Karen Phipps: Artist Statement


After graduating in Drawing and Painting from Glasgow School of Art, I exhibited regularly in galleries and public exhibitions throughout the 1980s and 1990s, while teaching art in several secondary schools, and latterly to fashion students.

I worked mainly in oil on canvas and painted semi-figuratively, often based on travels in Italy and the south of France, and in California. Additionally, I exhibited figure studies and academic still life.

I then found myself in a process of working toward abstract painting. Some of the transitional work, titled the ‘vessels’ paintings, are in the archive here.

During this time, from the end of the 1990s, I started to prefer acrylic over oil, and to produce paintings on board as well as canvas. I exhibited this work too, and like my earlier paintings, many are now in private collections.

In the last few years I’ve exhibited much less while concentrating on developing abstract work.

Ten very recent paintings from 2019/2020 are the main focus of this site.

I’ve also included a selection of work mainly inspired by travel in the deserts of the south-western United States, and time spent on the west coast of Ireland. These date roughly from about 2007-2014.

In parallel with painting, I’ve always drawn from life, and still do. Some of my drawings and life studies are also shown here.

Currently I’m working on some paintings with themes and palettes based on a long road trip across Rajasthan in early 2020. I’ve included a study for one of those among the current paintings.