Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Karen has been a Californian since 1969. After careers in education and graphic design, Karen’s interests turned to fine art; first calligraphy and watercolor, and then collage, mixed mediums and assemblage.

She has studied art and design in classes at Santa Barbara City College and its Adult Education Division as well as in numerous private workshops. She holds a BA in French from Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA and an MA in Applied Linguistics from San Jose State University.

Beginning in 1999, Karen was an adjunct instructor on the art faculty of Santa Barbara City Collegeªs Continuing Education Division where she taught classes in collage, mixed media and assemblage. Now she holds private workshops and classes in her Fillmore and Ventura studios, at the C Gallery in Los Alamos, California, in Carpinteria, California and other locations throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Since 2011, Karen has taught a weekly collage class at the Fillmore Senior Center. Her award-winning work has been shown in California since 1994.

Karen is a member of the Buenaventura Art Association, The Artistsª Union Gallery,Ventura and The Artistsª Guild of Fillmore. Karen is the founding president of Step OneArt Gallery, Carpinteria and The Carpinteria Valley Arts Council, organizations seeking to establish a Community Center for the Arts in Carpinteria, CA .