Bruton Memorial Library’s art wall is covered with idyllic scenes of nature this month, thanks to the paint brush of Karen Hall.
Hall, a New Jersey native who has lived in Plant City since 2013, first took up painting in 2016 as a hobby to “relax and enjoy learning a new skill” after retirement. She grew to enjoy it enough to get more serious, eventually joining the East Hillsborough Art Guild, showing her work in exhibitions around the county and selling her art.
Though she considers herself a “novice” who has had some training, Hall prefers to go with the flow when she’s working on a canvas and lets her mood dictate what flows from the bristles of her brush.
“I get inspiration out of the blue and I try and paint it,” Hall said.
Her work, largely done in acrylics, mainly covers flora and fauna. Hall has several landscape scenes in a variety of climates and locations on display. Serene babbling brooks, a desert scene, a northern winter and more transport the viewer out of Florida and into another place.
“When we lived in Jersey, we lived in the woods and I had a lot of nature around me,” Hall said. “I loved it. Down here we’re sitting on water. We have sunsets that absolutely amaze me.”
She has several types of flowers on display and, as this is Plant City, one strawberry painting. Hall also enjoys painting birds, which appear in many of the works on the art wall.
If you can think of a surface, Hall said, she’s probably painted on it. She’s worked with tile, marble, crystals and mirrors and has a “whole cabinet full of mosaic tile” at her workspace. She’s also done sculpture work, including a seahorse on display at the library made from a wood base and adorned with crystals and other reflective surfaces to mimic the way the seahorse would shimmer in the water when the sunlight hits.
Hall’s artwork was put up in the library in late August, shortly before Hurricane Dorian came through Florida, and will remain on the wall through the end of September. More of her work can be seen on her Facebook page, Art by Karen Hall, and potential buyers can message her on Facebook if interested in making a purchase.
Anyone interested in having their work featured on Bruton’s art wall can apply for a spot by contacting Library Services Associate Angel House at ahouse@plantcitygov.com.