The Artist Karen has been an artist for a relatively short time. Like many artists she loved to draw as a child, but as she got older, art and drawing were put aside in order to meet the demands of her nursing career and raising her family of four sons with husband Stephen. She discovered miniature art whilst they were on holidays in Tasmania and fell in love with the delicacy and intimacy of this particular art form. Although she took up painting miniatures only recently, she has already won several awards for her works including Best in Show and Best Watercolour at the Australian Society of Miniature Art (Inc.) NSW National Awards Exhibition. Karen likes to experiment with different mediums, however most of her miniature paintings are painted in watercolours on watercolour canvas using a dry brush technique. This allows her to achieve the photorealistic look that many of her paintings portray. Brushes used are usually 10/0 or 20/0 which are extremely fine and therefore wear very quickly so that one brush will generally last long enough to complete one painting before being discarded.  Watercolours preferred are the Winsor & Newton halfpans. The watercolour canvas is a fairly new product which has not been widely adopted by many watercolourists but is perfect for miniatures by nature of it's fine weave. Paintings completed on this canvas require 2-3 coats of an archival spray as recommended by the manufacturers. Paintings may then be framed without glass, but Karen prefers to frame her paintings with mat boards and glass for extra protection. Karen also does commissioned portraits in pastels on velour paper. These works can range from miniature up to about A4 in size. Pricing depends on size, number of subjects to be included in the portrait, and the background. Portraits may be done from a photo which can be emailed to the artist. Once the portrait is completed, she can then email a copy of the portrait to the client for approval. If you are interested in having a portrait painted in pastels, please email Karen at hullfamily1@bigpond.com. Prices start at $150 for a small portrait of around 10cm x 15cm unframed. Miniature portraits can also be painted in watercolours on canvas, however these will usually be more expensive.