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Karen Hewitt Hagan
“She has an innate sense of color and composition and when it is coupled with the way she handles the media, magic occurs.” - Quote from Theresa Golas, Executive Director of The Iredell Museums (Statesville, NC)
Karen Hewitt Hagan has been chasing what she refers to as ‘the glow’ since she started painting. The momentary light that happens at the beginning and ending of each day constantly fascinates her. It’s that light which makes ordinary objects appear almost magical to Karen that compels her to head out in her truck just before sunrise or sunset in search of the next painting. Hagan’s paintings offer a compelling combination of dramatic light and rugged beauty.
Hagan has studied traditional methods of painting and drawing with many notable contemporary master artists, as well as the works of inspirational historical painters including John Singer Sargent, Emile Gruppe, Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, and Edgar Alwin Payne. Her painterly style has developed over the last decade, steeped in tradition but unique and completely her own. Karen says “capturing the feeling or mood of a place or of the model is my highest goal. It’s my chance to combine the essence of drawing, composition and color application skills to share the strong emotion that led me to paint the subject.”
Her passions are revealed in her favorite subjects, including coastal landscapes, boats drenched in sunlight, soulful dancers and classical nudes. A long-time resident of Charleston, SC and an avid traveler with a love for the ocean and new horizons, Hagan and her husband are currently restoring and living aboard a classics 53-foot boat. In the past years, they’ve split their time between the Bahamas and the southeastern coast of the US, providing Hagan with ample opportunity to paint coastal villages, quaint harbors, pristine marshes and other intriguing, off-the-beaten path landscapes. Hagan teaches plein air painting in Italy, The Abacos, France, and in the US.
Hagan’s paintings hang in numerous private, corporate and yacht collections in the US and abroad including the Sanctuary Resort at Kiawah Island, SC. Her work was honored in a one-woman exhibition in 2006 at the Iredell Museums in Statesville, NC, and in 2009 at the Hickory Museum of Art in Hickory, NC. Past shows and competitions in which Karen has participated include: The Carmel Art Association’s Plein Air Painting Competition in Carmel, California; Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibit and Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit in Charleston, South Carolina; The Best and The Brightest Show in Scottsdale, Arizona; and Working Boats, A One Woman Show in Savannah, Georgia. She was presented with the Award of Excellence at the COPA Plein Air Painting Annual in Charleston, SC. She is past president of the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast and a founding member of the Charleston Outdoor Painter’s Association. A book about Hagan’s paintings entitled Karen Hewitt Hagan, An American Impressionist was published in 2007 by Morton Arts Media.
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