ANTIQUE CASE

This lovely antique timber case is my latest artwork . I was very pleased with how it came up with beautiful olde world bears painted across the front . I used my treasured tea set as inspiration for the painting . The case is a great size 24 inches long ..perfect for displaying with a bear collection ..sorry sold

Teddy Shelf

This lovely shabby chic book shelf is available for sale . I have painted sweet teddies on either side with old postcards decorated with rosebuds on the botton shelf . The size is 43cm wide by 40cm high ( 17inches x 16 inches ) available in my ebay store sorry sold

BEARY CHIC' BEAR PAINTING. listed by Kathy Karas

This pretty painting is listed on ebay ... SORRY SOLD

BENNY AND BISCUIT

SORRY SOLD ....  Hello everyone ! What a beautiful sunny day it is here in the land of Oz..This is a pencil drawing of my 2 little bears Benny and Biscuit . I am doing a series of drawings and I will be selling prints when I have completed the set..
***please be respectful of artists by not copying original works. For most of us we only make a modest income from our talents but to develop as an artist we spend many hours honing and perfecting . If anyone is interested in licencing some of my original art please contact me at kkaras@bigpond.net.au

NEW PAINTING

I have just finished this little painting of 2 bears and Annie doll. It is framed in a very nice recycled primitive style frame. Available on ebay at the moment.

SCRAPBOOK ALBUM

SORRY SOLD

I have just finished painting this scrapbook album ..it has come up a treat. available on ebay at the moment ..

A LOVELY NEW ITEM

I have just finished painting this lovely vintage school bag . The bears and rabbit are inspired by my collection of toys..will I ever grow up ? definately not !! This piece is available on ebay at the moment ..SORRY SOLD

A RARE ANTIQUE

I was so chuffed to find this lovely antique dresser last week . I rarely see these anymore and if I do they are usually so out of my price range..it is available on ebay at the moment ..enjoy !..SORRY SOLD

COMMISSIONED PAINTING

I was commissioned to do this painting of my customer's collection of Arnott's biscuit tin collection .

I was also asked to include her bears and old Singer treadle machine..It was quite a lot of work but I am always up for a challenge and really enjoyed painting this one..

It has been a while since I have had a step by step painting to show you so I thought that this would be fun a fun one to do..

It is painted in oil on 80cm x 60cm canvas..Enjoy !

I have just returned from holidaying down the coast and am slowly coming out of holiday mode and back to reality...getting myself organised for what is shaping up to be a very busy year ahead..several exhibitions , one a solo requiring 25 paintings to be completed by March ( Oh my Gosh !) and orders to complete as well..so if I don't get to blog every day you will know that I am burning the candle at both ends just to get it all done !!

UNIQUE ANTIQUE

I have just completed painting this unique piece . It is an old metal hatbox and looks great with old bears painted all around the outside of the lid..A busy week with lots to get done before Christmas ..what happened to this year ?..looking forward to next year ...an even year with good vibes !

ANTIQUE HATBOX

As Christmas fast approaches I like to paint more of my teddy art for my bear friends who collect my work at this time of the year..This is a lovely antique hatbox just finished..you are all the first to see my new design..hope you like it . I totally enjoyed painting the face on the doll and might think about painting some doll paintings soon ... :-) you are welcome to contact me regarding this piece kkaras@bigpond.net.au or simply leave a comment if you wish ..

BEAUTIFUL ANTIQUE OAK SCHOOLCASE ..sorry SOLD

I have just listed this beautiful antique on ebay. It is made of solid silky oak and in excellent condition ..Please go to http://www.ebay.com.au/ bears>antique,vintage to see the full description ..enjoy!

I have been having computer problems so haven't posted anything for awhile . Didn't realise how much I relied on this technology until it was taken away..Feels like I have been cut off from the world .Well not so bad now hat I have discovered that I can do a lot from my laptop although much slower..LOL..
I am still painting some pieces for my ebay store ..but am escaping later in the week to join ' The Plein Air Girls' for some painting down by the beach..lets hope that the weather obliges as I am itching to get outdoors with my easel and paints..had a lovely weekend down the coast in our little holiday shack by the lake...bliss!

PET PORTRAIT

I have recently begun a commissioned pet portrait for a client in another state. After several emails back and forth with photos attached I had all that I needed to come up with a rough preliminary sketch to show J . A further phone call was great to find out more about the pets ..ie personalities , sizes in relation to each other , favourite colours etc were determined in this discussion . It was lovely to speak directly with J as we have never met before and we discovered that we have many things in common not least our love of collecting bears ...I find that it is essential to gain as much information about the subjects as possible ..after all having a portrait commissioned isn't something that one has done often and I am trying to bring out the personalities in the painting as well as a good likeness. The commission is for 2 beautiful Golden retrievers , 4 stunning cats and 6 bears all sitting on a rug together..We decided that the size would have to be 80cm x 60 cm ...taking into account the size of the wall where the painting is to be hung and to fit this many animals together..I am using Fredrix Artist canvas and am painting in oils.

My first post is the preliminary drawing on paper ..the next is the drawing that I sketched onto the canvas with charcoal..following is the rough in with blue , blocking in the shadows..don't panic J this is just like the undercoat with much work to be done yet before it starts to resemble the finished painting !

Kathy Karas Art

Hi everyone,
My name is Kathy Karas and this is my first blog entry. I am an Aussie artist and have been painting for most of my life. I first took up my paintbrush as a full time artist about 17 years ago during the folk art craze but a few years ago decided that I needed to expand my horizons and started going to painting workshops in watercolour , pastel and oils. Well as soon as I got into oils I was hooked and now spend most days attempting to create paintings in this medium. I see my artwork taking me in 2 different directions as I still have quite a following for my craft art which I sell on ebay , bear shows and a website that I set up some years ago www.kathy-karas-artist.com but I am also gaining recognition for my oil paintings some of which can be seen on www.artwhatson.com.au/kathykaras so as you can see finding time to accomplish all of my goals can sometimes be quite a juggling act at the best of times ! However I am so enjoying this that I wanted to share my work with others . I hope that you enjoy seeing my paintings and would like to hear any comments . I aim to add to this blog on a regular basis so keep watching if you are interested.