Karen McManus is a watercolor artist who tries to capture the essence of the world around her in ordinary subjects like a simple garden blossom or the exceptional light of a sunset’s afterglow. On occasion, oils are the medium of choice, but each day brings a new sky, vista, or cloud to challenge the artist. Her desire to paint and draw goes back to her earliest memories. Artistic expression has always been there and is a defining part of her inner spirit.

Throughout my career, my goal has remained constant: to capture a single moment in time. As an artist, my job is to observe as much as to create. With every second that passes, light changes, colors adjust, and the slightest physical shift occurs in nature. Each piece is based on a real place, a moment that I have experienced and been inspired by. There is something unique about being alone with nature — a quiet that connects me like no other. It is only this solitude, whether outside or in the studio, that allows me to let the landscape reveal itself to me. 

Pat’s latest works involve seeds, flowers, and natural forms expressed using vintage steel and recycled vintage elements.

A graduate of Washington University MFA program, with a BFA from Portland School of Art (now the Maine College of Art, MECA) in Portland, Pat Plourde has specialized in sculpture, studio furniture in steel and wood, railings, lighting, and custom residential and commercial fixtures for over 25 years. 

I’m painting what I love, what grabs my attention and makes me pause. Mornings and evenings are particularly inspirational because colors can be intensified, and light can make the ordinary interesting. Boats, whether for work or play, merge with the seascape. Coastal trees stand out like resolute figures, and I appreciate their determination. In the waterworks, I want to convey the sensation of water, light, and motion. I want to depict a time of day, a sensation, and a moment. 

"My artwork comes from the visual connection I have with common, everyday objects and places. I am inspired by the way light falls upon a subject, casting rich dark shadows, and I aspire to simplify the nuances within those darks. Starting with a luminous, warm ground, I seek to create a vibration of color by using complements and deliberately leaving some areas untouched. Painting for me is a lifelong journey of observations and a representational translation of my surroundings."

"As with anything, art is a process, and my recent work represents how it has evolved. One of the hardest things as an artist is to find a voice in your work. I spent a long time focusing on replicating things I saw rather than truly seeing them through an artistic eye. My work now is based on an initial idea or vision. I will still use some references in the process, but my most successful moments in painting happen when I lose that security and the work comes from within. Adding, editing, allowing color interaction, letting the painting take its direction...that’s when I truly emerge as an artist."