From staff reports
The Beaufort Art Association has announced Karen Richards and Kristie Schubert as its Featured Artists for January-February 2024 under the theme “Going Wild in the Lowcountry.”
Through Richards and Schubert exhibit different styles, both are inspired by Lowcountry flora, fauna, people and places.
The public is invited to join the artists for an opening night reception from 5 to 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 5 at the Gallery of the Beaufort Art Association, 913 Bay Street, downtown Beaufort, under the black awning.
Schubert has been painting with acrylics for more than 30 years and began working on canvas during the COVID epidemic. Her interest in art began in childhood and continued during school at Beaufort High School, where she won the Ceramics Award and the Arts in the Park Award for a pencil drawing.
Thirty-five years and five kids later, she is painting and working with clay in her sunny Lowcountry studio. Along the way, she earned an Early Childhood Education degree from USC Aiken, taught in public schools for several years, and continues to home school.
Richards initially chose to pursue a degree in horticulture, followed by a career designing and maintaining gardens. She returned to school, earning a degree in Fine Art and Art Education, leading to a 20-year career in art education and continuing studies.
“I have always enjoyed drawing, painting and messing around with art supplies,” she said. “I received my first set of oil paints at seven.”
A resident of Bluffton since 2021, she works primarily in acrylic and watercolor, portraying egrets, blue herons, and the wide variety of native shrubs, flowers and palms. Richards shows her work online, at the SOBA Gallery and at BAA, and donates to local environmentally conscious groups.
