When told that, come winter the best job Karla could hope for was working in a bowling alley, Karla and Roy moved north to Chugiak, and she went back to school majoring in art at UAA in Anchorage, Alaska.

     Before Karla knew it, she and a friend were working and doing art festivals. Perseverance and discipline paid off. She participated in shows and slowly gathered a handful of respectable Galleries. Self-published, Karla has kept control over her own work. This allows her to make sure the quality of the images are the very best. By using in-state Alaskan services, she is involved in all steps of the printing, from separations to press checks.

     Many of Karla's pieces are from stories she has written, such as "Waiting for the Tide" and "When Dragons Fly". Many times Karla's poetry or pieces come from dream imagery. "Dreamtime", as she calls it. These pieces are more personal and many times have original poetry incorporated into them.

     Karla mixes much of her own colors and uses heavy rock salt and gum arabic to create fields of texture up to 1/4" thick. The idea of painting on her mattes began the day she framed her first humpback print and realized the matting had contained rather than released the image. So, picking up a brush she continued the thought, and four years later the process keeps evolving! Karla's originals tend to be on the large size, sometimes as big as 4 x 8 feet!

     While painting and her work is important, Karla's family, husband Roy, Kolohe and Makani Kai, their two Jack Russell Terriers, remain her inspiration, always knowing when she needs a hug, or a "Woof Woof!"

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