NEWFANE-The Crowell Art Gallery at Moore Free Library will present "Have Watercolors, Will Travel," a variety of paintings from Karen Becker from Oct. 1 through 30.
A reception will be held on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
This exhibit, with the theme of landscapes, animals, and abstraction, will consist of a retrospective of Becker's work going back to the early 1980s, when she lived in New York City for three years.
"I did some very hard-edged geometric paintings," she said. "The feeling is the hard edge of New York City, and then when I moved to Vermont, my relationship with nature was so gentle and beautiful. So that's what captured me."
These pieces in the show mostly depict locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, as well as in Florida, where she has spent time in the winters visiting family and friends.
Life in paintings
Becker has a degree in graphic design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, from which she graduated in 1965, but she has loved drawing and painting since she was in the first grade.
Becker said that as a teenager, she fell in love with Vermont, where she moved in 1983.
"I brought along a box of pastels and fell head over heels in love with the landscape," she said. "I was taking care of a 250-year-old house with three horses, four sheep, and a bunch of pussycats, and every window that I looked out of, it just took my breath away."
She started working with pastels and "has been painting the landscape ever since," she added.
"If there is such a thing as having a muse, I certainly credit nature for being my muse," said Becker, who lived in a little house in a small village of Westminster. "It's forever inspiring."
There, she "walked every day for about an hour by the same field or looked every day [through the window] at the same maple tree out behind my house. […] It was never the same two days in a row."
A privilege to teach
Becker, who has been doing one to two shows a year for the last 45 years, is also an instructor and mentor for other artists.
From her home and studio, she's taught a course she calls "No Fear Watercolors." People have taken her class and have returned for years.
"It was so exciting to turn people onto this thing that I love so much," she said, noting that "it's really a privilege to be a teacher, and I've been doing that since 1984."
She first taught at Vermont Academy, a high school in Saxtons River, and then with the Vermont Arts Council.
"I've literally taught people mural painting from age 4, up to 96," Becker said.
Capturing life through a paintbrush
"As a lifelong artist, I delight in capturing beauty in my artwork," Becker said.
"I am deeply moved by the beauty of the natural world and the man-made landscape of Vermont. The portability of watercolors makes it the ideal medium as I travel through New England, especially Vermont and Maine," she added.
Now, at 81, "I would really love for my artwork to find homes to be looked at, appreciated," Becker said.
She has some advice for anyone looking to get started.
"Very often, we're our own worst judge," she said, noting that she will often take a digital image of a student's work to let the artist see their work differently.
"It's baby steps in the beginning," she said. "Be very patient with yourself."
This Arts item by Alyssa Grosso was written for The Commons.