Karen O’Haire is a native Californian who  grew up in the Napa Valley.  While growing up, this setting inspired Karen at an early age to appreciate the interrelationships in nature - land, light, water, and living.  This fueled her desire to expand her knowledge and influenced her decisions to pursue a formal education at UC Davis and McGeorge School of Law working to protect California’s unique environment. 

All the while, her love for art and appreciation for nature grew. She loved to capture nature’s treasures. Karen’s focus on the play of light on an image in nature or even a city scene at a given moment draws you in.  Whether it is scenic mountains, lakes, beaches or daily life, her work expresses her joy and unique sense of place.

Karen is inspired by great masters such as Michelangelo, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, G.L. Bernini, John Singer Sargent, and Edgar Degas.  In addition, Karen has been inspired and studied with master artists Gregory Kondos and Roxie Munro. She continues to paint in California as well as Europe. She focuses on the beauty of Napa and Sacramento Valleys, Lake Tahoe, California’s beaches, France and Italy.

Karen expresses her artistic talent in many forms.  Painting, drawing, sculpting in clay and wax for casting in bronze and most recently traveling to Marina di Carrara, Italy to explore working in marble.  Working in California, Italy, and France, she uses techniques and materials of the great masters to create contemporary impressionistic works.

Karen is an award winning artist who has participated in competitions including:

the California Sculptors Symposium 2019 (First Place Metals);

the Yountville Art, Sip & Stroll;

the Festival of Painting in Normandy (Giverny, France);

the First Annual Capital Plein Air Festival (Sacramento, CA);

the KVIE 25th Anniversary Art Auction (Sacramento, CA);

the American River College Annual Student Exhibition (Sacramento, CA); and

the League of Carmichael Artist’s Annual Open Show (Carmichael, CA).