About the Artist

KAREN AVERY MILLER has always been an artist at heart!  From childhood (AVERY is her maiden name and painting signature) she was creating drawings and painting. In high school she found her first mentor, her art teacher and professional watercolor artist, Ann Sproul. It was years later after classes at the Kansas City Art Institute and through other educational vehicles that she realized how very in-depth were the instructions and guidance given by Mrs. Sproul in her art class.

The concept of following her dream of being "an artist someday" was set aside and all but forgotten for many years. Real life -- marriage, motherhood, single motherhood, a career that involved traveling 7 states, teenage parental angst, child in $$$ college -- all came first.  She never stopped sketching or photographing "things she would one day paint". She managed to periodically pick up a watercolor brush or grab a sketch pad and feed her soul, albeit all too briefly. Her thought, shared mostly with just herself , was that someday she would stop the world and just paint -- she'd do it later when she got old.

Life rocked on and in 2011, Karen realized it was time --- she was suddenly at the point of leaning towards old, at least by the ever nearing Social Security age standards. If she was going to paint, it was now or never. She had always wanted to try oils or acrylics but would admit to being a little scared of switching mediums. In 2011-2012 she went for it and enrolled in a class for each at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI). She fell immediately in love with oils - the consistency and flow of the paint on the canvas and the depth of color one could achieve.  At the end of her second class, her instructor selected her to submit a painting in the annual KCAI exhibit. 

Karen immersed herself in oil painting and the study of oil painting. She found classes at ARTichokes KC and quickly grew to admire the artist/owner Becky Pashia. Becky's abstracts have an atmospheric, Turner-like feel and she wields a mean palette knife. While this is not Karen's style, she loved her classes, respects her critiques and relishes the friendship they built. Time spent there in studio with other artists continued to stretch her beyond the point of painting within the lines, thus pushing her more towards her own personal style. As a self-taught artist, she tries to take advantage of the chance to study with others as often as she can.  Among her favorite opportunities have been classes with Samantha Buller (CA), Phil Starke (AZ)  Dreama Tolle Perry (KY), LarryDeGraff (MO) and Chris Brandley (France). In 2018 she attended PACE in Santa Fe NM and enjoyed meeting and attending a week of workshops and lectures by many of the nations premiere plein air artist. That was an unparalleled educational event.  2018 also found her painting at Le Vieux Couvent in France.  She looks forward to many more workshops with other local and/or nationally acclaimed artists.  It's her sincere feeling that the exposure to their various styles and thoughts, especially experiencing their expertise and advice first hand,  is one of the very best ways she can improve her own personal skills. She walks away from every workshop with new ideas and a deeper personal insight as well as a renewed feeling that she is doing exactly what she was always meant to do - PAINT!

Earlier in her life she was a member of the Southwest Watercolor Society; she belonged to the Greater Kansas City Art Association (GKCAA) when she lived in the KC area and is a member the Missouri Valley Impressionist Society (MVIS). Karen was accepted in the 2015,  2016 and 2017 Juried Annual MVIS National Event, winning honorable mention in 2015. She placed third in The Artist Magazine 2015 Annual Student Art Competition  (Animals, Jan/Feb 2016 issue) and was also recognized in Southwest Art magazine (Jan 2016); placed third in an Augusta [MO] Plein Air Art Festival quick-paint and first place in a GKCAA competition. 

Karen now resides in historic Arrow Rock, MO in her 1900’s Victorian cottage with her sweet Shih Tzu’s Beau and Lucy Lui. Life is quiet and genteel in her little house that is listed on the National Register, in a town of only 56 people, in a very rural area! Her studio/gallery is located just steps away in her  backyard she-shed.  "The Little Studio and Gallery - Karen Avery Miller - Fine Art" is open by appointment - call 660-837-3147. Arrow Rock, a tourist destination, was once the home town of Missouri's beloved artist, George Caleb Bingham.