs." --- Quote from Theresa Golas, Director of The Iredell Museums (Statesville, NC) published in American Art Collector Magazine, August 2006
One Woman Museum Shows
2006: Iredell Museums, Statesville, NC
2009: Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC
Publication of Book about her works:
Karen Hewitt Hagan, An American Impressionist published in 2007 by Morton Arts Media; currently sold out and out of print.
From The Artist
"The Southern Landscape - I see it as a quickly changing canvas. Most precious and yet the most exploited. I'm most inspired by the pristine coastal landscapes that lace between our barrier islands and the sea. It's where I feel most at home with my easel. And I'm very intrigued by the change that is happening around this area so quickly.
Some of my favorite subjects are the unspoiled areas on the rustic edges of rural life. I view our coastal landscape in the South with mixed feelings as development embraces and eschews conservation and natural resource preservation, all the while still developing.
My vision of the South through my painter's eye is a double image, one of richness in heritage of unspoiled lands, long marsh views, freshly turned fields, pristine beaches and wilderness abounding, paired with the access to this richness through newly developed marinas, home sites and neighborhoods that fringe these areas.
My work encompasses both the old and the new. I love nothing more than painting the quiet marsh-lands or a field in new bloom, but I'm also inspired by the "progress" that surrounds these areas - the marinas and the majestic homes perched on high grounds. They intersect yet dissect. Coincide yet conflict. Many of my favorite paintings were painted on site, as I "trespassed" undetected on someone else's land but many more are from perches inside the areas newly developed; areas I would not have seen or have been granted access to if the builders had not been there before me.
It's my passion to paint these areas...preserving yesterday's and tomorrow's view - one canvas at a time."
About
Hagan’s paintings offer a compelling combination of dramatic light and rugged beauty. Favorite subjects include pristine coastal landscapes, boats drenched in sunlight, soulful dancers and romantic nudes.
Her painterly style has developed over the last twenty years, steeped in tradition but unique and completely her own. "Capturing the feeling or mood of a place is my highest goal. It's my chance to combine the essence of drawing, composition and color application skills to share the strong emotion that lead me to paint the subject," says Karen.
Karen has continued her training, drawing the figure in charcoal in the classical traditional method from life size plaster casts and drawing and painting nude figures and costumed dancers from live models. Also from backstage photo sessions during live performances as well as painting out of doors, in plein air. “Nature is truly the best teacher.”
Hagan’s paintings hang in numerous private, corporate and yacht collections in the US and abroad including The Sanctuary Resort at Kiawah Island, SC. Her accomplishments include having her work exhibited in many invitational exhibitions and juried shows including the Carmel Plein Air Painting Competition in Carmel, California and she was presented with the Award of Excellence at the COPA (Charleston Outdoor Painters Association) Plein Air Painting Annual in Charleston, SC.
Hagan was a founding member of both the Charleston Outdoor Painters Association (COPA) and The Plein Air Painters of the Southeast (PAP-SE). She teaches plein air painting in Italy, The Abacos, Bahamas, France, Italy and in the US. She has traveled and lived on a 53 foot motor yacht, aptly named “Plein Air” for the past 8 years. The boat was based in Charleston and toured the Eastern Seaboard and The Abaco Islands.
Education
Bachelor of Arts: College of Journalism, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 1983
Gibbes Museum Studio School, Charleston, SC
Scottsdale Artist School / Offsite Vermont Class
Armory Arts Center; W. Palm Beach, FL
Independent Workshops across the US
