Mineola Artist Keeps Up With New Economy in New Ways

Pastilles artist Karen Haas tries to keep up with this economy by selling her art work through both markets: the affordable and the expensive.

Her work varies, but when a person asks her to draw a picture of their pets or family, she gets the job done. Aside from the original paintings that are currently being displayed in the art exhibit at the during December, she also has prints, necklaces and key chains available for orders.

“In this economy people can’t afford the original,” she said at a recent reception for her work. “I have to offer both markets. So if they like the artwork, but can’t afford the original, they could buy the prints. A woman in Texas liked a painting and couldn’t afford the original so she ordered a key chain.”

Haas began drawing when she was a little girl, first illustrating the animals which surrounded her when she was a horse-rider. After her children were born and became active in sports, she began sports illustrations.

Almost completely self-taught, Haas attended the British Royal Berkshire School of Art and Design for a year, being awarded a coveted honor of entering the third year.

“My husband (Eugene) is a big inspiration,” she said. “If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have gone to that art school for a year. That was a very good time for me [because] I was 34 years old at the time, so it was good for the ego.”

She added that her husband always encourages her to work more and about 10 years ago, he decided that she should join the art business.

According to Haas, Facebook is one of the best ways to advertise her work since it is accessible worldwide. Through Facebook, she is able to communicate with people to sell her art pieces or to talk about their career in the business.

“I spoke to a woman through Facebook who is a beginner with pastilles and when I gave her a few points on her work she was so grateful,” Haas said, noting that she was able to sell the necklace through the social-media site.

Now that Haas has started offering prints last month to fit the needs of buyers in this economy, she also began a collaboration with her brother, Stephen Llewellyn, a poet who lives in the south of France, who tries to match his writings with her drawings or vice-versa to be published on the prints.

Her brother’s poem “Deliverance” was matched with Haas’s favorite piece displayed in the exhibit: a U.S. Marine rescuing a baby.

“I like things that evoke emotions. People don’t always get it at first. It makes you think and that’s what art is all about,” she said.