Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong

Karen is a writer and visual artist. She sells her work at Inka Gallery and Saddlers Court, and has in the past sold pieces at Gallery on the Square, Goulburn St Gallery, Grand Chancellor, Cotton Duck Gallery, Geeveston and Tasmania Shop and Gallery.

Karen states:

There is an interplay between my visual and written art as many failed literary efforts succeed as visual images (and vice versa), especially my Love and Freedom series of prints. I also paint narrative paintings or oil paintings of flying people, (now oil depictions of collographs) angels or flowers when I have time. I have held three successful solo exhibitions, taken part and sold in many group exhibitions, at Inka Gallery, Wrest Point Rotary and other venues. All my exhibitions have sold and received good reviews in The Mercury newspaper. I am a long-standing Inka Co-op member, writing poetry is a passion equal to my visual work.

Publications and achievements

  • 1990s   Member of FAW Liverpool N.S.W And Women in the Fields poetry Group
  • 1993     First published poem in FreeXpresSion, 1st Edition Poetry magazine
  • 1993     Published in Women in the Fields Poetry Anthology, N.S.W, Karen illustrated.
  • 2000    Worked on Robert Kreschl’s Floating Silicone Painting Millennium Painting
  • 2000    Exhibited in C3 Church Exhibition
  • 2001     Second Place Moonah Pith of Poetry Competition
  • 2001     Name engraved on Poetry Pot Performance Poetry Competition, Republic Bar and Cafe
  • 2001     Published in Live Poets Poetry Anthology, Karen partly illustrated.
  • 2001     Co-Curated Republic Bar and Café X-Arts Exhibition, a major undertaking which united known and unknown writers and artists state wide, such as Margaret Scott and Jeff Dyer, independent artists, Inka Gallery Co-Op artists and writers from TWC and FAW.
  • 2001     Blue Moon: First Solo Exhibition Fig Gallery Hobart (Acrylic Paintings)
  • 2005     If only: Second Solo Exhibition Inka Gallery (Drawings and collages)
  • 2006     Attended Gina Mercers Adult-Ed Poetry course. Gained Poetry 1 Certificate
  • 2006     Published in Poetry in the Dig, edited by Gina Mercer
  • 2006     Third Place FAW/Sunday Tasmanian National Poetry Competition. Voted People’s Choice.
  • 2006     Second Place FAW Terri and Hal Moore Competition
  • 2006-2010:
  • Many poems Commended or Highly Commended in FAW Norma and Colin Knight
  • FAW Terri and Hal Moore and FreeXpresSion State and National Competitions
  • Poem Commended in Judith Wright National Competition
  • Poems published in FreeXpression, Poetry Matters, The Mozzie, Studio, Famous                                      
  • Reporter, Poet’s Republic magazines and Net of Hands FAW Tasmania Poetry Anthology
  • Regular reader Republic Bar and Café, also read at Lark and Hobart Bookshop
  • 2008 Runner-Up Teri and Hal Moore competition
  • 2007 to 2011:  Co-ordinated Diggers Poetry Workshop
  • 2008      Expressions of a Woman Third solo exhibition (Drawings and collages)
  • 2008 to 2014   State President Tasmania Fellowship of Australian Writers.
  • 2014       Shared exhibition Inka Gallery, Arsenic and Old Lace (with Inka Co-op member, Jane Holmes)
  • 2015       Vice-President Fellowship of Australian Writers. Whilst President Karen has collaborated with Chris Gallagher TWC, writers from overseas, interstate, writers of all genres, all levels and presented a workshop at Liverpool, N.S.W. Represented FAW at Government House, Hamilton Literary Society and interstate.
  • 2012        First Place FAW Tasmania Poetry Prize
  • 2013        First Place FreeXpreSsion National Competition
  • 2013        First Place FAW Tasmania Poetry Prize National Competition
  • 2014        First place Norma and Colin Knight Poetry Competition
  • 2013        First Prize Poem Ward 4, suicide watch published in Award Winning Australian Writing (AWAW) Melbourne
  • 2014        If we could fly poems published in Poetry Matters, to be published in, Prospect Blue Giraffe and FreeXpresSion magazines.
  • 2015        Highly Commended poem FreeXpreSsion National Competition
  • 2015        Second Prize Norma and Colin Knight State Competition
  • 2016        14th July poetry book If we could fly launched by Andrew Wilke: Hobart Book Shop, Salamanca Place.
  • 2016        June Poem Commended Queensland FAW Awards