Karen Luke Fildes (formerly known as Karen Pew),

born and raised in the Pacific Northwest,

is an oil painter obsessed with moments.

“Whether it is a grey, cold, and melancholy day

on a drive in Scotland or a perfect glass of wine

on the Rhine with the moonrise, I must paint it.

Sometimes finding the moment worth preserving

is not so easy... so I go and search for it.

Other times I build an alter from the pieces of life

that remind me of the people and moments I want

to keep alive.” Karen just returned from Central

Europe where she completed fifty paintings of the

Rhineland Pfalz. Karen also studied paintings and

journal entries from the Prinzhorn Collection in

Heidelberg; paintings from assylumscreated under

psychiatric treatment during and after WWII.

She has returned to the Northwest where she

is working on a series of 500 tone poems

of Washington State. Karen studied at Chapman

University, the Art Institute of Seattle, and studied

color (Russian post-Impressionism) with Henry

Stinson. She continues to research color therapy,

depression and the healing power of art through the

living journal. Her studio is in Downtown Bellingham,

Washington. She mostly enjoys painting by

\candlelight, twilight, and after storms. Her palette is

limited to seven colors. Karen uses “the

Book of Kells” as symbolic reference for

underpainting and highlight punctuation.

For a private viewing of current paintings, see contact

Also see upcoming shows and demos.