Bio
Karen Rumora is a professional artist and designer who specializes in landscape oil & encaustic paintings. Karen has a degree in Industrial Design from The Ohio State University and has been designing and painting for over 38 years.
She was born and raised in northeastern Ohio and is a self taught artist who has been in exhibitions, galleries, and museums; including the Art Access Gallery, the Manifest Gallery, and the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. She was recently awarded art commissions for the Hilton’s permanent art collection in Columbus, the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the newly renovated Lima Memorial Hospital and also the award winning retail space, PIRCH. She has participated in many activities for local charities such as The New Albany Symphony’s Feature Artist for 2009 and 2015, was selected by jury for the exclusive 2016, 2018, 2021 Art for Life event in Columbus, Ohio, the Ohio Art League’s Fall 2021 Exhibition and the 2022 Manifest Gallery’s Wilderness Show of Five Themes. Karen’s art is part of many private and public collections. She currently shows her work at the Art Access Gallery in Bexley, Ohio.
Karen’s landscapes are inspired during her excursions hiking and cycling through the rural Ohio countryside. Her most recent work merges realism with abstraction by shifting hues, intensifying saturation and simplifying form. She creates a stillness verging on a surreal atmosphere; engaging past moments with the possible future. Karen currently lives and works in Baltimore, Ohio.
Karen’s interest and dendrology began in her early childhood while hiking in her neighborhood woods, visiting arboratums and grafting trees with her father. She currently gathers inspiration while on excursions hiking and cycling through the rural Ohio countryside. Her recent work merges realism with abstraction by shifting and intensifying colors, simplifying form and creating a stillness verging on the surreal; engaging visual memories with future visions.
Exhibitions
2022 Art Access Gallery, “On the Surface”, Bexley, Ohio
2022 Art Access Gallery, “Materials Matter”, Bexley, Ohio
2022 Manifest Gallery’s Wilderness Show of Five Themes, Cincinnati, Ohio
2021 Ohio Art League’s Fall Juried Exhibition
2021 Juried “Art for Life” Exhibition; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
2020 Art Access Gallery, “Landscape”, Bexley, Ohio
2019 Ohio Art League’s Spring Exhibition, Columbus, Ohio
2018 Juried “Art for Life” Exhibition; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
2018 Selected for Permanent Collection in the Greater Columbus Convention Center
2017 Exhibition; “Biophilia; Standing Witness”, Studio San Giuseppe Art Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
2016 Juried “Art for Life” Exhibition; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
2016 Professional Fine Arts Selections, Peggy McConnell Award,The Ohio State Fair
2015 Exhibition; “Persistence of Nature”, Decorative Arts Center, Lancaster, Ohio
2015 Selected Artist for the New Albany Symphony, New Albany, Ohio
2014 Solo Artist Exhibit, The Hayley Gallery, New Albany, Ohio
2011 Solo Artist Exhibit, The Hayley Gallery, New Albany, Ohio
2009 Featured Cover Artist for the New Albany Symphony, New Albany, Ohio
2009 Featured Artist, “Howlywood” Event, Hollywood, Much Love Animal Rescue
2009 Solo Featured Artist, The Hayley Gallery, New Albany, Ohio
2008 Fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, Much Love Animal Rescue, Santa Monica
2007 Best in Show, Mahan Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
2007 Professional Fine Arts Awards, The Ohio State Fair
2006 Eleven Price Ave, Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
2005 High Road Gallery Award
2005 Studio B, Lancaster Ohio
Selected PRIVATE & CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
Hilton Tower, Columbus, Ohio
Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio
State Auto Headquarters, Columbus, Ohio
Motorists Insurance Headquarters, Columbus, Ohio
Mrs. Elmer Iiams, The Donora Historical Society, Donora, PA
Dr. Timothy Treece, Columbus Aesthetic Surgery, Columbus, OH
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Schottenstein, Bexley, OH
Mr. Jerry Penacoli, Hollywood, CA
PIRCH, Costa Mesa, CA & Glendale Galleria, CA
Lima Memorial Hospital, Lima, Ohio
Work can currently be viewed at the Art Access Gallery in Bexley, Ohio.