CLEARLAKE — The Art House will host a reception featuring artist Karen Magnuson, 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at 15210 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake.
Born and raised in California, Magnuson was influenced by her college instructor at U.C. Berkeley, Elmer Bischoff, who aligned himself with the California Figurative School.
Magnuson described this time as an exciting period of painterly figures, heavily textured paint and abstraction. Magnuson said she began applying paint and lines with a freedom of movement and expression.
As Magnuson began to form this style, she incorporated imagery from her Jungian courses in psychology, especially the archetypal symbols formed by the collective unconscious.
Magnuson said her background in Buddhism also brings an element to her work as she reaches from within to capture the mystical nature of life itself.
Magnuson has a Bachelor of Arts with a major in art and a minor in psychology.
Magnuson now resides in Kelseyville and shows her work with the Konocti Art Society at the Pear Festival, with Main Street Gallery in Lakeport through the Lake County Art Council and more recently with The Art House Gallery in Clearlake. Magnuson also participates in the Lake County EcoArts Sculpture Walk and has a piece on display outdoors at Lake County Trailside Park in Middletown. Since she has moved to Lake County, Magnuson is now branching into other media: collage, pastels, oils and watercolors.
Magnuson”s current work is a series of flowers, landscapes, figures and animals in relation to their environment. For more information, contact Magnuson at 279-1256 or spidermouz@gmail.com.
