SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild Board President and instructor Karen Brungardt
Connie Kotke
The SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild (www.saddlebrookefinearts.org) offers a wide range of art classes for beginners to experts—right here in the Topaz Room in the Arts and Crafts Center near the MountainView Clubhouse. Our instructors are remarkably talented, and they love to teach! This month, we highlight Karen Brungardt, the guild’s board president and frequent teacher for art classes, as well as Art & Wine and Art Sampler events.
Q: What are your artistic specialties?
A: I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, then went on to become a medical doctor. Around 1990, I started taking watercolor classes in the evening at our local community college and fell straight in love with the medium. After retiring in SaddleBrooke, I started taking watercolor classes again, and that’s become my specialty. My work is available in the Roadrunner Gallery, Absolutely Art, and the SAWG Gallery in Tucson. My website is www.brushmarks.weebly.com.
Q: How long have you lived in this area?
A: We moved here in 2002 to soothe my arthritis. I started teaching Beginning Watercolor classes after a few years, because no one else was offering this skill level. We enclosed part of our patio into an art room for me, and that’s where I create most of my paintings. I’ve also found time to write and self-publish sci-fi/fantasy books and memoirs under my author name, K. E. Brungardt.
Q: What is your philosophy about teaching?
A: Make it fun! I teach by encouragement—telling students not to be so hard on themselves. We focus on their good efforts and opportunities for improvement with small adjustments. I like to show them step-by-step how to make a finished painting. I enjoy watching them accomplish something to take home whenever possible.