Karla Pace – Pastels

Karla began painting and drawing as a child, inspired by her mother’s sketches. She was also drawn to writing, as a way of describing what she saw and expressing the feelings those places and events evoked. She had an affinity for the natural world and went on to study biology as well as English, temporarily laying aside painting and drawing while an undergraduate. Eventually, she found her way back to the arts and for 12 years became deeply immersed in pottery, creating both wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware. A chance opportunity to participate in an open-studio-type painting group reawakened her interest in painting and drawing and led to the discovery of pastels. Many classes, workshops, and critiques later, she’s discovered the confidence that comes from doing something not only because you love it, but because you need it to be a whole person.

Painting the place she’s lived, visited, and loved, from the agricultural fields of Downeast North Carolina to the canyons of the American Southwest to the highveld of South Africa, and capturing some of the fascinating animals that inhabit these environments, is one of her greatest pleasures in life.