Karen De La Gorce was born in Yorkshire and studied art at the Batley School of Art & Design, interior design at the Metropolitan University of Manchester and portraiture at the Studio Escalier, Paris.
After her studies, Karen worked in Hong Kong as an interior architect with international architectural practices.
Upon moving to France and raising 3 children, Karen realised that her true passion was art which led her to painting full time in 2019.
Karen paints portraits and usually starts with sketching her model, followed by a photo shoot, then continuing her work in her studio starting with a grisaille and then adding layers of colour just to completion.
Karen usually paints in oil, however, one collection of portraits of local colourful artists, often tattooed, has been in pencil and watercolour.
Her oil portrait of “Miss’Jack Ink” was selected and exhibited for the 2020 Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London.