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Karen Jordan Allen Art Collections

Shop for artwork from Karen Jordan Allen based on themed collections. Each image may be purchased as a canvas print, framed print, metal print, and more! Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Artwork by Karen Jordan Allen

Each image may be purchased as a canvas print, framed print, metal print, and more! Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

About Karen Jordan Allen

Karen Jordan Allen I have always approached life as a creative person – I have been writing stories and playing the piano since I was a child – but to suddenly become a practicing photographer has been a surprise. Perhaps it should not have been. I have always enjoyed taking pictures and making things. When I was young I drew and photographed our native Indiana wildflowers. I dabbled in basketry, ceramics, and painting. A six-year veteran of 4-H sewing projects, I made many of my own clothes. My father was an amateur photographer, and while I never learned to use his beloved Canon, I did like taking my own snapshots (my first camera was a Brownie with a flip-up top). In my late twenties, I worked at the Portland (Maine) School of Art as the admissions office manager. I enjoyed seeing all the students come in with their portfolios and took an evening ceramics class. But I did not seriously imagine myself as a visual artist.

It was not until I became the mother of one of the most artistic people I know – my daughter – that I was drawn back into photography. She took to photography like she had been born with a camera in her hand. When I went out with her on a photo walk, I couldn't resist taking pictures of my own. I did not expect to do anything more than post a few on Facebook, until I took a picture of spring leaves that I loved. As a photograph, it was nothing special, but the leaves were full of colors and shapes that captured my imagination. Working at my computer, I figured out how to isolate, multiply, and whirl the leaves into a lovely mandala. Then I experimented with another photo, and another. The colors and patterns that emerged astonished me. I was hooked. For the next several months I took photos and played with them obsessively. I began to exhibit my photographs locally and sell them at arts and crafts fairs alongside my daughter's fine nature photographs. When my work was accepted into a juried show, I was overjoyed.

Now my search for hidden visual qualities is a constant treasure hunt. I take special pleasure in discovering interesting patterns in natural objects such as dead leaves, fungi, or wilted flowers that might not catch the eye in their plain state. While I work most often with images from nature, I also photograph man-made objects, particularly those which are broken, sculptural, or just old. As I work with each image, I look for patterns that do justice to both the feeling and the visual intricacies of the object. Recently I have focused on creating nature mandalas, an exercise I find artistically and spiritually satisfying. While I take most of my photos in Maine, where I now live -- a wonderful home for a photographer! -- I also use photos taken on visits to the Midwest, Canada, and elsewhere. I never know where I will find my next intriguing image!