A Journey Waiting To Happen: My Life in a Snapshot
Moving to Bristol in 2016 was a journey waiting to happen. Not knowing anyone but liking the vibe, we set out West.
The last 8 years have been a time of growth, pain, disappointment, ecstasy, community, gratitude and beauty.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Douglas A. Karson and I am an artist, father and active human.
This article is my life in a snapshot.
Let’s start with family. My son is 6 and has an aptitude for reading and maths. My daughter is 4 and loves music, dance and drawing. We play chess together and they are absolutely perfect. My wife, Natasha, is a RIBA certified architect and we’ve done a number of marathons together. After 16 years, I’m more in love with her now than ever.
My only and older brother lives in the San Francisco bay area with his family.
As an artist, I am a painter primarily. I work mostly on canvas in the studio but also do murals, portraits and commissions.
Additionally, I facilitate, teach, write, sculpt, sing, play guitar, and bake (I was a Michelin starred pastry chef many years ago).
Bristol Breakfast Rotary Club membership is a big way I give back. Part of my involvement is lead-organiser of the amazing charity event coming up on the 18th of April called Rotary Art Live where 6 painters create on the night along with some great music performances. Paintings are auctioned off at the end of the night to raise money for charity. Tickets are on sale now and two drinks are included with a discount for buying 2 for a perfect date night.
I was born in Washington D.C. in the USA. At three my parents moved us to Little Rock, Arkansas where we stayed till I was 16.
Natasha and I met in New York in 2007 when we were set up on a blind date by my brother and his then girlfriend, now wife. They never stop reminding us of this fact.
We went out together on Halloween with me dressed as Fidel Castro and Natasha, an American cheerleader. We got married in 2010 when I moved to the UK. She is the best decision of my life.
Artistically, I’ve sold over 350 works across 4 continents and had over 40+ group and solo shows.
For the last 8 years in Bristol, rainbows and bold colours dominated my creative practice as I explored themes of life, death and the journey in between. I called these works the RULES and followed 3 fundamental principles.
For 8 years I followed these rules as the primary driver of my creative practice. It wasn’t that they were the only thing I painted (some of you may have seen my minimalist inks or flower works pictured below) but they were the lead body of work.
RULES results were sometimes good, sometimes bad, but this deep dive into the concept of rules and universality allowed an expansion into sculpture and exploration of techniques I never expected.
Some of the works created are truly unique things I am proud to share.
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In some ways, although technically very difficult, they didn’t land emotionally.
3 years after the COVID lockdown’s (which I have not fully recovered from personally, financially and emotionally), it was time for a change.
A pipe burst in my studio in Jan 2024 and for 3 weeks, human faeces poured in. At the same time I was reading through Victor Frankl’s seminal work, Man’s Search for Meaning. Near the end he speaks about the concept of Paradoxical Intentionality, or doing the opposite and I thought, the hell with it, why not give it a try!
I set about creating the worst work I could. Instead of the heavy concept of life and death, the focus would be on the most silly, banal, asinine things I could conceptualise.
Emojis were an obvious choice.
These demanded an overhaul to my creative practice. Switching to oils after only working in acrylics my entire career was scary but the right call.
Having completed a few now, they are leaving me surprisingly joyful, tearful, and feeling vulnerable. They are hitting a nerve in me that is singing out like an emotional tuning fork. I don’t know where these works will lead but this is the most fun I’ve ever had painting.
For those of you who know me well, you’ll know these are my last month in Bristol. Due to family, health and financial issues, we are leaving in July 2024 to be closer to Natasha’s twin sister and her family who live in Bournemouth.
If you’d like to know more about me or my company I’d love to hear from you.
My company is called Keep ART It with an ongoing mission to “SHARE ART NOW”. We have a focus on using creativity as a productivity/engagement tool for individuals, institutions and businesses that want to inspire. We’ve recently moved into E-Commerce telling stories of art and selling fine-art related gifts.
Engagement specialists for digital footprint and physical space:
E-Commerce Fine Art Gifts of Old Master’s with Quotes
I am also co-founder of ART100 which is a not-for-profit CIC.
We have a small community gallery and artspace in central Bristol. You can find the space in the Galleries Shopping Centre with all artworks £100 or less, an open door policy for any artist and free community workshops. I’m there Tuesday-Friday from 1030-230 (more or less) if you want to drop by for a cuppa and to see the studio. Don’t worry, the faeces is all cleaned up now.