From a young age, Karen found joy in the arts. Naturally, this led to her first education beyond schooling at the North Adelaide School of Arts, where she studied for her Diploma of Visual Arts. From there, she took the leap to university and has worked as a primary school teacher for twenty years across South Australia, from the rural country towns to the suburbs of Adelaide. Karen has remained a teacher who thinks outside the ordinary lines to learn, bringing the arts into science and maths and engaging students from all walks of life. Her students learn many different arts, including basket weaving.

Beyond Art, Karen spends time with her small family: husband Michael, daughter Emma, and dog Charli. Locals of Mount Barker, their favourite weekend activity is heading to Sazons for a coffee. However, with two adventure-loving sportspeople in the house, she also finds her days are spent outdoors, travelling the world one country at a time or being dragged to sports competitions.