Karen Iris Lucas

                                                               

 

                                                 Karen 'Iris' Lucas Biography

 I began my passion for art as a teenager in the 1970s when my mother enrolled me in Saturday life drawing classes at the Three Schools of Art in Toronto.  I later enrolled for a year in their full time program which they called, The New School of Art (1976). It was an amazing evolving couple of years for me as I learned to visually and experientially discover my devotion for painting and drawing, and all aspects of visual art. Thanks to the many wonderful artists teaching at the New School, including many from the Group of 11 painters, such as Micheal Snow, Gordon Rayner, Graham Caughtry, and Ross Mendes. I then continued my visual art studies attending Ontario College of Art (OCA) in 1976 - 1979 (now OCAD) studying Fine Art, Textile Design, and Experimental Painting Art. After a few years raising my 2 lovely children, I finally returned to OCAD, and this time I studied printmaking and paper-making, and I graduated in 1990. All the while,  I worked as a custom carpet designer with Perfection Rug in Toronto until 1998, when I returned to school and completed my Fine Art degree at U of T and became a Secondary Visual Art teacher until retiring in 2019. I happily now paint full-time in my river view studio in Owen Sound.

 About My Art

My friends recently granted me the nickname Iris, goddess of colour. I am an expressive painter, and as a colourist I prefer oil paints rather than acrylics, as I use oils' rich chroma as undercoats and layer them with impasto.  I frequently narrate my painted series, all of which are, to no surprise, autobiographical fantasies. To describe a few series; The Story of the Viridian Dog, about a woman who, while listening to opera, spills green food dye on her dog; The Woman With Flowers Coming Out of Her Head, because as a carpet designer she painted too many flowers; The Story Of The Little Nude On The Fruit Plate, about a woman who lived isolated on a blue plate until she made wings of artichoke pedals and flew away; Mr. P. Casso Comes To Dinner; and more recently, The Story Of The River Nymphs who are fanciful nymph figures living in the Sydenham River. I also can't help but include in my paintings nostalgic objects from my past, such as, a dear candelabra, my mother's 1940s viridian green pitcher and my classical nude hand painted curtain which reflects on my time as a carpet designer. I also frequently include images of people I have known in my life. These are mostly women who I admire, such as Dora Maar (no I didn't know her) who was an amazing artist/photographer and she happened to be Picasso's lover. As well, those people in my life who are dearly loved and lost, hence the series, Memory Curtain painted while grieving the loss of my daughter, in 2018. Finally, I've painted and characterized many dearly loved friends and artists, all of whom continue to have a positive impact on my life; G and M, R and S, and J.  Currently, my ongoing series and narratives are about River Views, a personal interpretation of the Sydenham River which I live beside in Owen Sound. 

 

 Series and Exhibitions

Illustrated, A Cow, A Cake, and A Red Canoe, written by Pamela Wolfe, Women's Press Toronto 1989

Landforms: Agawa Canion and Manitoulin Island, Gallery 306, Rochan Gallery Toronto

The Story of the Viridian Dog, Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Grey Gallery Owen Sound

Mr. P. Casso Comes To Dinner, Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Woman With Flowers Coming Out Of Her Head, West End Studio Tour

Story Of The Little Nude  and The Other Nude,  Rebecca Gallery Toronto

My Back Garden Drawings, WAAC Toronto

Women In Black Bikinis and other Woodblock Prints, West End Studio Tour

Paintings and Drawings , Grey Gallery Owen Sound, 2019

Memory Curtain, Outdoor Exhibition Owen Sound, 2019

River Views, Outdoor Exhibition Owen Sound, 2020

 

Awards and Memberships:

Arts Etobicoke, Painting HM award 1984

Women's Press, Illustrated A Cow, A Cake and A Red Canoe, 1986

Joan Forsyth OCA printmaking award, 1990

Bull Mitsubishi Printmaking Commission, 1990

Open Studio Print Studio, Toronto, member 1998

Gallery 306,  member 1995

Women’s Art Association of Canada, WAAC 2021 and current member 

Canadian Federation of University Woman CFUW, 2022 current member