Orchid Soul

It’s often said that a little piece of the artist’s soul is left in every work of art. If that’s true, we can deduce that Karen Faulkner’s soul is one awash in vibrant ideas, passionate as the blushing pinks and plunging blues that invigorate her floral watercolors, and guileless as the straightforward, original designs for which she is known. While favorites such as True Blue Orchids, Purple Rain, and Holiday (anyone missing the 80’s pop theme here isn’t paying attention) present as uncomplicated renderings, they’re nothing simple about them. In fact, Faulkner’s gallery on the whole represents a kind of journey, building on the momentum of slender roses, clovers and peonies to finally peak with gorgeous radials such as Winter Maple and fascinating compositions such as Gourd Love.



James Whistler, himself no slouch when it came to watercolor, once said that "to say to the the painter that nature is to taken as she is, is to say to the player that he may sit on the piano." There can be no question that artists such as Karen Faulkner are unafraid to interpret the splendor of nature, as in Glorious Blue, in shades of ethereal mystery and often fascinating subtlety. In the end, however, it's the atmosphere that a watercolor flower creates that seals the deal. Nothing, after all, speaks peace to a home better than the feathery brushstroke that gives flight to the soul's visions.