Celebrating the Art of Karen Bezuidenhout
Paintings That Exude a Sense of Wonder and Primitive Nature – They are Abstract and Very Personal
Santa Barbara-based artist, Karen Bezuidenhout, was born and raised in the wine country of Stellenbosch, South Africa. It was there that her lifelong love of nature, riding horses and sense of adventure began.
One rainy night in 1996, Karen attended an art exhibition. "I walked in, looked around, and literally knew with every atom of my being that I wanted to paint". The next day, she joined the art school, which was situated in an old wine cellar and run by a local artist. In 1999, Karen relocated with her husband and two small children to San Francisco. It was a challenging transition. "After leaving the autumn drenched wine lands of South Africa, it felt like someone turned the lights off." Painting every night on the floor of their small kitchen helped soothe her homesickness. "Painting saved me, I would go into a different world."
She attended a short course in color and painting at the College of Marin, and soon after, moved to Santa Barbara. In Santa Barbara, she was introduced to a wonderful painter in his 80’s, by the name of Bill Woolway. They became firm friends and Karen was highly influenced by Bill’s work. A few years later, a close friend sent Karen’s portfolio to the buyer at Sundance. Three of her paintings were featured on the cover of the catalog and thereafter, many doors opened and a wonderful partnership began.
"Painting saved me. I would go into a different world."
Karen’s rich, earthy palette is drawn from her life in Africa, and is now complemented with vibrant blues, greens and whites from the ocean, reflecting her California lifestyle. Her subject matter ranges from horses, trees, birds and landscapes, to lovers, beaches and sailboats and are a tapestry of her experiences and imagination. She travels to Africa twice yearly, participating in extended rides across the Namib desert of Namibia, or up the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape with her sister. Travels to Europe, daily hikes in the Santa Barbara mountains, and a love of animals, nature and life in general, are reflected in Karen’s painting – and there is usually a story behind each piece. She uses colors and shapes that evoke emotions. Her paintings have been described as "primitive, yet sophisticated", "medicinal", and exude a sense of peace". They can be found in homes from Los Angeles to New York, South Africa, Europe, South America, Mexico, Australia and Morocco.
Karen paints mostly in acrylic and mixed media at her Santa Barbara studio, surrounded by her dogs, listening to the music of Van Morrison. "I paint from my heart. My paintings are about love."
"I paint from my heart. My paintings are about love."
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Karen Bezuidenhout
Painter
Primitive, abstract and very personal, Karen Bezuidenhout's work evokes the wonder, simplicity, love of nature and serenity with which she paints. Reared on a farm in South Africa's wine lands, she now lives in Santa Barbara, California, surrounded by the horses, chickens and peaceful landscapes that make their way onto her acrylic canvases. Her work is owned by private collectors the world over.
