We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Karen Weihs a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Karen, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Putting yourself out there as a young artist is risky. The competition and direction one chooses are different for each, but my risk decision came through a moment of clarity when recovering from a car accident. “This is it, stop procrastinating,” a voice whispered in my ear.. Do it. Without hesitation, I started to really work with a goal of selling my art professionally. This was the 90’s, no social media, no clue about carving a roadmap to success. So I rented a space for an art gallery and convinced other artists to join me. It was the best corner in Charleston, SC and we were one of the first larger galleries to begin in a community now thriving with artists and major successful galleries. Fast forward, I have shifted my goals to not owning my own gallery and creating art for clients and competitions. That early risk paid off and forced me to learn on the job. Not only did I create art to sell, I learned how to manage a creative business model based on tourism, client needs and community involvement. We did business by mailing invitations to monthly openings and the word grew. Today you can click to do that. Today, I manage my own creative productivity on a much slower pace. Lessons learned have given me that gift of confidence.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I graduated with a fine arts degree from UGA in the 70’s, worked as a graphic designer for a beach resort company where I met my chef husband. Together we owned opened restaurants in Charleston, SC til he retired. I placed my art in the restaurants where it sold and attracted interested art clients. It was a bustling culinary and art clientele. I owned art galleries in NC and SC where I developed my name and served a local interiors clientele til moving to Florida during Covid to pursue our competitive croquet interests. When the lockdown came, we learned we could play croquet daily so we rented then moved after purchasing a home. At that juncture, my art had secured a name, and I now work with clients and a local Sarasota, FL gallery making art to sell. I also mentor on line for the Mastrius platform, I do 3 workshops a year for art centers in the south, and paint for international competitions. My competitive croquet interest is ongoing and my husband and I travel a lot to play tournaments.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Artists have many lessons. Obviously a personal competition with yourself is one and stealing images is another. I once was traveling in Italy and saw a painting I thought looked like mine in a window. it was a print of one of my originals.,the shop said they got it from a dealer. I found the dealer and never got the number to answer. It rang and rang. It was early into web search but I emailed a letter of action.from my attorney.. we were never able to challenge this, but I am careful to copyright all my art. I don’t do many prints, but if a client wants prints for a hotel or such, I am careful to secure the printer and client. An artist has to check the fine print and be careful not to answer emails that may be after scamming you.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Building a reputation is important to an artist. My brand is all over the place meaning I paint many genres and can pivot for my market. No gallery likes to hear that an artist has many styles, but for me it works. Mainly because I owned at one time two galleries and could paint to a theme or to a market. For instance, in the Carolinas a coastal theme is very popular. Our inside joke at our gallery was if it had not sold in two months, put a palm tree in it. Now I do coastal abstracted themes that FEEL like the coast.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: Karenweihsfineart
• Facebook: Karen Weihs Fine Art
• Linkedin: Karen Weihs
• Twitter: Karen Weihs Fine Art
• Youtube: Karen Weihs

Image Credits
Chris Weihs