California artist Karen Weir is Selma Art Guild's featured artist for April, May

Karen Weir of Central Alabama and California is the Selma Art Guild’s (SAG) featured artist of the months for April and May.

A reception and show of Weir’s work will be held at the SAG Gallery, 508 Selma Ave., Sunday, April 12 from 2-4 p.m. 

A longtime SAG member, Weir has always been artistic. And, due to her father's government job, she lived in many places in this country and in Europe. She was exposed to many cultures, learning to appreciate the diversity and the excitement of visiting new places.

She graduated with a bachelor of arts from Agnes Scott College in Atlanta and married an airline pilot, who loved to travel. They regularly made trips to Europe where Weir visited all the great museums and loved the beautiful architecture and old cities. This led her to the study of interior design. And in Miami, she became a licensed designer with her own company for 22 years and a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers.

The light of Miami was a special and added interest to Weir with her capturing that light in her paintings. 

She later moved to Central Alabama with her husband after he retired to his family farmhouse built in the 1880s. She became inspired by timeless scenes of rural and historic town buildings and structures, which she photographed and included in her paintings.

In the mid-90s, Weir and her husband bought a home in La Jolla, Calif., to offset the rural life and to enjoy the beautiful scenery, climate and light. She painted for years with the San Diego Watercolor Society and is with the La Jolla Art Association and the California Art Club. 

Her paintings in watercolor, pastels and oils and her photographs are varied in subject but often are landscapes with old buildings. She has won many awards for her work.

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Weir’s painting of St. Luke's Church at Cahawba was purchased by the State of Alabama for their historic Cahawba site.

Weir also studied regularly with major watercolorists like Timothy Clark, Ted Nutall and others, and studied with Albert Handel and Susan Ogilvy, pastel painters, Brian Blood, Joe Garcia and Adele Earnshaw, all painters in oils.

Recently, Weir was honored to participate with Chip Cooper in the Honors College at the University of Alabama in Creative Photography. She also does plein air painting regularly and was selected to be one of only 15 painters for the Southeastern Plein Air Invitational held in Gadsden. 

Weir studied in Tuscany, the Hudson River Valley, and southwest France doing paintings on location in both places. She paints regularly in plein air in California, and especially loves the early California Impressionists' styles. Her painting onboard several cruises led to a teaching opportunity on how to create an artistic travel journal. 

Weir’s style in watercolors is often quite precise. Old buildings appear regularly in Weir’s paintings. She is especially known for the technique of painting with watercolor on sanded paper and adding final colorful pastel highlights. In oils and pastels, the artwork style is more impressionistic. 

She is a member of the American Impressionist Society. And her website karenweirfineart.com will show this aspect well.

The Selma Art Guild is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The Selma Art Guild was founded in 1972 to promote art and encourage artists.