About the painting process
Karen Fedderson paints primarily from memory. Her love of nature, especially the California coastal landscape, is her inspiration and allows her to spend the hours of intense observation needed to perfect her vision. The process is symbiotic – the whole being greater than the sum of it’s parts – the end result, the finished painting, is greater than any of the steps of the process leading to it’s completion.

Karen Fedderson has studied the effects of sunlight and atmosphere at different times of the day and all seasons in locations throughout California, especially the coast. When the time and color are right for a particular place she might say “The light is right at Butterfly” or “Let’s go to Avila tomorrow morning, I think it will be just right”, and it usually is. Karen’s process of developing the imagery in her paintings is unique. When she finds the right day for the right place she will walk the area and study the way the light changes the possible compositions. Then she spends time intensely studying the subject and finally begins sketching. As the place reveals its secrets to her she continues sketching and taking notes. She shows her husband the sketches and directs him to photographically record the overall scene and particular details that she will refer to when she is painting. Occasionally she will do a color field study, however this is rarely needed, because the image is permanently ingrained into her memory by the time she finishes sketching. The painting is already done; she just has to get it down on canvas.

The actual painting begins with a quick layout of the composition and basic color areas on the canvas. When this first layer or under painting is dry she will begin the many layers that make up the final piece. The finished work will usually have ten to twelve glazed layers of paint. Each of the layers is painted with Gamblin oils and Grumbacher Copal medium. Every layer is allowed to dry before the next is applied to keep the colors rich and vibrant. If oils are painted wet on wet they tend to sink into each other and blend on their own, often dulling the intended coloration. Late in the process Karen will refer to the photos that were taken and bring out some of the interesting details of the original scene. The larger paintings take several weeks to complete. Karen usually has four to six paintings in progress at a time in her studio.