Rising Stars: Meet Karen Koch of Hudson Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Koch

Hi Karen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My earliest memories are of sitting on the floor, holding a pencil and drawing pictures. Drawing has been my life-long method for exploring and understanding the world around me.
I studied art in college, majoring in Art and English. Afterward, I worked for galleries for a couple years.
When the country hit a recession, I left the gallery to take corporate jobs doing technical writing, website content management, and search engine optimization. The jobs required long hours, lots of stress, and demanding deadlines.
I painted off and on as I could in my “spare” time, but that time dwindled away.
For about 12 years, I didn’t paint at all.
I was miserable.
I blamed the jobs, of course. But after doing some soul searching, I realized that I was missing my art. It was essential to my health and well-being. I needed it.
The Cleveland Museum of Art was offering a weekly drawing class, so I signed up. I used a half-day of vacation time every week to go to the class.
Best decision ever!
The class got me jumpstarted. The more I drew and painted, the more I wanted to do. I was happy.
I decided that I wanted to pursue my dream of being a full-time artist. For about 10 years, I worked to lay the foundation to make that happen: creating art, building my portfolio, entering shows, networking.
Then, one summer evening in 2013, a neighbor invited me to a cookout. She happened to be a jeweler working as an accountant, so I told her about leaving my job to become a full-time artist. She said, “If you’re serious about it, I’ll do it with you.”
Well! Having a friend to do this with made the decision easier. We found studio space to share, got involved in the local art community, and quit our jobs. In 2016, we opened a gallery showing only local artists.
Was it risky? Sure! But I figured that if I tried being a full-time artist and it worked out, GREAT! If it didn’t work out, at least I would have the satisfaction of having tried.
Now, more than a decade later, I’m still a full-time artist. We closed the gallery in 2024, so my focus is on making art. I love it, and can’t imagine doing anything else.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being an artist is never a smooth road! In fact, sometimes there is no road at all!
One of the big challenges is solitude. An artist leads a solitary life in the studio.
There’s no substitute for going to the studio and getting to work. No one can do it for you. It’s up to you – and you alone – to do the work.

Sharing this journey with a friend has made ALL the difference. It has been priceless to have someone to bounce around ideas, offer feedback, plan events, cheer for the wins, and commiserate the loses.

We are lucky to live in a small town with a cute shopping district that attracts lots of shoppers and tourists, so we located our studios right smack in the middle of that action. We became involved with the local merchants, brought artists together, and nurtured our own creative community. Those connections have been priceless.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My training is as an abstract painter and I love painting that way. To me, it was innate artistic expression.

But about 10 years ago, I took a collage class with Gretchen Bierbaum, Founder and President of the National Collage Society. What an experience! We tore, we cut, we glued. We used packing tape and grocery bags and vintage postage stamps. Handwriting, book pages, yarn, bottle caps.
Wait, what? All that STUFF could be art? Yes, yes indeed. It was eye opening!
To me, collage is like alchemy: mix odd scraps of paper, bits of string and wire, sprinkle around a few buttons, slather it in glue, and before long, art emerges.
It still astonishes me, every time.
Most days, my studio looks like a ticker tape parade went through: crazy scraps of paper everywhere. I often go home at night thinking, “What a mess I made today!”.
Yet, somehow, these wild papery bits eventually come together.
Collage is a collaborative process, a conversation between me and the materials. I have to work with what already exists to put the pieces where they best fit. It’s a little like doing a jigsaw puzzle, except the picture on the box is missing and you have pieces from 97 different puzzles!

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I have illustrated a book!
Our town has a clocktower that is a much-loved landmark. We decorate it at Christmas with a very large stuffed mouse that magically appears the day after Thanksgiving. The holidays can’t start till the mouse is on the clocktower.
Why the mouse? Well, it’s quite the story. The lovely ladies at our Visitor Center wrote a little story about the mouse’s journey and asked me to illustrate it.
I said, “Oh, thank you, but I don’t do people or animals. You would be better off asking someone else.”
They replied, “But we want YOU to do it. When can you have it done?”
Sigh. Oh, ok!
I drew a little mouse, his family, and the town. It’s a sweet story and I am happy to have been part of the project. Although it’s meant as a children’s book, adults in town find it very nostalgic, too.
https://www.lifeneedsart.com/shop/the-mouse-on-the-clock-tower/

Pricing:

• https://lifeneedsart.etsy.com
• Larger artwork is available from me at my studio. Examples at https://www.instagram.com/lifeneedsart Please reach out with questions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lifeneedsart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeneedsart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeneedsart
• Other: https://lifeneedsart.etsy.com