If you have been following Karen Alsop from Story Art for some time, you will know her style to be sophisticated, detailed and storytelling in nature. Her work often contains hundreds of layers and as many hours of work. Karen’s images have attracted worldwide attention and have won many awards.
But not all her pieces are as complex as her award winners and her latest series, ‘Aussie Animal Adventures’, targets a different demographic. Karen’s change in approach has delivered a brand new audience and has successfully garnered opportunities with local tourism bodies.
Explained Karen, "Inspiration can prove lacking in the middle of a pandemic and lock down. If you are like me, inspiration comes when you are on holiday, out travelling or outside your usual four walls. In-between a series of lockdowns in Melbourne, our family went on a day trip to a favourite destination, Emerald Lake Park, the home of the iconic Puffing Billy. It is a place dear to our hearts, as it was our extended backyard for many years when we lived in Emerald.
"On our visit, we were greeted by extensive new building works – a grand visitor centre that was set to open later in the year. A spark full of visual ideas hit me as we walked around the expansive new tourist centre. A lot of my recent work has centred around Australian wildlife and I’ve been working with rescues and creating heart-wrenching anthropomorphic pieces showing the circumstances of our local wildlife. What could I do here?
"Having frequented Emerald Lake over the years, I was acutely aware of the strong tourism economy driven into the area by Puffing Billy, both locals and internationals. With the anticipation of Australia opening up eventually, I came up with an art concept that I hoped would be attractive to the Puffing Billy organisation, as well as Australian wildlife art lovers in general."
Read on as Karen explains all in the current issue of Better Photography (Issue 107). Click on the link below to subscribe - plus you get immediate access to over 50 back issues full of super informative material and inspirational ideas! Use coupon code BP40 to get 40% off - just $29.88 for an annual subscription.