Oil paintings, acrylics, and handmade crochet rooted in the Mediterranean coast and the mountains of northern Lebanon. Each piece is an original, painted and shipped from Karen's studio in Tripoli.
"I paint the world the way it actually feels — too vivid, too warm, too alive to fit inside careful little lines."
Somewhere in Tripoli, wedged between the sea and the mountains and quite possibly underneath a cat or two, there is a woman whose hands are permanently stained with paint and whose heart beats in bold, saturated color.
Karen works in oil and acrylic and studied at a Fine Arts university in Lebanon. She speaks four languages, which is useful when you want to describe the exact shade of a Mediterranean sunset and one language simply will not do. She crochets with the patience of someone who has made peace with the passage of time, and she draws inspiration from everything she encounters: the crumbling pastel façades of old Tripoli, the impossible blue of the northern coast, the way afternoon light falls through her studio window while Karbuj knocks something off a shelf.
Watercolors? Karen does not do watercolors. She has never done watercolors. Please do not ask about watercolors.
Every painting ships directly from her studio. Every supply recommendation on this site is something she has used, tested, and refused to give up. She is assisted full-time by two cats named Karbuj and Mia, neither of whom has ever been helpful.
Each painting is a one-of-a-kind original, painted in Karen's Tripoli studio and shipped worldwide.
Want something made just for you? Karen accepts a limited number of commissions each season for oil paintings, acrylic works, and crochet pieces. Whether it's a portrait, a landscape of somewhere you love, or something entirely from imagination, every commission begins with a conversation about what you're looking for and ends with an original, one-of-a-kind piece shipped directly from her Tripoli studio.
Portraits, still lifes, landscapes, interiors. Painted on stretched canvas or board in artist-grade oils.
Price on requestBold, vivid pieces in heavy-body acrylics. Well suited for larger formats and contemporary subjects.
Price on requestHandmade blankets, amigurumi, wearables, and decorative pieces in premium yarn, crafted to your specifications.
Price on requestOver the years, Karen has tested, discarded, hoarded, and fallen in love with more art supplies than she'd care to admit. The products recommended below are the survivors: the brushes, paints, and materials she actually reaches for when it's time to work. Nothing here is filler, and nothing is recommended for the sake of a commission. Life is too short for bad brushes.
Curated art supply recommendations from Karen's studio. Every product here has been used on actual paintings you can see in the gallery above.
Karen's primary oil paints. Rich pigment, beautiful consistency, and they age well on canvas.
Kolinsky sable rounds. The brush Karen refuses to start a painting without. Worth every cent.
Thick, vivid, and reliably excellent. Karen's go-to when she works in acrylic.
Soft enough for wearable pieces, resilient enough for amigurumi. Karen's crochet staple.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. Karen earns a small commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. She only recommends products she personally uses in her studio.