Karin Nelson

Living in Wyoming, Michigan, Karin Nelson has been a self-taught painter since 2009, when her interests turned to the field of art, and she began experimenting with paintings. Her passion and skill grew quickly, by the end of that year her paintings were selling at a local store. In 2010, she quit her administrative job to pursue painting full-time. She has always been attracted to the planes of light reflected from timeless man-made structures, whether an urban scene of stately buildings or the rural counterpoints of weathered barns.

Nelson’s approach to each painting is only minimally planned, and could often be described as an “attack“ – with intuitive, fast, high-energy strokes. Her main tools consist of jumbo knives, bristle brushes, and flat planes such as blocks of wood or rulers. Paint application ranges from thick, opaque, knifed-on areas to thin transparent layers, the result is a somewhat masculine, abstracted effect. Nelson has over 300 paintings in public, corporate and private collections and has exhibited in numerous art shows across Michigan. Nelson has also been the recipient of various awards and honors throughout her artistic career.

“Structures appeal to my visual senses, piquing my interest regarding the lives so closely intertwined with their existence, both past and present.”

- Karin Nelson