Introduction
Nestled between the bush and the sea on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, artist Karen Hick paints with a sense of place that feels both grounded and ethereal. Her seascapes and landscapes shimmer with light, texture, and movement, drawing viewers into the ever-changing moods of coastal life. For more than 18 years, Karen has been honing her craft, creating artworks that invite you to pause and feel the beauty of the natural world.
Karen’s journey as an artist began in 2006 while she was living in New Zealand. Surrounded by the country’s rugged beauty, she discovered her passion for painting and the freedom that comes from creative exploration. It was there that she developed her love for mark making and layering techniques—an approach that has since become a signature of her work. Each brushstroke, scrape, and texture tells part of a story, building depth and dimension that reflect the complexity of the landscapes she loves.
Now based in Palm Beach, Karen draws endless inspiration from her surroundings. Whether it’s the dappled light filtering through bushland, the shifting colours of the ocean, or the energy of an incoming storm, she captures the essence of the Northern Beaches with honesty and emotion. Her paintings are not literal representations, but rather, they capture the feeling of a place—the quiet calm before the tide turns or the warmth of late afternoon light dancing across the water.
Karen’s creative process is intuitive. She often begins without a clear plan, letting the rhythm of brush and palette guide her. “I love creating light and movement in my artworks,” she explains. “Depending on where a piece is positioned in a home, it takes on different moods throughout the day and night.” This interplay between light and surface gives her work a living quality—her paintings seem to breathe and shift as the day unfolds.
Her distinctive layering techniques allow her to build texture and depth, creating surfaces that are as tactile as they are visual. This method gives each piece a unique energy, evoking the sensation of standing on a windswept headland or walking through a sunlit forest path.
Over the years, Karen has exhibited her work across the Northern Beaches and beyond, building a loyal following of collectors who are drawn to her ability to translate the Australian landscape into something deeply personal and emotional. Her art connects with those who appreciate the coastal lifestyle—the salt air, the golden light, and the ever-present pull of the ocean.
More than simply depicting nature, Karen’s work celebrates the way it feels to live alongside it. Each painting is a reflection of the moments that inspire her: a calm morning swim, a drive along the coast, or the soft stillness after rain.
Through her art, Karen invites us to slow down and reconnect—with nature, with memory, and with the beauty that surrounds us every day. Her work reminds us that the world’s most powerful moments are often the quietest ones—those fleeting flashes of light, colour, and calm that linger long after we’ve looked away.
