Karen Honaker

Name: Karen Honaker
Website: www.karenhonaker.com

What do you do? 
This year has marked my 50th year being a painter.  I got my fine art degree using oil paint, but switched to watercolor when we moved to San Diego 30 years ago. 

Where can we find your work? 
Changes all the time depending on the economy, but my website, www.KarenHonaker.com, continues to be the place to see my latest work.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
When you use everyday objects to create painting compositions, every moment is a possible painting.  It is that constant search that makes life interesting.  

   

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
The content/finished product is more important to me.  It does not matter what technique is used when the product conveys your own voice.   

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
 Being surrounded by local artists and seeing their work inspires me every day.  The artists who take my workshops, also, take me to new artistic heights.  Just seeing my artistic influence come out in their paintings is my greatest inspiration.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
Lil’ Red.  You need to be from Nebraska to understand that one!

When do you get your best ideas?
Usually while swimming or walking my dog.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
I use transparent watercolors and a particular kind of watercolor paper that allows me to suspend my pigment on the surface.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I have a BFA from University of Nebraska.  My degree taught me how to maintain a studio of my own while creating a body of work needed for the end of the year.  However, they should have added marketing classes, something I have had to learn on my own all these years.

What would your creative work taste like?
It would be smooth to the tongue, but spicy when swallowed.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I love spending time with my dog, Daphne, a mini Schnauzer.  Travel is very important to me, and finding some time for some golf fills up my extra time.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience? 
When you begin painting at the age of 6, my creative side just feels natural to me.  My creative outlet is painting, but if you have that side of you that is begging to “come out”, it will in some form.  It is just who I am.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
 Listen to your insides and fulfill that creative edge or your life will only be half full.  Do not stop no matter what anyone says.