Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Varsha.
Hi Karen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have been interested in Fine Arts since I was a child helping in my mother’s ceramic shop in Jackson, MS. As an adult, I received a BFA in Art at UGA and an MBA in marketing from GSU while working full-time at Coca-Cola in the real estate office. Corporate was the way to go if I wanted to pay the rent. I started my own business selling dog beds and ceramic dog/cat bowls while continuing to work half days at my new job at IBM and attending Gift Shows and Pet trade shows around the US the other half. It was challenging and successful.
In the following years, my husband and I extended our family and adopted a teenager and a newborn within a year and a half. I found that three children, new to each other, presented problems. So, I brought myself home and I quit work. I sold my pet products business and set up a photography studio in my home.
Later when the kids moved out to pursue their own life goals, I moved into the Goat Farm, a large artist commune on the Westside of Atlanta, to pursue mine. I loved my space there and continued shooting portraiture, but I had to move after five years with my studio partners. There is new construction at the old spot today and I hope to move back into the new space next year.
So, why flowers? It all began with my husband’s diagnosis of a serious form of small cell cancer in December 2019. He was advised to get treatment right away and part of that treatment was to stay at the hospital for five days. While in the hospital, he contracted COVID even though the hospital said they had no diagnosed cases at the time. I was faced with the fact that my husband might die. I wanted to do something to supplement our income and prepare for the chance that the cancer might kill him. The good news is that he made it through those rough times and is doing well.
I decided to try shooting some still lives using flowers. I had used flowers in a class at GA State in 2019 but never followed up on my process. I live in a small condo with no room for extra, but I set up a small studio in a bathroom and shot in the dark. I have been in many juried shows in Atlanta. The latest one was the Dogwood Festival.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Marketing to reach my target audience is the largest challenge to starting a business. I have been using different social media platforms to expand my reach. The internet has a great resource to find classes and I use YouTube and Skillshare regularly.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I photograph flowers in what I feel is an artistic way. My sister, Diane, arranges the bouquets and I then style the shot with light and backdrop. My goal is for the finished images to look like paintings. I think this helps set me apart from other photographers.
I am very proud of the juried shows I have been selected for recently. The Atlanta Photography Group selected a piece for the Airport Show at Hartsfield-Jackson International. I also exhibited in the Brookhaven Pop-Up, the Swann Coach Little Things Show, the Roswell Photographic Society Flower Photo Show, and Metro Montage XXI at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art. I was also a selected vendor for the Atlanta Dogwood Festival and the Va-Hi Summerfest Show this year.
What are your plans for the future?
I will follow my artistic sensibility wherever it leads, though I am also hoping to create a viable business marketing my images.
Pricing:
- Unframed prices $150-$400
- Framed prices $300-$850
Contact Info:
- Website: www.karenvarshaphotography.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/karenvarshaphotography/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/
Image Credits
All images are the property of Karen Varsha. (In the first photo with 3 girls, Karen is the tall one on the right).
