Karen Barton is a professional Wyoming portrait artist whose portraits in pastel, oil, pencil, charcoal, and watercolor, of children, families, and pets are found in South Dakota, Montana, Washington state, Gillette, Casper, Rapid City, Billings, and many other regional cities. Karen also sells prints of her western style art and photographs of cattle on the ranch where she lives. A children's book, Butch and the Rooster, was illustrated by Karen and is available on her website. Also see her web gallery of beautiful portraits and prints.

I have been a professional portrait artist for 16 years. Working mainly in pastels, my procedure is to photograph my subject and use those photographs to create a beautiful portrait. With a background education in Graphic Art, I have built a full time career in portraiture under the instruction of Daniel Greene and Margaret Carter Baumgaertner. Although still very active as a portraitist, I have in recent years branched away from portraiture to produce some western works which reflect my ranch surroundings. These works as well as some very charming little girl portraits which seem to have a universal appeal are available in print form on my website.

My philosphy is very simple. I believe that I was created for one reason and that is to glorify my creator. Jesus Christ was sent to take the punishment that I deserve so that I can be free to enjoy a relationship with God. I have accepted that gift, and will live my entire life in gratitude for it. I desire my work as an artist to reflect my love for Jesus and to honor God.