Plantation Artists' Guild & Gallery

"Surrender to the process" is artist Karen Trowbridge's mantra as she approaches each new canvas.  Turning out stunning paintings in her bright, efficient Amelia Island Plantation home studio, Karen is a respected member of the Plantation Artists' Guild and Gallery since its inception over ten years ago.  She is the first to say that hers is quite a journey, from her early realistic acrylics and pastels on paper to her more non-objective acrylics and collages composed on a variety of surfaces.  Since moving to Amelia Island in 1997, exposure to the works and critique groups of fellow artists has been the catalyst for her development as an abstract artist.  

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When asked to describe her process, Karen is hesitant.  Her art-making is an intuitive process, one that defies words.  With that, the artist grabbed a graphite pencil and made several varying strokes onto a canvas standing ready on a nearby easel.  No blank canvas phobia here!  She turned on some British rock music and, from the moment forward, a dance, both literal and figurative, ensued between artist and canvas.  Karen searches for the relationship between each mark, color, shape, and form as it appears on the artwork in process.  It seemed like a friendly fencing match with Karen in competition with a benign opponent, her canvas.  She advises other artists to make their studios “guilt -free zones” places that encourage spontaneity.