Karen Peck is a pastel artist who resides in the beautiful farm country of Carroll County, Maryland. She recently retired from a thirty three year career in art education and now spends her time painting plein air on her travels, teaching private art lessons and enjoying the slower pace of retirement. Her paintings are often inspired by the many farms, rolling hills, and rural landscapes that surround her. Over the years, pastel has become her passion. She first discovered pastel during the pandemic, when the need for peace in a world of distress sent her to her studio each day to lose herself in painting. There, she explored color, value, mark making, layering, under painting and the multitude of ways to create texture. As her passion grew, so did her pastel collection and the need to paint daily. It is through this daily painting that Karen has created a large collection of work documenting her travels and the world around her. The play of light reflected on a lake, the warm glow of a sunset, the texture of rotting wood in an old dilapidated house are all inspiration for paintings. Karen's need to paint is fueled daily by this beautiful planet on which we reside.
