Lemon Twist

Karen Murtha presents Colorful Oil Paintings
A Rhode Island School of Design graduate and artist member of the Providence Art Club, Providence RI., I am primarily a figurative painter working with oil paints, watercolor and conte’ crayon. Influenced when young by the beautiful paintings in my Italian grandmother’s home, my art is representational. My paintings have a new feel of the subject that hung on her walls.
I’m especially fascinated with the expression of the human form. Within the interactions of the figures, their relationships to one another and surroundings, a unique story is conveyed.
In my oil paintings for this exhibit I use a limited palette with combinations of reds, yellows and blues, plus white. The mixtures and values of these 3 primary colors make a rich variety of hues. My application of the oil paint has been influenced by my work in watercolors which are light, splashy, and yet still detailed. Using thin, liquid-y coats of paint to lay out the original composition gives that watercolor feel. By laying in more paint with large brushes and a pallete knife in just some of the sections, it leaves the surface with different depths of paint.