Karen Rieger

The Essence of Landscape...

My childhood summers were filled with weekend explorations of the countryside north of Toronto and beyond. These early road trips, rich with images, fed my internal visual archive. Viewed from the car window, an ever-changing vista rolled before my eyes.

Walks through woods immersed me in dark shadows where rays of glinting light pushed their way between boughs, dappling the forest floor, luminous and redolent of earth.

In this landscape series, I’ve painted scenes inspired by both the countryside and the city’s verdant backyards, all filtered through imagination and an emotional response translated into lively brushstrokes and an abundance of colour.

Impasto strokes of acrylic are laid upon watercolour like underglazes and the charcoal marks of the initial drawing are sometimes revealed.

The paintings depict the energetic essence of landscape and capture the passion for the natural world that I was introduced to as a child, that held a kind of magic and an ethereal quality that still resonate strongly within me.

Figures and Flora:

Colour is of prime importance in my work, evoking mood, sensuality and a sense of beauty.

My paintings are a rich pastiche comprised of diverse inspirations such ...

Ontario College of Art
The Art Center, Central Technical School
University of Toronto

Solo Exhibitions (Selected)

2022 Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, “Flora & Fauna”June
2013 Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, “Flourish”, April
2012 Atti Gallery, Toronto, November
2010 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto, May
Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, “Evening”,February
2008 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto, November
Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, “Belle Epoque”May
2007 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto, May
2006 Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, August
2005 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto, October
West End Gallery Edmonton, April,
2004 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto, May
2003 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto, April
2002 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto, April


Group Exhibitions (Selected)
2024 Petite Art Show, Online, “Spring Has Sprung”, May
24th-26th
2024 Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, “Winter”, Feb-March
2023 Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle “Small Works”,
November
2023 Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, “Fall”, October
2023 Matilda Swanson Gallery, Stratford, “Wild Things”,
August
2023 Lando Gallery, Edmonton, Featured Artist, April
2021 Fountainhead Gallery, “25 Springs”, April
2017 OCADU + Gowlings, Juried Group Exhibition, ...