From loss to love: Meet modern expressionist ‘Heart’ artist Karen Hughes

Unity

Karen Hughes is a self-taught artist from the north east of England. She has always been artistic and creating something she enjoyed growing up. In spite of her creative and artistic talents, she hid her gift from others because she never believed in her ability. Her immediate family members knew that she could paint, but it always viewed as something she did every now and then.

After getting back in touch with her father who she did not speak for most of her adult life, her sister Claire urged Karen to show her father Karen’s artwork. They both insisted that she share her gift with the world.
In December of 2014 she posted her first piece on social media; that was the start of her journey.

Her artwork is expansive and heart felt. She paints emotions with the intent of connect with people through her work. Karen’s hope is to trigger memories and create moments in time where people are drawn in and get to escape the realities of day to day life for a little while.

I’m Here

In January of 2018 her sister Claire passed away. She turned to her art to help her cope with her grief. She started putting all the love and pain she was feeling into her paintings. Karen wanted to show the world that love was greater than loss and there was another way to deal with grief.

The inspiration for her art was Claire, her number one fan. They had matching heart tattoos and from this shared bond, Heart Art was developed. Embedded in all of her work is a heart, a way to not only spread love but to constantly acknowledge her sister through her work.
Karen turned her trauma into triumph by creating powerful art, a gift that she shares with the world. She believes that there is a piece of heart art for everyone as a way to commemorate a significant event or to help remember the special moments in life.

You can follow Karen and her work on her social media sites: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter her art site: ktheartart.com.