I would like to start my Blog with a little information about myself, my name is Karen Underwood and I am a mixed Media Artist. I am Canadian and currently live in the UK within a lovely part of the country called The Cotswolds. I started my learning journey with Arts & Crafts many years ago, possibly over 50 years ago where I first watched my mother painting beautiful paintings. As time went by I felt that unfortunately my mothers talent had not passed to myself, but instead skipped to my children and so I tried using my hands for different artistic craft pursuits like making Wedding Cakes, among many others. I would create individual flowers using sugar paste for decoration and started a love of flowers and their intricate beauty and distinct details, a beauty that could be enjoyed visually… although my children would secretly take them and enjoy them in a different way. This also led me to creating other types of crafts using flowers as an inspiration, this went on for many years and was not always successful… some were not very good at all, but I kept at it and continued to hone and develop new skills, while enhancing any skills I had already developed. I went on to learn One Stroke with Donna Dewberry and became one of her Certified Teachers, my curiosity led me to want to learn painting with Oils. I also studied with Gary Jenkins and became a Jenkins Certified Teacher, and I have continued to learn and follow my dreams. I have worked with online platforms for the last 14 years, both as a qualified online and distance learning teacher, while also having experience working on the technical support side, dealing with any software, administration and technical issues that might arise through the use of online platforms for learning. My family have been a hugely inspiration and supported me on my painting journey, and I thank them with all my heart, even when they have laughed at some of my failures. Having the encouragement and sometimes having my painting works laughed at if they turn out as unintended is what has pushed me to learn more and keep learning, while discovering more of what can be achieved every day… this does take lots of practice and is fun along the way. I would like to thank all of the many friends I have made along the way, a journey can be difficult if making it alone, but with friends or family with you then I believe we can make it anywhere! I wish you all the best on your Artistic Learning Journey, it does not matter if you necessarily have the most natural talent for Art or anything else, if you have a passion for it then you can achieve it! See some of my work and more information at: KarenUnderwood.co.uk