Karren Urben has been on quite a journey to discover how and what she wants to paint. She began with a Foundation 1 at Eastbourne Art College, followed by a year in the fashion department, and left her not knowing which direction she wanted to go in. It wasn’t until later in her early thirties, when sitting in the Welsh mountains with her newly wed husband, that she felt compelled to paint again.
She completed a course in portraiture at The Connaught in Hove, and this enabled her to learn from acclaimed American artist Daniel Greene. Having attended his summer school at Brighton University she was invited to co-coordinate the following year, and then to study at his studio in New York.
Karren painted Councillor Carol Theobald when in office as Mayor of Brighton & Hove, as well as a former ringmaster of The Moscow State Circus. Her pastel portrait ‘Harry’ was also selected for The Society of Women Artists annual exhibition at Mall Galleries, London.
Due to a period of illness, Karren then moved from Brighton where she had founded and run The Patcham Artists Group, one of the Artists Open Houses trails, for over a decade. Relocating to Ferring and being surrounded by farmland, hills and sea deeply influenced Karren, and when she was well enough to paint once more it became clear that she had at last found her painting path.
This exhibition is her first solo show in over 12 years and her first large collection of landscapes.
Open Tuesday – Sunday // 10.00 – 17.00.