Karen Freeman and her four siblings grew up in Kerrville, Texas, where she enjoyed swimming, riding bikes, fishing, and making things. In 6th grade, her parents hired an architect who designed and built a house on the side of a hill overlooking the town. Inspired by this, she went on to receive her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Texas Tech University. Her love of art and design, turning spaces into “places” and fashion led her to New York City, where she worked in Store Design for Calvin Klein, Armani Exchange, and Donna Karan. Living in New York and later Manchester-by-the-Sea in Massachusetts, and travel throughout Europe gave her a vision for her art. “Experiencing and exploring these walkable cities, towns, and villages stirred something in me that I longed to express.” Her layered paintings are a conversation between the ordered and planned and the untamed and spontaneous. Like the timeless quality of a village that has grown over years her paintings are an experience in discovering treasures, secrets, passageways, connections, memories, dreams. Glimpses and whispers expressed though line, shape, and space. “Art and Design. I’ve always been drawn to both. As a young girl, I created one of my first pieces for my mother and her friends who often stopped in to visit. It was a coffee table called, 'Snacks with Friends' and consisted of colorful gumdrop-topped toothpicks stuck to the top and sides of a large cardboard box. I loved it, but no artist wants to peak at age 5.” — Karen Freeman