Featured Artist — Karen Kidwell

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Karen Kidwell’s creative spirit began early in life. She graduated from Halls High School in 1977, where she majored in Art and Distributive Education (Marketing), planting the seeds of her artistic journey.

Her passion for creativity continued beyond high school, as she spent nine years taking part-time art and graphic design courses at Pellissippi Community College. Though she never completed the full curriculum, her commitment to art remained steady in the background as life carried her in different directions.

Karen’s professional journey took her up the East Coast to Delaware, where she worked for DHL in Dover. Eventually, she transferred to warehouses in Portland, Tennessee, and later in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where she’s lived for the past three years.

After setting her brushes aside for many years, retirement offered Karen a second chance to reconnect with her artistic roots. “I have enjoyed doing paintings since it is therapy to me,” she shares. “I like birds like my parents did. I’m an abstract artist, and I do paint landscapes too. The bird paintings are something different that I normally don’t do.”

Her return to painting wasn’t just a personal victory—it was a meaningful promise kept. Encouraged by her younger cousin Jay, who often nudged her to do something more with her talent, Karen decided to take a leap and share her work publicly. “When I told him that I will try something for once, which is why I displayed my art at Service One Credit Union, he was pleased that I tried,” she says.

Now, with renewed confidence and a growing collection of expressive works, Karen looks ahead with hope. She dreams of relocating to Lexington, Kentucky, where she plans to enroll in more art classes at the University of Kentucky and, one day, open her own art studio—a space where her creativity can flourish freely and fully.

Karen Kidwell’s story is one of rediscovery—a reminder that it’s never too late to return to what you love. Through each brushstroke, she paints not only images but also a vibrant testimony of resilience, passion, and personal growth.