karen Blackwood – Oil Painting
Painting the Essence of the Sea

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025, 6:30 PM

RAA&M Members: $35 | Non-Members: $45

When approaching a painting of the sea many artists find the idea of painting moving water and crashing waves a challenge. But if you can paint an apple, figure or a landscape you can paint the sea. I find it’s the same principle, if I look for the light, form and value and slow down my process I can actually capture it’s speed and energy. For me painting the sea has taught me that less is more.

Using the armature of the rectangle, a limited palette and limiting my values I’ll demo my block in of moving water striving to maintain the scenes essence thru completion of the seascape. My goal is always to capture a feeling more than every ripple or droplet hoping to share the essence of the sea.

Trained in the classical tradition, Karen Blackwood painted portraits and figurative work before focusing on landscapes and seascapes. Feeling light is a defining factor, she looks for the light and it is the atmospheric quality of light she captures in her paintings. Her work is a desire to paint what inspires her and to capture the very essence of the scene.

Now living in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the coastal scenery is providing her with endless inspiration for her marine work, garnering her a multitude of awards including Best Water Award in the Plein Air Salon, Award of Excellence in the Eastern Oil Painters of America, First Place in the Spring Oil Painters of America Online Showcase, Second Place in the Bold Brush Competition, Award of Excellence in the National Juried Oil Painters of America, Award of Excellence in the American Impressionist Society and an award from the International Artists Magazine Competition.

Karen’s paintings have been included in museum and nationally juried exhibitions and are in multiple publications including the cover and featured artist in The Artist’s Magazine.

She happily shares what she has learned in her artistic journey by teaching select workshops.

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