Scan Magazine | Artist of the Month | Norway
Using strong colours, Oslo-based artist Karin Keane dips into many different styles.
Artist of the Month, Norway
Experimental watercolour artist and educator Oslo-based Scandinavian-American artist Karin Keane creates experimental oneof-a-kind watercolour art through her figurative and abstract work, and is both an artist and a highly respected educator teaching classes in Oslo. By Line Elise Svanevik
Keane has lived in Norway since moving from the US with her parents at age six. Although she is based in Norway, Keane says: “My art style is also influenced by my frequent trips back to east coast America and the different colour palette I sense there.” Working in many different styles, Keane is inspired by a broader range than the classic Nordic landscape. “First of all, I am intrigued by the patterns the colour pigments make after the water has 112 | Issue 108 | January 2018
dried,” she says. “I’m very focused on art history as a source of inspiration. I’m also incredibly taken with the forest and sunsets I see from our house, due to the forest’s close proximity to my home and the fact that I live 400 metres above sea level. Additionally, I’ve got a lot of inner pictures and use my imagination when I create my works of art.”
Watercolour classes Keane started painting in watercolour in 2000, when she went to art school.
“It felt right for me. I feel like it’s a lot about temperament. It’s about impulsivity mixed with patience. It houses a lot of spontaneity and demands flexibility. That’s what I think is incredibly exciting about it,” she says. She believes that it is the way the water makes the colours flow freely that is so fascinating. “It’s uncontrollable. It’s surprising – in fact, you keep getting surprised by what happens with the water and the pigments,” she continues. Keane teaches several different watercolour courses, the first being an introduction to watercolours: a three-hour freestanding class for complete beginners. “The class is aimed at helping people