Karen Blair

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Karen Blair uses abstract painting to depict the natural world’s essence, finding inspiration in the Virginia mountains, her garden, and friends and family. Blair lives in Crozet, Virginia and received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro in 1976. Blair is known for her joyous use of color and for exuberant mark-making. Her work is featured in the collections of the Markel Corporation, UVA Children’s Hospital, and Capital One, among others. She currently lives and works Charlottesville, VA. 

Born 1953 Winston Salem, North Carolina
Lives and works in Charlottesville, VA

 

EDUCATION

2003
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

2002
Shrinemont Artist’s Workshop, Orkney Springs, VA
Nimrod Artists Workshop, Nimrod, VA

2001
Shrinemont Artist’s Workshop, Orkney Springs, VA

1976
BFA, University of North Carolina – Greensboro, Greensboro, NC

 

SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019

Diurnal Rhythms, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2018

Point of View, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2014
Around The Bend, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2008
Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2004
Gallery 5800, Richmond, VA

2003
Recent Paintings, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, VA

 

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017
Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
The Art Box, Crozet, VA
Warm Springs Gallery, Warm Springs, VA

2016
CURRENT Art Fair, Richmond, VA
Bee Street Studio, Dallas, TX
Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Shenandoah Valley Arts Center, Waynesboro, VA
CoArts Gallery, Richmond, VA

2015
Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, Charlottesville,VA
Shade, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2014
Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA
Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2013
Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA
McGuffey Art Center, Charlottesville
Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Hodges-Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, NC

2012
Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Gallery Piquel, New Hope, Pennsylvania

2011
The United States Capitol Building, Washington, DC
Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
McGuffey Art Center, Charlottesville, VA

2010
Hampton House Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC

2008
Studio 11 Gallery, Lexington, VA
Symphony Designer House

2007
December Project, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, Virginia

2006
Rentz Gallery, Richmond, Virginia

2005
Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Radius 250, Plant Zero, Richmond, Virginia; juried exhibition curated by John Ravenal, Sydney and Frances Lewis Family
Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, Virginia

2003
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
Recent Paintings, Gallery 5800, Richmond, Virginia
Summer Paintings, Gallery 5800 Richmond, Virginia

2002
Nimrod Artists Exhibition, The James Center, Richmond, Virginia
Virginia Museum Studio School Invitational Exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
Shrinemont Artists Exhibition, St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia

2000
Virginia Museum Studio School Invitational Exhibition, Virginia useum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia

 

SELECT COLLECTIONS

Capital One, Richmond, VA
Phillip Morris, USA, Inc.
Markel Corporation
Owens & Minor
Hourigan Construction, Inc.
Troutman Sanders LLP
Le Clair Ryan, A Professional Corporation
Westminster Canterbury, Richmond
Dominion Resources
Couric Clinical Cancer Center, UVA Hospital
Jefferson Hotel, Richmond, VA
Martha Jefferson Hospital, Charlottesville, VA
Levine Cancer Institute, Charlotte, NC
Commissioned Works
Troutman Sanders LLP

 

RESIDENCIES

2008
Artist Residency Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Reynolds Foundation Grant Recipient

2003
Artist Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson VT.

 

FELLOWSHIPS

2007
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Reynolds Foundation Fellowship Recipient

Picasso once remarked that “There is no abstract art, you always have to begin with something. Taking his words to heart, these paintings begin and end with the landscape. Starting with some marks in paint or oil stick a horizon line appears, the meander of a stream takes shape and the color of a mountain ridge at sunset emerges. Subsequent layers edit, refine and hone the image. The physical act of pushing the paint around and acknowledging the formal demands of a composition are key ingredients of the constant refinement.

While maintaining elements of landscape, they push further into recording memories of experiences. We live in an age of Instant images and endless sharing of two-dimensional pictures. We scroll, we tweet, we blog. Painting is an act of rebellion against this; guerrilla warfare in an electronic age. These are the stories I want to tell my children, a record of a life spent in awe of the physical world.