Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest by a pair of self-professed nature lovers, Karen Luke Fildes has spent the past two decades dedicating her love, respect, and awe for the natural splendor of the Northwest, using oil and canvas. Her works have been displayed at galleries and exhibits in the Northwest, Canada, and Germany. She is a recipient of Pierce County Arts Commission’s Margaret K. Williams Award for Excellence in the Arts and has recently finished a series of 1000 landscapes studying water and atmosphere.

“I’ve been collecting innocent moments with light on the land, atmosphere, and water with sacred respect for the water cycle. Heaven and earth are connected because of water’s ability to evaporate, condense and flow. Children grow, the earth moves, storms come and go, while wars and divorces, weddings and births--bring me back to the assurance that the sun continues to rise and set, and the water continues to cycle between the sky and sea. It is the moments of truth in nature’s sanctuaries, and how they are touched by light, that seem worth preserving to me.”