Watermedia artist Karen K Rosasco graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with an honors degree in Art Education. She taught high school art for over 30 years helping students develop portfolios for the top design schools in the nation. During this time she also earned over 50 graduate credit hours and has taught adults in evening courses since 1981. After retiring from public school instruction Karen continues to teach adult classes and give week long watermedia workshops around the USA and Canada.
Karen also formed “Art Escapes” planning and escorting group painting and sketching tours around the world. The past 18 trip destinations have included visits to 6 of the 7 continents and all the countries in Europe, some of them twice. Karen is a juried member of the Central New York Watercolor Society and the Oakroom Artists and belongs to many local NY art organizations.
Her prize winning artwork has been accepted in regional and national juried shows including the American Watercolor Society, Salmagundi Club and Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Exhibitions in New York City and can be found in private and corporate collections in the the USA ( General Electric, Harcourt Brace Education Testing, Price Chopper), Europe and South America. The Canajoharie Library and Art Museum purchased a painting of Karen’s for their contemporary collection and in 2006 she was awarded Best of Show at the Cooperstown, NY Regional “ Essentials”. Out of 1400 entries she was awarded the Silver Medal for second place in the 2007 American Watercolor Society International Exhibition in NYC. This prize winning piece “Abandoned” traveled to 8 museums all across the US with other AWS paintings over the course of a year.
Articles and painting reproductions about Karen’s work have appeared in national publications including The Palette and American Artist Watercolor magazines. Karen’s artwork may be seen at the Local Color Gallery, Colonie NY, Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown NY, Abend Gallery, Denver CO, Riverfront Studios, Schuylerville, NY, The Arkell Museum Gift Shop, Canajoharie NY, Departure Gift Shop, Albany International Airport and by appointment at her home in Delanson,
In her current series of work Karen is using a variety of watermedia in layers to achieve a highly textural and dynamic presentation. After 40 years of painting realistic interpretations of landscapes, florals and architectural themes, Karen finds this new concentration on the relationships between the basic elements of art ( shape, value, line, color and texture) to be a more exciting personal approach to her art. Methods, materials and themes change but a consistently good composition and design hold the viewer’s eye.