Karen Bartlette (in loving memory of)
Nov 24,25 /Dec 1,2 /Dec 8,9 /Dec 15,16
Previously a life time prairie gal from Winnipeg I moved to Vancouver Island after I retired from teaching and I became very involved in the well established artist community that exists there. While my interest in the creative process began many years before my retirement I didn’t have much opportunity to devote time or attention to explore where my interests might lead me. Any opportunity I did have usually involved me taking my camera with me into Nature looking for special photos to take. I found photography a wonderfully relaxing medium.
I wound up starting the artistic journey in a co-op in Duncan, thus began my 10 year association with Imagine That! As time went by I started creating cards without photos, taught myself how to make jewelry as well as several other crafts too and found myself selling my wares through other artist co-ops, retail stores, small galleries and street fairs on Vancouver Island, Calgary and Winnipeg. Eventually a friend of mine and I opened our own gallery on Vancouver Island and for 3 years we represented over 100 emerging and established BC artists and artisans helping them gain both local and international exposure.
Since life is a journey rather than a destination I now find myself moving to Okotoks so that I can be closer to my daughters and my 3 grandchildren who all live in Calgary. I now have the best of both worlds. I have the energy that I can draw from Nature and the joy that I can draw from my family.