Newnan-Coweta Art Association names DeFelix Artist of the Month
From City of Newnan Press Release
The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has chosen Karen Stetson DeFelix as the featured “Artist of the Month” for August.
DeFelix’s art will be featured in the entryway to Newnan City Hall for the month of August. The theme of this display is “Fall- My Favorite Season.” She loves painting older barns because they have character. For this display, she has included one of her favorite local barns, in watercolor and in pen-and-ink.
Karen started out creating in stained glass over 30 years ago. After seeing a Tiffany exhibit in Florida, she developed a longing to learn how to manipulate the glass so that she was not solely dependent on what she could purchase from manufactures. She took many fused glass classes and is still excited when she sees glass “melt”.
It was in one of these classes that she asked the demonstrator how he came up with his creative ideas. He told her about Betty Edwards’ book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The book changed her life. She went from drawing “bad stick figures” to drawing her own self portrait. From there it was only a small leap to watercolor pencils and then watercolor painting.
Although glass and watercolor are her favorite mediums she also works in acrylic, alcohol ink, soft pastel, and mixed mediums. One of her new joys is playing with acrylic pours and beyond the pours.
Karen moved from Florida to Georgia 14 years ago and enjoys Georgia’s four seasons. She especially appreciates the blooming trees in the spring and aptly named her painting of her cherry tree in bloom – “Spring: Why I Love Georgia.”
Karen is a former member of the Florida Watercolor Association and the Clayton County Art Association – Arts Clayton – and is a member of the Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA). Many of her paintings and four of her glass sculptures juried into the NCAA juried show at the Center for Performing and Visual Arts. One glass sculpture was in the “Top Ten”. Her paintings have also been in shows in Clearwater and Sarasota, Fla., and are in private collections up and down the east coast. She gives group classes in multiple crafts and fine arts at the Gathering in Peachtree City and at an active retirement community.
Ms. DeFelix enjoys painting a wide variety of subjects.
“I like to paint flowers because they bring joy,” she said. “I had a gentleman once who bought my painting of a double Bird of Paradise (“Hawaiian Eye”) because it had been his mother’s favorite flower. I like to paint old buildings especially barns because they have a history and there is a beauty in them.”
“I also like painting animals. And sometimes I just paint something that catches my eye – like a spider in a web or a beautiful bowl of vegetables.”
DeFelix is a member of NCAA. NCAA’s general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7 p.m. Along with the meeting there is an art demonstration. Visitors and new members are always welcome.
