Review

"Organic Girl," Mixed Media on Foamcore Board.

Karen Kay

7:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

Whole Foods Market
7401 West 91st St
Overland Park, KS
913.652.9633

Hours: 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Sunday.
Runs Through: March 31.

Artist's sites: http://www.karenkayartworks.com
http:/www.artx365.com
Store site: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/metcalf/

Karen Kay launched a 365-day art site at the beginning of the year, but with a far more challenging goal than the one set for this column.

She isn't merely writing about art daily; her aim is to make something new each day in 2010: Paintings, photography, wearable art  and more.

True to that goal, and with a title that matches the venue, Kay has a brand new painting (finished Thursday) as the anchor of a show that opened Friday at the Metcalf location of Whole Foods Market.

The new work, Organic Girl (pictured above) is typical of Kay's style: bright, breezy and illustrative, with a woman (or women) as the central image and with text as a key component of the work. It's easy to picture her pieces as front pages of greeting cards — the sort one friend might send another "just because."

My work is cheeky, colorful and just plain fun, writes Kay, a self-described "mixed-up mixed media artist." I like to incorporate words in my work to bring new meaning to the viewer. My desire is for my art to make a positive impact on others by speaking directly to the heart. ... I am motivated by simple things, like childhood memories, fresh air and sunshine, puppies (especially puppies), new art tools, vivid colors and sunsets.

Just because she's having fun and keeping things simple, though, doesn't mean that Kay can't use her art to deal with weightier subject matter. She was one of the Missouri artists chosen by popular vote to create billboards for the 2008 "Art the Vote" campaign, and a number of her prints in the Whole Foods show touch on such issues as animal adoption and environmental consciousness.

This being a brand new day, Kay will have yet another creative project in the works ... and another tomorrow, and one the day after that, and so on. But if the works in this show are any indication,she will continue to meet that challenge with a few well-chosen words and a smile.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Updating...