Karen E Phillips

Being a self-taught, Surrey based artist I don?t expect to come across the subjects of my artwork locally! I have had a number of successes in competitions and annual exhibitions of various organisations such as the Society of Graphic Fine Art, Wildscape and Society of Wildlife Artists. I have had work shown in various counties; Somerset, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire as well as London and my artwork has found its way into private collections in the UK, USA and Australia. I recently donated a drawing to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust which was auctioned in Seattle, USA - the proceeds of which went towards caring for orphaned elephants and rhinos in Kenya. I choose to work mainly in graphite, occasionally dipping into colour and pastel, as I feel this allows me to create the detail, depth and whole range of textures I work towards achieving. My aim is to create artwork that not only transports me back to where I saw the subject but to take the viewer with me and if it adds a smile to the face, conjures up a memory or makes them want to go see for themselves, even better.In creating my drawings I become lost in them, searching for the tiniest of detail, fascinated by the change in direction of fur, the life in the eyes, the contours and structure. I?d like my drawings to lead the viewer to believe if they reached out they could feel the texture of the soft fur or rough skin. I?d like to think that my drawings help the viewer to see the beauty in all wildlife, even the very misunderstood and enthralling hyena.