Artist’s Statement

I can’t tell you precisely what my paintings and poems mean. But I can tell you where they came from. My stoplight paintings are connected with a childhood of moving from one place to another—as well as a fascination with decision-making. Should we stop, proceed with caution, or go, go, go? The tic-tac-toe paintings examine a variety of X’s and O’s, acknowledging the game is often played to a draw, and wondering about the validity of binary thinking. Springing from my Catholic upbringing, the saintly and spiritual paintings re-interpret old stories in a more contemporary form. Upon the death of my wife , poetry became a preferred way to deal with the loss. Since that time, I find myself writing on a variety of themes. I resist the temptation to explain my words with more words—hopefully they speak for themselves.

Biography

Paul Karnowski was born in Hawaii into a military family and moved frequently along with his many siblings. Interested in the priesthood, he attended the seminary at St. Meinrad, Indiana, earning a BA in English. He studied theology for three years in Rome, but was never ordained. Always interested in both the visual and verbal arts, he is largely self-taught. In his mid-thirties, he received his Master’s degree in Art Education from Florida State and taught art to elementary students for 25 years in the Atlanta area. He also painted as time allowed and was featured in a number of group and one-person shows through the years. When he retired from teaching in 2014, he and his wife, Gale, moved to Asheville where he continues to paint and write.