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Artist Exhibitions:
ONE WOMAN SHOWS:
HARVEY HARDIN GALLERY, WEST
BROADWAY AND PRINCE NYC 1970
KANE GALLERIES, NEW HAVEN, CT
AND STORRS, CT 1987 &
1990
APTOS FINE ART GALLERY
APTOS,CA
1989
WOMENS ART GALLERY, SAN
FRANCISCO, CA
1992
MONTEREY PROFESSIONAL ART
FOUNDATION CARMEL, CA 1996
MONTEREY BILLIARDS
MONTEREY,CA
1997
GROUP JURIED ...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Reviews:
"KAREN CASSYD-LENT HAS BEEN
OUR <1 ARTIST ON
SantaFeArt.net. THE DEPTH AND
INTENSITY OF HER WORK,
RICHNESS OF COLORSIS SO STRONG
THAT IT BREAKS THROUGH ON THE
INTERNET, A VERY DIFFICULT
FEAT FOR ART IN GENERAL AND
ESPECIALLY IN THIS EMERGING
VENUE. HER YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
AND AS...
Further Information
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Karen Cassyd-Lent
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"Simplicity is the key to good design." It is the mantra of my friend and mentor, Professor Emeritus of Fine Art, Paul Zelanski. That concept combined with the application of the properties of color as taught by Zelanski and Josef Albers are the cornerstones of my art. I began formal training in oil painting at the age of 9 and continued my studies through the University of Connecticut and into my professional career. Those truths have served me well.
After 8 years of collegiate life, I took a hiatus from art, moved west and embarked on a career in the emerging field of Telecommunications. It was 1971. I consulted with Fortune 500 firms as well as many of the future Computer megagiants who were just emerging from garages in Silicon Valley. I spent 15 years in that profession. I received a complete business education and earned signifigant money. But it was not where my heart was nor where I belonged.
My family moved to Carmel Valley, CA where I got reaquainted with my destiny. I began painting again and never looked back. That was 1985. I worked hard to retrain myself, beginning with landscapes and figures. I wasn't sure where working in those subjects would lead me, but I knew that as long as I was painting, I was on the right path. During the next 14 years, I created a body of work that grew and matured. I developed my own style and the paintings found ample audiences beyond the walls of my studio. They were acquired by by people who "know art" and those who "know what they like when they see it." I often hear from people who own a painting who tell me that they never tire of looking at it. They are fascinated as the surface appears to change with the days light. My combination of multiple levels of transparant and richly pigmented paints plus a thickly applied mixture of a special medium that I comb through, creates a three dimentional plane. Thus when light reflects off of it, it adds movement and imbues them with that other look.
Three years ago we moved to New Mexico where my art has taken on a new feeling that is alive with the influences of life in Santa Fe's Pojoaque/Nambe area just north of the city. It is the high desert's majestic landscapes, the powerful sun and the brilliance of the cultural melting pot of Pueblo Indian Tribes, Spanish land-grant families, Mexican and Anglos from everywhere that illuminate the spirit of the Universe and guide my artwork. We live on a wonderful piece of old farm land in an original adobe that has been updated and enlarged. The biggest outbuilding was renovated into my new studio complete with almost all of the amentities any artist could want. The windows, glass french doors and tinted skylights compose my personal sanctuary where time does not exist.
I was once asked during an interview for the position of VP of Telecommunications for a large Sunnyvale, CA corporation whether I still painted since I had listed my major as Fine Arts. Without missing a beat, I heard myself say, "No, it's not a hobby." I didn't get the job, thank goodness!
It is always time for change and growth. I can sense it and see it on the horizon. Every painting is a learning experience. Art should not be static, I never try to recreate the same painting even in another palette. That bothers a few commercial art gallerey owners who want "their stable of artists" to provide them with the same thing over and over, ad nausium. With today's computer technology so exact, that sort of grind can be done without bothering with the artist. I am not that technocrat. I beleive artists are compelled to change as they paint, make mistakes and learn. Did Picasso stay in his "Pink Period"? No. He went onto Blue and the rest of his story is well documented history. I am an artist who craves the challenge of pushing the envelope and discovering what else I can create that pleases me and pleases those who "know what they like."
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